HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Washburn baseball scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game against the No. 2-ranked team in the country, but were unable to get a lead as the Ichabods lost to Southern Arkansas, 3-2, on Monday afternoon. The Ichabods will have a quick turnaround and head to Florida for five games, starting at Barry University on Feb. 9.
The game got started on a Washburn (1-3) error that allowed Southern Arkansas' leadoff man to reach second base and later scored on a single for an unearned run.
The score stayed put at 1-0 until the Muleriders (3-0) hit a leadoff double in the fourth and then stole third. A walk put runners on the corners and the first base runner swiped second and the runner on third raced home safely to give Southern Arkansas a 2-0 advantage.
The Ichabod defense held the Muleriders to a scoreless sixth frame and threw two runners out at home plate to keep it a two-run game.
In his fourth inning of work,
Charlie Kiefer retired the side in order in the seventh.
Trevor McCollum reached on an error in home half of the seventh to get things going for Washburn.
Otto Jones followed that up with a single and then advanced on the throw to put runners on second and third for
Connor Scott, who brought in the first run on a sacrifice fly. Next up was
Caden Bressler and he drove in the tying run with a single up the middle.
The Muleriders had an answer in the top of the eighth and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth after a walk, single, and wild pitch.
Washburn had a runner on base in the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to get the run across
The Muleriders had one more hit than the Ichabods, 8-7. Bressler finished the afternoon 2-4 at the plate with a double and RBI. Watkins also had two hits.
Washburn starter
Rane Pfeifer went three innings and allowed one unearned run and two hits, one walk, two hit by pitches, and four strikeouts. Kiefer received the loss after tossing 4 1/3 innings in relief and allowed two runs on five hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts.
