TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn baseball scored five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth and won Tuesday's non-conference game against Missouri Western, 10-5. The Ichabods will resume MIAA play at home this weekend hosting Newman, March 3-5.
The bats for both teams stayed silent until
Trey Adams broke open the scoreless game with a two-out solo home run to left field in the bottom of the third.
The Griffons (3-8) tied up the game in the fifth inning after an unearned run came in to score.
The score didn't stay knotted up for long as the Ichabods (10-7) jumped ahead with two runs on three hits in the home half of the fifth.
Blake Scott and
Cal Watkins hit back-to-back singles and
Trey Adams drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. With two outs,
Cale Savage drove in a pair of runs with a single through the left side.
Washburn added two more runs the following inning to go up, 5-1.
Trevor McCollum and
Andrew Schmidtlein both drew walks to start the frame and
Caden Bressler kept the line moving with a single up the middle to score one run. Up next was Scott, who hit a sacrifice fly to score Schmidtlein.
Missouri Western cut the deficit to one in the seventh after a three-run home run.
The Griffons made some noise in the eighth with a leadoff double and added another runner on base with a walk. With two outs,
Jayden Payne took over on the mound and struck out Missouri Western's pinch hitter to leave two runners stranded.
The Ichabods created some two out magic in the bottom of the eighth to cushion their lead. With two runners in scoring position, Bressler scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4. On the first pitch of his at bat, Savage singled through the left side to score Adams.
Ike Book followed that up with a two-RBI double in the gap in left field. McCollum landed a double of his own to drive in the final run of the inning to give the Ichabods a 10-4 advantage.
In the ninth, Missouri Western had runners on the corners and scored its final run of the afternoon on a fielder's choice. A strikeout and another fielder's choice ended the game to close out the Washburn victory.
Both teams recorded double-digit hits on the day and Missouri Western held a 12-10 advantage. Adams was 2-2 with two walks, a home run, and two runs scored. Savage also had two hits and drove in three runs and scored once.
Griffin Huiatt earned his first collegiate win going six innings and surrendering only one run on five hits and zero walks while striking out three.
