After winning the opening game of its three-game slate against Missouri Western State, Washburn baseball looked to claim a second straight conference series with a win Saturday.

The start was slow, but the Ichabods dominated the middle innings of the game to come away with a 13-5 win, making four in a row.

“Our starting pitching has done a good job for the most part … just got to get a little better and quit giving up leadoff walks,” said head coach Harley Douglas. “We will shore it up, if that is the worst you got to worry about on a weekend then you feel pretty good.”

With the win, Washburn moved to 21-7 on the year as they look to stay near the top of the MIAA standings.

“This conference everyday is a dog fight, and knowing that you got to come out when you get the opportunities to get sweeps you got to finish them off,” Douglas said.

Sophomore Casey Steward got the start for Washburn and started his day out with a walk. The free base would prove costly as Griffons senior Alex Crouch blasted a two-run shot over the left field wall to take an early lead.

The Ichabods did all of their work with two outs in the bottom of the inning, starting with a double from senior right fielder Parker Dunn. Two batters later, senior third baseman Zion Bowlin doubled to drive in two runs and tie the game.

“[I was] just sitting on my pitch, you know, that is pretty much what everybody does in our lineup, we just sit on our pitch and try to drive it the best we can,” Bowlin said.

The first pitch of the second inning for Steward was sent over the fence in center field for the second home run of the day, putting Missouri Western State back in front. That would be the only baserunner allowed in the inning.

Washburn only needed three batters to score in the second, with one run coming on an RBI single from junior first baseman Cale Savage. With two outs, Dunn knocked a single into left field, scoring another run. Right behind him, senior designated hitter Brett Ingram singled to score two more runs.

Steward settled in and did not allow a hit in the third or fourth innings, as his strikeout total reached seven in the game.

The Ichabods did not slow down, starting the third inning off with a triple from senior second baseman Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli, who scored on a sacrifice fly from Dunn to make it a 7-3 game.

The runs kept coming in the fifth inning, with two more off the bat of Savage, who blasted his second home run of the series over the left field wall to make it a six run game.

After five innings pitched, Steward was replaced by sophomore Julian Zamora who completed a scoreless frame.

In the sixth, Bowlin singled to pick up his third RBI of the day with a single in the sixth. Two batters later, sophomore catcher Otto Jones blasted a three-run shot over the right field wall, making it 13-3.

“I think we are just clicking right now, we are getting on base, we are moving people over and then we are driving them in, we are just doing what we are supposed to do,” Bowlin said.

Junior Jared Sharp took over on the mound in the seventh and surrendered the third home run of the day to the Griffons, cutting the deficit to eight, but that is all they would get.

Washburn’s offense was quiet for the final two innings but it did not matter as junior Braden Burcham and senior Britt Brown threw a scoreless eighth and ninth inning respectively to close the game with a 13-5 win.

Steward picked up the win, making him 2-0 on the year. At the plate, Bowlin, Dunn, Ingram and Savage finished with multi-hit games.

“Overall it showed our depth and what we have and where we are at and we really feel like our goal is to make sure everybody understands that everybody has a role on this team,” Douglas said.

The Ichabods will close out the series and extend its win streak to five games in the final game of the series on Sunday.

Edited by: Alyssa Storm, Glorianna Noland