EMPORIA, Kan. – After surrendering four runs in the first inning, Washburn baseball locked in and scored 15 unanswered runs while holding Emporia State to just two hits over the next seven innings as the Ichabods run-ruled the Hornets for the second time this season and rolled to a 15-4 eight inning victory. Game two of the three-game series will be Friday at 6 p.m.
Emporia State (15-24, 9-16 MIAA) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning after hitting a pair of two-run homers.
Washburn (26-13, 16-9 MIAA) got to work quickly in the second frame and leveled the score.
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a passed ball. After a walk by
Cal Watkins,
Kros Bay reached on a fielder's choice and got an RBI as Clark-Chiapparelli scored the Ichabods' first run.
Cale Savage and
Easton Bruce ripped back-to-back doubles and
Parker Dunn's single through the right side scored the game-tying run.
For the second-consecutive inning, Clark-Chiapparelli led off and started with a single to center. Watkins drew his second-straight walk and both runners moved up into scoring position after a wild pitch.
Trevor McCollum got the go-ahead run home on a fielder's choice and then he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bay drove in a run with a double and Savage followed that with a single up the middle to increase Washburn's lead to 7-4.
Brett Ingram doubled Washburn's advantage in the fourth with a solo shot over the fence in left center.
In the following inning, Savage hit a solo homer of his own to put the Ichabods up, 9-4.
Washburn continued its scoring barrage into the sixth and put up three runs on three hits, all with two outs. With runners on first and second, McCollum hit a bloop single to center field to plate Ingram. Bay got a hold of the first pitch from Emporia's new pitcher and knocked a two-run double to center to make it 12-4 in favor of Washburn.
After getting through a rocky first inning, Washburn starter
Casey Steward found his groove and did not allow a runner past second base while only surrendering one single and three walks through the next five innings.
The Ichabods built a double-figure lead in the eighth with three more runs. A single and a hit by pitch put runners on for McCollum, who singled up the middle to bring a run in.
Otto Jones entered the game as a pinch hitter and got an RBI groundout to make it a 10-run contest. Savage stepped up to the plate and recorded his second two-base hit of the evening to drive in the Ichabods' 15th and final run.
Cole Warner took over on the mound in the eighth and struck out the side to secure the run-rule win.
The Ichabods dominated offensively and out hit the Hornets, 17-5, and legged out six doubles. Savage had a career day at the plate as he went 4-5 with a home run, two doubles, three RBI, and two runs scored. Bay also had two doubles, scored twice, and led the team with four RBI. McCollum had a pair of hits and scored three times and knocked in three runs. Also scoring three runs was Ingram, who finished the game 2-4 with a home run.
Steward picked up his fourth-consecutive victory and improved to 5-0 after he went six innings and allowed four runs, three of which were earned, with three walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts.
Jake Schroeder worked a scoreless seventh inning and had one strikeout.
