TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn baseball team broke a tie game and scored three runs with two outs in the eighth inning to capture a 6-3 victory over Fort Hays State on Sunday afternoon. The Ichabods will wrap up the three-game series against the Tigers on Monday at 1 p.m. at Falley Field.
Washburn (10-4, 2-0 MIAA) quickly got on the board with a run in the first inning after
Cal Watkins hit a one-out triple and then later scored on a wild pitch.
The Tigers (1-13, 0-2 MIAA) answered with a leadoff home run in the second inning and then took a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer in the top of the third.
Washburn starter
Casey Steward worked around a leadoff triple in the top of the fourth and got out of the inning unscathed with three-consecutive strikeouts. He got out of another jam in the fifth with runners on second and third with one out and ended the frame with a strikeout and groundout.
Brett Ingram sent the first pitch of the fifth up the middle for a single and advanced to second base on a groundout. Making his second start of the season,
Shane Morrow recorded his first hit as an Ichabod with a two-out single to center field to get the Ichabods within one run, 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Parker Dunn leveled the score with a monster home run over the fence in right field.
Washburn's
John Cross took over on the mound in the seventh inning and struck out the side and repeated the feat in the eighth inning to keep it a tie ballgame.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth,
Zion Bowlin singled through the left side and then moved up to second base on
Connor Scott's walk.
Kros Bay came up to the plate with two outs and sent the first pitch to right field for a single to drive in the go-ahead run and he advanced to second on the throw.
Otto Jones kept the line moving with a single of his own that scored two runs and pushed Washburn's lead to 6-3.
The Tigers made a little noise in the top of the ninth with runners on first and second with one out, but the Ichabod defense squashed any potential rally and recorded a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Jones finished the day 2-4 at the dish and had two RBI. Watkins also landed two hits and scored once. Dunn recorded his fourth home run of the season.
Cross received his first win in a Washburn uniform and struck out all six batters he faced. Casillas earned his third save of the season. Steward received a no-decision in the contest, but struck out a career-high nine batters in five innings.
