TOPEKA, Kan. -- Three times Washburn led by at least five runs on Sunday afternoon, the third lead held in the nearly four-hour contest as they defeated Missouri Western 19-18 to close out the series. The Ichabods will head to Warrensburg, Mo. to face Central Missouri on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
After a scoreless top of the first from Caleb Lunnon the Ichabods (14-14, 7-9 MIAA) were able to load the bases with one out after two walks and a hit batter. Jett Buck scored all three with a triple off the wall in dead center. Darian Duhon followed with a two-run home run to right-center, capping off the five-run first inning.
After a scoreless second Missouri Western (5-20, 4-12 MIAA) had three of the first four batters in the third reach on singles, scoring one run. A bunt single followed, scoring another. On a double steal attempt a pair of errors by the Ichabods allowed both runs to come around and score, making it 5-4. The Griffons ended the inning with a pair of doubles, scoring one to tie the game.
Washburn responded quickly, with a walk by Easton Bruce and double from Jackson Mervosh putting two on base with one out. Jett Buck singled to left, scoring one, two batters later Garrett Springer went the other way to drive in another. With two outs, Connor Scott tripled off the center field wall, scoring a pair to go up 9-5. Payton McHarg chased the starter launching a home run over the right field wall. Hayden Priest singled and stole second, scoring on an error in the field by the Griffons to cap off the seven-run inning.
Missouri Western led off the fourth with a double and brought him around to get one run back in the inning. The next inning they put two runners on with a double and hit batter. A home run to right cut the lead in half making it 12-9.
In the sixth the Griffons loaded the bases with just one out without picking up a hit. They scored one on a sacrifice bunt and two more on a single up the middle to tie the game. With two outs in the bottom of the inning Buck slashed a single into left and Duhon followed with a walk. Both moved forward 90 feet on a wild pitch before scoring on a single by Garrett Springer. Another run came around on a misplayed fly ball with two outs, resulting in an error and a 15-12 lead for the home squad after six.
Logan Bartlett and Chase Torkelson combined to throw a scoreless inning in the seventh, the first in four innings for Washburn. In the home half the Ichabods worked the bases loaded with one out. Buck walked, scoring one, and Duhon followed with a bases-clearing triple into the right-field corner to go up 19-12.
The Griffons led off the next inning with a solo home run. They strung together a pair of singles with a walk to score one more. A wild pitch allowed another run to come around, with a single bringing home two more to make it 19-17 heading to the bottom of the eighth.
In the ninth Missouri Western loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of walks and a single. Keegan McDonald took over and got a strikeout, sacrifice fly scoring one and a groundout to end the game and hold onto the 19-18 win.
The Griffons out-hit Washburn 19-18, with the Ichabods also committing five errors to three for the visitors. Each team worked seven walks at the plate.
Eight players took the mound combining for five strikeouts. Caleb Lunnon had two while tossing four innings. Logan Bartlett earned the win, his first of the year after throwing 1.0 scoreless and Keegan McDonald picked up his first save.
Five players had multi-hit games for Washburn, led by three hits from Jett Buck while driving in five. Darian Duhon also drove in five on a pair of hits and Garrett Springer plated three on two base knocks.
