BY ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
After not being able to practice on its own field and the weather forcing them to take serious time off, the Washburn Ichabods baseball team looked like it was in midseason form after sweeping an MIAA doubleheader against the University of Central Oklahoma on Sunday at Falley Field.
Washburn's Darian Duhon (right) is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a first-game home run against Central Oklahoma Sunday at Falley Field. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Connor Scott hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to give Washburn a 4-3 win in Game 1 and a barrage of runs in the early innings in the second game helped the Ichabods win, 10-5.
Washburn coach Harley Douglas was content with the way the Ichabods showed out in the home opener, especially with Mother Nature forcing them to pause for a couple of weeks.
“It was tremendous,” Douglas said. “We haven’t even been out on our field to practice yet. This was our first chance to really play on it. Being able to go out there and do that and also UCO is a great team. I thought we went toe-to-toe with them today and played pretty well, for the most part. Pretty good in the month of February to go out and get a couple of wins.”
Washburn's Cash Jay, applying a tag, drove in the Ichabods' first run in a 4-3 first-game victory over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn scored first in the opener after Cash Jay drove in Jett Buck off an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to give the Ichabods an early 1-0 lead.
UCO temporarily tied the game in the fourth inning with an RBI single. The Ichabods broke the 1-1 tie after Darian Duhon hit a solo home run to give Washburn a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
UCO capitalized on a Washburn error on the throwdown from home plate to second base in the top of the sixth inning. The Broncho runner made it from first to third, which led to a sacrifice bunt in the following at-bat to score the runner from third to tie the game 2-2. Another throwdown mis-fire occurred on a UCO batter stealing from first. The ball went into the outfield, scoring a UCO runner to break the tie, 3-2.
Washburn’s Easton Bruce brought the game even after a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the eighth to tie it, 3-3.
After a scoreless ninth and top part of the tenth inning, Washburn was due up to potentially win. Bruce earned a free base after taking a walk in the bottom of the 10th. Then Jackson Mervosh laid down a sacrifice bunt and after a throwing error down to second from home, Bruce made it to third base.
Scott then drilled a sacrifice fly out to center field and drove in Bruce for the 4-3 opening walk-off win. Griffin Huiatt (1-1) earned the win for Washburn after entering the game in the eighth inning. Huiatt threw 1.2 innings without allowing a hit or a run, sealing the victory for the Ichabods.
Washburn's Cooper Carlgren, a Washburn Rural product, pitched five solid innings as the Ichabods' first-game starting pitcher. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Starting pitcher Cooper Carlgren threw five innings, struck out three, giving up one run and three hits.
In the second game, the Ichabods wasted no time separating space between them and UCO. The Washburn offense blasted the Bronchos defense with nine runs in the first two innings. The Ichabods scored four runs on one hit in the first inning and scored five runs on five hits in the second inning. UCO made critical defensive errors and Washburn capitalized.
“It’s good, we try to put ourselves in a situation to play the toughest schedule we could in the country. We knew we were going to be battle-tested for the most part. We had to (capitalize) when you’re going to open up with UCO and Missouri Southern, both nationally-ranked teams. So you want to put yourself in a situation to be able to compete and not get overwhelmed. It was good to see our guys make the adjustment quick.”
UCO played better after giving up nine runs in the first two innings. The Bronchos chipped away with a run in the third, two in the fifth, one in the sixth and one in the seventh. UCO pitcher Brett Pense came in and threw four innings giving up five hits and allowed one run.
“(Brett) Pense is a great arm and they made the adjustment quick enough to start getting back into the ball game,” Douglas said. “We found a way to win which is great.”
Starting pitcher Caleb Lunnon (2-0) tossed four innings giving up two runs and three hits. Lunnon punched out four batters and gave up three walks.
Washburn (5-5 overall, 2-0 MIAA) will finish its home-opening series against UCO on Monday at 1 p.m.
“If we are going to strikeout, we’ve got to put up those numbers with doubles and home runs,” Douglas said. “If we’re not going to get those, we are not going to put ourselves in situations that I think we really need to focus more on… Put the ball in play and find a way to make some things happen. I’d like to see the bullpen shore up. We had seven walks in the last five innings. When a team is trying to come back you don’t want to give them opportunities like that. But other then that, two great starts from (Cooper) Carlgren and (Caleb) Lunnon. Can’t complain with that.”
