TOPEKA, Kan. – An all-around team effort propelled Washburn baseball to a 13-5 victory over Missouri Western on Saturday afternoon. The series finale will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Falley Field.
The Griffons (4-20, 2-13) led off the game with a walk and then hit a two-run home run with two outs. Washburn starter
Casey Steward ended the inning with his third strikeout of the opening frame.
Washburn (21-7, 12-3 MIAA) responded with a little two out magic of its own in the home half of the first.
Parker Dunn doubled down the left field line and
Brett Ingram was hit by the pitch to put runners on for
Zion Bowlin, who hit a double to left center that scored two runs to tie up the game.
Missouri Western jumped on the first pitch of the second inning and hit a home run to center field to retake the lead, 3-2.
The Ichabods got back to work in the bottom of the second and put up four runs on four hits and an error to go in front, 6-3.
Kros Bay hit a leadoff single and
Trevor McCollum reached base after getting hit.
Cale Savage drove in the tying run with a single to right. With two outs and runners on first and second, Dunn's single to left scored McCollum and an error on the play moved both runners up into scoring position. Ingram held a full count in his at bat before hitting a two-run single to center field to cap off the scoring in the frame.
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli legged out a triple to get the fourth started and scored on Dunn's sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 in favor of Washburn.
Steward locked in on the mound and retired the side in order in the third through fifth innings and finished his outing by retiring 12 batters in a row.
Washburn added two more runs in the fifth on one swing. Bay was hit on the first pitch of his at bat and with two outs, Savage belted a two-run shot over the wall in left field.
The scoring continued for the Ichabods into the sixth inning. With runners on the corners, Bowlin drove in a run with a single to center field. In his first plate appearance of the game,
Otto Jones cranked out a three-run home run to right field to give Washburn a 10-run advantage.
After the leadoff man reached base on an error, Missouri Western hit its third home run of the contest to trim Washburn's lead to 13-5.
The Ichabods did not allow a Griffon runner past second base in the final two innings and
Britt Brown recorded the final out on the mound with a strikeout.
Washburn out hit Missouri Western, 14-5, with 10 Ichabods landing at least one hit. The Ichabods also scored 10 of their 13 runs with two outs. Savage went 2-3 at the dish with three RBI and two runs scored. Bowlin also collected three RBI on his two hits and scored once. Dunn and Ingram both had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBI.
Steward improves to 2-0 on the season as he went five innings and allowed three runs on two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. Aside from a walk,
Julian Zamora worked a clean sixth inning.
Braden Burcham allowed just one single in his scoreless eighth before it was erased by a 6-4-3 double play. Brown closed out the ninth and surrendered one walk and recorded a pair of strikeouts.
