Washburn baseball had the definition of a bounce-back performance in its 10-8 win over Pittsburg State April 30.

After losing 14-3 the day before, the Ichabods used a seven-run first inning to even up the series. Washburn moved to 29-17 overall on the year in the victory

“This team is very different because it leads by example more than by vocal,” said head coach Harley Douglas. “They drove in runs, it was fun to watch, they competed a lot better than they had in the past and hopefully we can put it together again.”

Three home-runs and a strong bullpen performance, all coming from seniors, were the difference in the game as the team looked towards senior day in the final game of the series.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, I love this place so I get emotional just talking about it so it’s going to suck playing here but it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said senior Brett Ingram.

Even with the win, the Ichabods will still finish fifth place in the MIAA, regardless of the outcome of the series’ finale.

“We know we are probably going to have to go on the road,” Douglas said. “I think we want to play for something bigger than just a conference championship, and we still have goals and aspirations to be that first regional team.”

Washburn’s offense got started early with Ingram going over the left field wall for a solo home run in the first. Two batters later, senior Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli did the same with one runner on, making it 3-0 after four hitters.

“Yesterday, we were kind of just getting a little jumpy, we weren’t really putting up good at-bats, I thought our focus wasn’t there. But today, from the first inning we scored seven runs. Our focus was really good and it just carried on throughout the game,” Ingram said.

Senior Quinn Waterbury singled and got to third on an error and wild pitch. Freshman Easton Bruce brought him home with an RBI groundout.

The bases were loaded for junior Cal Watkins who looped a fly ball into center field for a double, scoring two runs. Sophomore Otto Jones was able to score on a wild pitch to complete the seven run first inning.

“We were able to get in some hitters counts and it was good. When we get out and score early we are kind of a different team sometime and I think that was big for us today,” Douglas said.

Junior John Cross didn’t surrender a hit until the third inning when the Gorillas got two runs on a walk and a pair of doubles.

The fourth inning for the Gorillas started with a double and home run to cut down the lead by two more.

The Ichabods got the runs right back in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run over the right field wall from Waterbury to make it 9-4 after four.

In the fifth inning, the first four batters reached base for Pitt State off of Cross, with two scoring. Cross exited with nine strikeouts and was replaced by senior Dalton Huggins who recorded the final three outs to keep the score at 9-6.

“It’s always nice when you have John Cross and Dalton Huggins who can get strikeouts and induce ground balls,” Douglas said. “They do a good job of making us look good when it comes to decisions.”

The score stayed that way until the seventh inning when the Gorillas were able to string together a single and two-out double to score a run. An error on a hit to shortstop allowed the runner on second to score and make it 9-8.

Sophomore Connor Scott led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and was moved to third base before going home on a wild pitch, growing the lead to two runs.

Huggins stayed in for the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no hits to hold off Pitt State and secure the 10-8 win.

Huggins moved to 5-1 on the season with the win, Ingram picked up three hits and each of Watkins, Clark-Chiapparelli and Waterbury had two RBIs.

Washburn moved to 29-17 in conference play and will look to win the series on Senior Day May 1.

Edited by: Alyssa Storm, Glorianna Noland