JOPLIN, Mo. – The Washburn baseball team rallied from a 4-2 deficit by scoring six runs in the top of the ninth and held on to win game two of the series at Missouri Southern on Sunday afternoon, 8-7. The time for Monday's series finale has been pushed up to 9:30 a.m. due to forecasted rain.
Missouri Southern (16-10, 7-5 MIAA) got on the board in the bottom of the first after a one out triple later scored on a ground out.
The Ichabods (18-7, 9-3 MIAA) leveled the score in the third when
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli hit a two out solo homer over the fence in left field.
Again with two outs in the fifth, Washburn made its move as
Parker Dunn doubled to right and then scored on
Brett Ingram's single up the middle to put Washburn on top, 2-1.
After the first inning, Washburn starter
Casey Steward did not allow a runner past first base until the bottom of the sixth. The Lions drew a leadoff walk and then raced around for a two out, two-run inside the park home run to take the lead back at 3-2.
The Lions added one run the following inning on two singles and an error. With runners on first and second and one out, Washburn got out of the inning without further damage with a 6-4-3 double play.
Needing to score at least two runs to stay in the game, Washburn got to work in the ninth. Ingram landed a leadoff double down the right field line and
Zion Bowlin brought him home with a single up the middle to make it a one run game, 4-3. Bowlin advanced to second after an errant pickoff throw and moved up to third on
Connor Scott's bunt single. A wild pitch scored the tying run and Scott advanced to third on a groundout.
Trevor McCollum reached base after getting hit by the pitch and
Cale Savage drew a walk to load the bases. A wild pitch proved costly again for Missouri Southern as Scott scored the go-ahead run. Clark-Chiapparelli stepped up to the plate and on the first swing, hit a three-run homer to left to extend WU's lead to 8-4.
The Lions didn't go down without a fight as they launched a one out, three-run home run of their own in the home half of the frame to make it a one run game again. With one on and one out,
Joel Casillas entered the game and struck out the first batter he faced. Missouri Southern had runners on the corners after a single, but Casillas closed the door with a seven pitch strikeout to earn the save.
Clark-Chiapparelli had two hits that both left the ballpark as he finished the day with four RBI. Ingram went 2-4 with a double and scored once and drove in one. Dunn also recorded a double as one of his two hits and he scored once.
Steward received a no-decision as he threw a career-high six innings and allowed three runs on three hits while walking two and recording five strikeouts.
Cash Crane (1-1) retired the side in order in the eighth and was tabbed with the win, finishing his day with three runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work. Casillas captured his fourth save of the season.
