TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn baseball team held No. 4-ranked Central Missouri to four hits while the Ichabod offense erupted and went on to end the Mules' 19-game winning streak and hand them their first conference loss in run-rule fashion with a 15-4 triumph on Saturday afternoon. The series rubber match game will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
Parker Dunn got things going quickly for the Ichabods (22-10, 13-6 MIAA) in the bottom of the first as he sent the opening pitch of his at bat to deep center field for a one out solo home run.
Central Missouri (24-4, 18-1 MIAA) responded and took the lead with three runs on two hits the following half inning. The Mules added an unearned run in the third to push their lead to 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, the first two Washburn batters reached base with walks and
Otto Jones drove in a run with a shot through the left side.
Trevor McCollum laid down a sacrifice to move both runners up into scoring position and
Kros Bay collected an RBI on a groundout to make it a one run game. On an 0-1 pitch,
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli cranked out a home run to left center to give the Ichabods the lead back at 5-4. Dunn kept the line moving with a double and then he traded places with
Brett Ingram on his double down the left field line to extend Washburn's lead.
The momentum carried into the fifth for Washburn as
Connor Scott led off the frame with a home run to left center. With runners on first and second and two out, Clark-Chiapparelli worked a seven pitch walk to load up the bases for Dunn, who was hit by the pitch to bring to double Washburn's advantage at 8-4. An error by UCM's short stop allowed two runs to score and after being down in the count 1-2,
Zion Bowlin was walked to load up the bases again. The batting order came back around to Scott and he poked a hit over the second baseman's head to plate two more runs and make it a 12-4 contest.
The Ichabods' offense continued to capitalize on opportunities in the sixth. Jones hit a leadoff single and McCollum reached base after getting hit. With two outs and holding a 3-0 count, Dunn hammered his second home run of the afternoon to put Washburn on top, 15-4.
Dalton Huggins took over on the mound in the seventh and recorded all three outs with strikeouts to close out the run-rule victory.
Washburn out hit Central Missouri, 14-4, and recorded four home runs and three doubles. Dunn was a triple shy of the cycle and finished his day 4-4 with two home runs, a double, four runs scored, and five RBI. He now has 12 home runs on the year. Scott was 3-3 and drove in three runs and scored twice. Jones also had three hits and finished 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Ichabod starter
Casey Steward improved to 3-0 on the season after going six innings and allowing four runs, three of which were earned, on three hits and two walks. He also struck out two in his outing and retired the side in order in the sixth. Huggins surrendered just one single in his one inning on the bump and his three strikeouts moved his season total to 55.
