BOCA RATON, Fla. – Ichabod baseball scored in seven of the nine innings to post a big 18-3 victory at Lynn on Monday afternoon. Washburn will open its home schedule with a five-game homestand starting Wednesday afternoon against Minot State.
Washburn's offense got going early in the first inning with
Cal Watkins leading off with a double and
Caden Bressler following that up with a single to put runners on the corners. A lineout and then throwing error allowed Watkins to score the opening run.
Otto Jones brought Bressler home with an RBI single to put the Ichabods up, 2-0.
The Ichabods (2-7) capitalized on miscues committed by the Fighting Knights in the second inning.
Connor Scott reached base safely after an error, stole second, and then advanced to third on a balk. Watkins singled home the run and then made his way around the bases with a stolen base and a passed ball. Another wild pitch made it a 4-0 game in favor of Washburn.
With two outs in the fourth inning,
Blake Scott hit his first home run in a Washburn uniform to extend the lead to 5-0.
Lynn (4-2-1) erased the shutout in the home half of the fourth with two runs on four hits. The Fighting Knights pulled within two in the following inning with one run scoring on an RBI double.
Washburn created some breathing room and doubled its score to 10-3 in the sixth. Washburn drew back-to-back walks and Watkins loaded the bases with a single. Bressler reached on a fielding error as one run came in to score. Two more runs scored on a triple by
Trey Adams and later he made it home on another error.
Cal Leonard took over on the mound in the sixth and threw two scoreless innings and retired the side in order in the seventh.
In the top of the seventh,
Ike Book reached on a fielder's choice and moved over to third on a double by C. Scott. Up next was B. Scott, who grounded out but still brought in the run to make it 11-3.
The Fighting Knights struggled with pitching command to start the eighth and walked Adams and hit
Cale Savage, who then both scored on a double by
Andrew Paulsey.
Washburn held a 10-run lead going into the ninth, but were far from finished scoring and put up five more runs on three hits, three free passes, and an error. Bruce and Savage hit back-to-back RBI singles with the bases loaded and Paulsey kept the line moving with his second two-RBI double in as many innings.
Shane Morrow drove in the final run of the afternoon with a groundout.
The Ichabods out hit the Fighting Knights, 15-8. Washburn also landed five doubles and limited Lynn to just two extra base hits. Twelve of the 13 Ichabods who had a plate appearance reached base.
Watkins finished his day at the plate a perfect 4-4 with two doubles, a walk, and three runs scored. Paulsey also had a pair of doubles and drove in a team team-high four runs.
Easton Bruce had two singles, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
Leonard earned his first career win after two effective innings in relief. He allowed just one hit, one walk, and struck out three. Washburn's starter
Charlie Kiefer went four innings and surrendered just two runs on five hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts. Paulsey closed out the game on the hill after making six trips to the plate. His only base runner in the scoreless ninth was because of a walk.
