After playing the first game of the series in Manhattan due to weather, Washburn baseball played a doubleheader home opener against Northern State Feb. 20.

“It’s February in Kansas and we’re used to that a little bit,” said Washburn head coach Harley Douglas. “I think this was a little bit different though because we worked all day Friday to get the six inches of snow off the ground and then went and played Saturday.”

The Ichabods got a good start on the mount with sophomore Casey Steward throwing three scoreless innings to begin the game.

Washburn was able to jump ahead in the first inning with one run. Sophomore center fielder Connor Scott walked and stole second base before being driven home on a double by senior designated hitter Parker Dunn, who had three RBI’s in the opening game of the series.

“Baseball is the same game no matter where you play, that’s the greatest thing about it,” Dunn said. “You just have to be able to grind, and this is a team that loves to grind.”

The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth inning when senior catcher Kros Bay and freshman left fielder Easton Bruce reached base before junior first baseman Cale Savage drove a ball over the left field fence for a three-run home run, giving the Ichabods a 4-0 lead.

They added another run in the next inning on a solo shot into left field by senior third baseman Brett Ingram. Steward finished off the top of the fifth inning with another scoreless frame to end his day after five innings pitched.

“I like it a lot, I think the routine is just a lot more regular instead of coming out of the bullpen and not knowing when,” Steward said. “I think it is very important [to start strong], because it sets the tempo. You can’t really think about the whole thing, you just have to think about it one pitch at a time.”

Senior Zach Philbin took over on the mound and delivered two scoreless innings to get the game into the eighth inning with the same score.

The Wolves scored three runs in the eighth inning on two hits along with an error in the field from the Ichabods, causing only two of the runs to be earned.

That would be all of the scoring for either team as senior Joel Casillas came on and threw a scoreless ninth inning to record his second save of the season.

In the second game of the day, the Wolves came out swinging, picking up two hits to score one in the first inning off of sophomore Jack Brimacombe who made the start.

The score stayed the same until the bottom of the third which was led off with a single from Savage for Washburn. Junior shortstop Cal Watkins reached next on an error, advancing Savage to third base.

Scott continued his productive day and made them pay for the error with a sacrifice fly into center field, scoring Savage. Two batters later, senior right fielder Zion Bowlin shot a ball up the middle for a single to score Watkins and give the Ichabods a 2-1 lead.

After allowing a run in the first, Brimacombe settled in, allowing only one run through five innings.

“Having Brim come in and be a guy that gets thrown into the situation,” Douglas said. “Brim came out and controlled the zone and did a nice job of eliminating a lot of opportunities and keeping the pin as fresh as we wanted it to be.”

In the sixth inning Northern State was able to come back and take the lead, starting with a walk that was followed up by a home run from junior Reece Ragatz to take a 3-2 lead.

The Ichabods got two baserunners in the seventh inning but pushed no runs across as the score stayed the same into the eighth inning.

“They did a really good job of changing speeds and working with us a little bit, and we got out of attacking the baseball a little bit more,” Douglas said.

One error in the field for Washburn along with two hits for the Wolves led to the lead increasing from one run to three.

Senior pitcher Trevor Marreel and freshman Jake Schroder combined to keep Northern State at bay the final inning and two thirds, but the Ichabods could not muster any more offense, leading to a 5-2 loss.

Savage led the Ichabods offensive attack on the day, with three hits and three RBI’s. Ingram also picked up three hits on the day, with one RBI.

Steward finished the day with five scoreless innings, picking up four strikeouts in the process.

The split of games left Washburn’s record at 7-4 on the year as they get set to finish the series with the Wolves Monday, Feb. 21.

Edited by: Ellie Walker, Glorinna Noland