TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn baseball team captured the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader against Rogers State, 11-4, to secure the series win over the Hillcats before falling late in game two, 10-8. The Ichabods are now 12-18 (11-13 MIAA) on the season while the Hillcats check in at 13-15 (10-14 MIAA).
After a seven game homestand, Washburn returns to the road and will travel to Hays, Kan. to take on Fort Hays State April 23-24.
GAME ONE (Washburn 11, Rogers State 4)
The Hillcats got on the board twice in the first inning after a bases loaded walk and then a hit batter.
With two outs in the bottom of the second,
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli singled up the middle and then scored on
Carson Sader's RBI triple to deep center field to make it a one run game.
Washburn took the lead in the third frame with five runs on three hits.
Xavier De Leon led off the inning with a double down the left field line and evened the score on
Eric Hinostroza's single through the right side.
Brett Ingram drew a walk and
Zion Bowlin was hit by the pitch to load up the bases.
Peter Shearer hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to center field to bring in Hinostroza and make it 3-2 in favor of Washburn. A groundout moved both runners up into scoring position and then Ingram made a mad dash home on a wild pitch to score. Clark-Chiapparelli capped off the scoring with a two-run shot to left field.
After the Hillcats scored a run in the top of the fifth, the Ichabods responded with one run of their own in the home half of the inning. Bowlin showed off his speed after he hit the ball hard to left center and was about to round third base when the throw from the outfield missed the cutoff man and rolled into foul territory, allowing Bowlin to score on the throwing error.
Three-straight walks in the sixth loaded the bases for Ingram, who landed a single in center field to score De Leon and
Cole Emerson to give Washburn a 9-3 advantage.
The Ichabods tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to three-consecutive RBI singles.
Rogers State scored one run on a fielder's choice in the top of the ninth, but Washburn closed out the game with a force out at second base.
After a shaky start,
Brock Gilliam settled in and earned the win to improve to 5-2 on the season. He tossed six innings and allowed three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out seven. He recorded three 1-2-3 innings and only faced three batters in the fourth inning after he picked off the runner at first after a single.
Clark-Chiapparelli finished the game 3-4 with a home run, two RBI, a stolen base, and three runs scored. Ingram was also 3-4 and drove in three runs and scored once. De Leon and Bowlin each had two hits and scored twice.
GAME TWO (Rogers State 10, Washburn 8)
Game two was back-and-forth as there were three lead changes and two tie scores. For the first time in the series, it was the Ichabods who scored the opening run as Bowlin ripped an RBI double down the left field line to score Ingram in the bottom of the first.
The Hillcats took the lead a half inning later on a three-run home run.
Washburn reclaimed the lead in the third, putting up four runs and totaling five hits. Back-to-back infield singles put runners on first and second and Shearer drove in Ingram with a single to center field. Clark-Chiapparelli hit a no-doubter homer to bring in three runs and give the Ichabods the lead again at 5-3.
Rogers State responded with a home run of their own in the top of the fourth to knot up the score at 5-all.
The tie was quickly broken in the bottom of the fourth with yet another home run. Bowlin sent the ball over the left field fence for a two-run home run. Shearer reached first base on a dropped infield pop up and scored on Clark-Chiapparelli's double to make it 8-5 for Washburn.
The Hillcats kept fighting and made it a one run game in the fifth inning after a single up the middle scored two. Two innings later, they tied up the game at 8-8 with an RBI groundout.
With two outs, Rogers State scored twice in the eighth inning to take a 10-8 lead.
The Ichabods were unable to string together a rally and went down in order in the final two innings.
Clark-Chiapparelli continued his impressive hitting from the first game, finishing 3-3 at the dish with four RBI. Bowlin went 3-4 with three RBI and scored twice and Ingram was 3-5 and scored three runs.
