Over the weekend, the Washburn baseball team played Missouri Western State University with MWSU winning the series 2-1.
After a short seven-inning game one due to MWSU run ruling the Ichabods 17-5, Washburn was looking for revenge in Saturday’s game, which they fell short of by one run.
Game two started off with Cooper Carlgren, senior pitcher, holding the Griffons’ offense scoreless until the sixth inning while the Washburn offense was able to put up one run in the first and three in the third thanks to hits from seniors Cash Jay, third baseman, Jett Buck, shortstop, Hayden Priest, catcher, Easton Bruce, left fielder, and Payton McHarg, right fielder.
MWSU would add one more run to its tally in the top of the ninth, tying the game, 4-4. The Ichabod offense failed to answer the run, sending the teams into extra innings.
In the 12th inning, MWSU would score a run and Washburn would leave it unanswered, costing them the chance at a series win.
“We’re fighting ourselves right now, and it’s really disheartening,” said Harley Douglas, head coach.
In an effort to stop the Griffons from sweeping the series, the Ichabods took the field on Sunday afternoon with the hope their offensive prep would help them put up enough runs to take game three.
“A lot of our practices are offense focused and [the coaches] are really good at just being able to help you out [with your swing],” Buck said.
Early in game three, the Ichabods’ would run the score up to 12-5 in three innings with hits from Buck and Darian Duhon, senior right fielder, in the first followed by hits from Bruce, McHarg, Priest, Connor Scott, senior center fielder, Garrett Springer, freshman designated hitter, and Jackson Mervosh, junior second baseman, in the third.
The Griffons scored seven runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, which were answered with another seven runs from the Ichabods in the sixth and seventh, driving the score to 19-12 Washburn after seven.
The bottom of the eighth was quiet for the Ichabods after MWSU was able to rally and add five runs to the board.
In the top of the ninth after a call to the bullpen to bring in the eighth Washburn pitcher of the game, Keegan McDonald, junior pitcher, stepped up to the mound and forced an MWSU strikeout, sacrifice fly and a groundout to end the game, 19-18, giving Washburn the game three victory preventing an MWSU sweep and snapping a four-game losing streak for the Ichabods.
After a tough weekend on the field, Douglas emphasized going back to practice to reset is exactly what the team needs to get back on track for the upcoming games, especially to work with his pitching staff.
“We just need to get back and get in and kind of [go] back to the foundational pieces [at practice],” Douglas said. “We do a bad job of getting behind in the count, and then we have to try to throw different pitches to get ahead in the count or to get back even with it. And I think we just need to really focus on our command of our fastballs and being able to work from that point.”
The Ichabods begin a six-game stretch on the road with a match-up against No. 2 ranked University of Central Missouri followed by University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, Fort Hays State University and Northwestern Oklahoma State University before returning home for a three-game series against Rogers State University starting April 4.
Edited by Jayme Thompson
