TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn exploded on offense Wednesday afternoon, scoring 21 runs and defeating Winona State in seven innings 21-10. The Ichabods remain at home for a three-game series with No. 12 Missouri Southern beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.
The Warriors offense got started right away, with a pair of home runs in the first three hitters, making it 3-0. Chase Torkelson settled in, throwing a scoreless second inning. In the bottom of the inning Easton Bruce and Darian Duhon led off with a pair of singles. A wild pitch allowed Bruce to score to put one on the board.
In the third Winona State got a run on a walk, stolen base, wild pitch and RBI groundout, extending the lead to 4-1. A pair of doubles, first from Jett Buck then Cash Jay scored one run. Two batters later Easton Bruce tied the game up with a two-run shot to right-center.
After recording the final out of the third, Cal Leonard stayed on the mound and tossed a scoreless fourth.
In the home half of the inning Jackson Mervosh led off with a double, he moved to third on a single from Chase Littrell. Connor Scott slashed a single to right field, scoring Mervosh to take the lead. Garrett Springer entered the game an inning earlier and in his first at-bat deposited a three-run home run over the wall in right field to go in front 8-4.
With two outs in the inning Jay singled. An error in the field extended the inning followed by a double from Duhon, scoring two runs. Mervosh followed with a double of his own to score Duhon. The doubles continued with Littrell going for two bags to drive in Mervosh. A dropped third strike put two on and Buck cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left, making it an 11-run inning and going up 15-4.
Four straight hits began the fifth, a single from Hayden Priest followed by another double from Jay. Bruce plated one with a single into right field and Duhon cleared the bases on a three-run shot to right center, going up 19-4.
Two hit batters and three walks scored two runs and left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth for Winona. They scored six runs in the inning on one hit, a grand slam to make it a 19-10 ballgame.
In the bottom of the inning Jay scored Springer and Owen Laessig with a double, going up 21-10. Kaden Gray tossed a scoreless top of the seventh inning to end the game early after just six and a half innings.
Washburn tallied a season-high 20 hits in the contest and did not receive a free pass from the Winona State pitching staff. The Ichabod pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts with Torkelson and Leonard each fanning three. Cal Leonard earned the win throwing 2.1 scoreless innings.
At the plate Washburn had six players with multi-hit games led by a 4-5 performance from Cash Jay with three RBI. Easton Bruce, Darian Duhon and Garrett Springer each had home runs with Duhon driving in a team-high five.
