TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn was unable to hold onto an early lead Tuesday evening, falling to No. 20 Fort Hays State in extra innings, 10-8. The Ichabods hit the road to face Pittsburg State for three games beginning Thursday at 5 p.m.
After a scoreless top of the first from Grant Zwald the Ichabod (21-21, 14-15 MIAA) offense got started right away. Payton McHarg led off the game with a single and two batters later Jett Buck put a ball into the trees in left field for a 2-0 lead. Jackson Mervosh followed with a single before moving to second and scoring on a single into center by Connor Scott. Chase Littrell kept the line moving, shooting a double into the right field corner to plate a fourth run.
In the third inning the Tigers (27-10, 21-5 MIAA) were able to load the bases with one out. They plated one run on a sacrifice fly but that is all they would be able to move across. Washburn answered back in the home half, with Mervosh reaching on a walk to lead off the inning before moving to third. Connor Scott slashed a sacrifice fly into right field to score him.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth inning when Buck lifted his second home run of the game to the same spot in left center to make it 6-1. Logan Bartlett took over on the mound in the fifth and got three straight groundouts to keep Fort Hays State from cutting into the lead.
The first two Tiger hitters reached on walks in the sixth before moving into scoring position. They both came around to score on sacrifice flies, moving the game to 6-3. They continued to chip away at the lead in the next inning, scoring two runs with a walk and a home run to pull within one.
After Connor Scott was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh he was moved to second on a single by Blake Scott. Trevor McCollum came through with a two-out single up the middle to bring him around.
The next time up for the Tigers they loaded the bases on a pair of bunts and a walk. A wild pitch and a groundout each scored a run before a double into left field scored a third to take the lead. In the bottom of the inning Buck, Mervosh and Owen Laessig led off the inning with three straight singles to load the bases. Connor Scott hit a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game back up at eight after eight.
After a leadoff double from Fort Hays State in the top of the ninth Ethan Alexander entered and worked around the runner to deliver a scoreless frame. After a scoreless bottom of the ninth the game went to extras. In the tenth the Tigers loaded the bases on a walk and a pair of singles. A single hit up the middle that hit off of Alexander's leg bounced to score a pair of runs for the visitors.
Washburn was unable to bring around any runs in the bottom of the tenth as the game came to a close. The Ichabods out-hit Fort Hays State 17-9, while nearly matching in walks, five to six.
Six pitchers took the mound for Washburn combining for three strikeouts. Grant Zwald tossed the most, throwing 4.0 innings with one strikeout and allowed just two hits with one run.
At the plate four players had multi-hit games led by a 4-5 effort from Jackson Mervosh. Jett Buck had three hits, accounting for three RBI while Blake Scott had three base knocks and Connor Scott also drove in three.
