TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods used a seventh-inning rally to draw a split at Northeastern State falling 4-1 in the opener before coming back with a 3-2 win in the second game of the night cap. Washburn will face Rogers State on Saturday in Claremore.
The win moved the Ichabods in front of the RiverHawks in the win column for seventh place in the MIAA standings. Rogers State enters Saturday's game with a 16-8 record for sixth. The Ichabods will face Central Missouri on Monday. The Jennies are in second at 17-5 currently. The top eight teams will make the MIAA Tournament starting with a best two-of-three series at the top four seeds.
Game 1 – NSU 4, WU 1
In the opener, Northeastern State scored first with a sac fly in the second inning. In the fourth, the RiverHawks added three more taking a 4-0 lead into the fifth.
Washburn got on the board in the fifth after
Kimi Patterson drew a lead off walk and then moved to second on a single by
Brianna Fuchs. After
Marrit Mead walked,
Hadley Kerschen picked up an RBI cutting the RiverHawk lead to 4-1. However the Ichabods would only get two base runners the remainder of the game on a single by Fuchs and Mead reaching on an error.
Jaycee Ginter had two of the Ichabods' five hits and Fuchs had two and Patterson had one.
Raegen Hamm fell to 12-9 striking out three allowing three earned runs.
Game 2 – WU 3, NSU 2
Washburn (26-13, 12-10 MIAA) took an early 1-0 lead in the first when Mead led off the game with a single and then scored on a single by Ginter. The lead was short-lived as the RiverHawks (22-19, 10-13-1 MIAA) as NSU scored two runs in the bottom of the frame taking a 2-1 lead.
Neither team scored until the seventh when
Autymn Schreiner singled to start the seventh and moved to second on Mead's single. After Kerschen drove in one with a ground out, a sac fly by
Ashton Friend scored Mead with the go ahead run.
Hamm came into the game in the sixth inning and after a scoreless sixth inning, she returned for the seventh and set the RiverHawks down in order with two strikeouts to end the game going to 13-9 on the season.
Mead had three hits in the game pacing Washburn's nine hits overall. Mead also scored twice.