EDMOND, Okla. – No. 5 seed Washburn baseball battled with top seed and No. 3-nationally ranked Central Missouri for 19 innings and nearly nine hours between two games in the MIAA Tournament's Championship Saturday, but Washburn saw its lead slip away late in the championship game and fell in a nearly five-hour, 10 inning contest to the Mules by the score of 16-13 to force the "if necessary" game in the double elimination bracket. The Mules came away with a 10-5 win in the night cap to claim their fourth-consecutive MIAA Tournament title.
 
The Ichabods will wait to see if their name is one of eight teams from the Central Region chosen to compete in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will take place on Sunday evening at 9 p.m. Washburn was No. 8 in the most recent rankings.
 
Game 1 (Central Missouri 16, Washburn 13 – 10 innings)
The Mules got on the board in their first at bat as their No. 3 batter hit a solo home run to left center.
 
The Ichabods answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the opening frame. Cal Watkins hit a leadoff single and advanced to third in Brett Ingram's one base hit to right center. Zion Bowlin got the run in with a sacrifice bunt to level the score.
 
After Washburn starter Charlie Kiefer retired the side in order in the second, Washburn's offense got back to work with another leadoff single, this time by Cale Savage. Kros Bay dropped a single into left center field to put runners on the corners. With two outs, Watkins singled through the left side to put Washburn in front, 2-1.
 
Kiefer recorded another 1-2-3 frame in the third and his offense gave him some more support in the home half of the inning. Parker Dunn doubled down the left field line to get things started and tagged up to third on a fly out. Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli safely reached on a fielder's choice as the short stop attempted to make a play at the plate, but Dunn beat the throw to score the run. Savage kept the line moving as he drew a walk and Easton Bruce stepped up and cleared the bases with a three-run shot down the right field line. A single, hit by pitch, and fielding error loaded the bases for Dunn, who drew a walk to bring in the fifth run of the inning and stretch Washburn's lead to 7-1.
 
The Mules capitalized on a couple of Ichabod errors in the fourth and scored four runs on one hit to pull within 7-5.
 
For the fourth-straight inning, Washburn's leadoff man reached base as Clark-Chiapparelli was hit by the pitch to get things started in the bottom of the fourth. He moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Savage and scored on Bruce's single. With one on and one out, Bay went yard to double the Ichabods' lead, 10-5.
 
Central Missouri hit a solo homer of its own in the fifth, but Washburn had an answer again in the bottom half of the inning. Bowlin hit a one out single to right and stole second to get into scoring position and Clark-Chiapparelli brought him home with a single up the middle.
 
Dunn pushed Washburn's lead to 12-6 after a two out solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Mules got one run after a double in the seventh, but left two stranded when Ingram made a nice snag on a line drive to the hot corner.
 
In the eighth inning, Central Missouri clawed its way back into the game and took a 13-12 lead with six runs on five hits.
 
After the Ichabods went scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Braden Babcock took over on the mound in the ninth and kept it a one run game. The inning ended when Bay caught a runner trying to steal second.
 
The Ichabods continued to fight back, though, as Clark-Chiapparelli started the ninth with a double down the left field line and scored the tying run on Bruce's single to center. A groundout and a strikeout ended the rally and sent the game to extra innings.
 
Central Missouri loaded up the bases with one out in the 10th after three walks, one of which was intentional. The Ichabods recorded a big strikeout before the Mules got in a run on another walk and then plated two on a double to go up, 16-13.
 
Washburn went down in order in the bottom of the 10th and the conference tournament would be extended one more game.
 
Washburn led in hits, 17-12, and every Ichabod in the lineup had at least one hit. Washburn also had four doubles and three home runs on the afternoon.
 
Bruce wrapped up the game 3-5 with a home run, walk, two runs scored, and a career-high five RBI. Bay also had three hits with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI. Clark-Chiapparelli went 2-5, scored three times, and knocked in two runs.
 
Kiefer was received a no-decision after he went six and 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs, four earned, on four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. J
 
Game 2 (Central Missouri 10, Washburn 5)
After a 30 minute break in between games, Washburn (33-20) got the scoring started early as Watkins drew a leadoff walk and Zion Bowlin hit a two out bomb to center field to put Washburn in front, 2-0.
 
Central Missouri (43-7) claimed a 3-2 lead in the second inning after a two-run home run and an RBI single.
 
The Ichabods knotted up the score the following inning. Watkins hit a leadoff single and he moved up to second after Ingram was hit by the pitch. Two wild pitches allowed Watkins to score and make it a 3-all game.
 
The Mules jockeyed back in front, 4-3, with one run in the third when the first two runners reached on walks, moved up on a sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a fielder's choice.
 
The score remained at 4-3 until the bottom of the fifth, when Central Missouri put up four runs on three hits to go up, 8-3.
 
Dunn trimmed the deficit in half in the sixth with a leadoff home run, but the Mules answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on a double steal.
 
In the seventh, Dunn picked up another RBI when he singled to center field to bring home Watkins, who started the inning with a single.
 
The Mules put up one final run in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5 and got the next six outs in a row to claim the championship after having to go through the loser's bracket after Washburn defeated them in the first day of the tournament.
 
UCM led in hits, 9-5, and had three extra base hits. Watkins was 2-4 and scored three times. Dunn also had two hits with one going over the fence and had two RBI.
 
At the conclusion of the game, six Ichabods were voted to the conference all-tournament team: Bruce, Clark-Chiapparelli, Dunn, Ingram, Scott, and John Cross.