Washburn freshman Jaycee Ginter hit a grand slam home run in the first game and picked up her 11th pitching victory in the second game of Monday's twinbill sweep over Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University softball team's string of six games in three days didn't get off to a great start, but after a pair of losses to nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma on Saturday, the Ichabods bounced back for four straight wins, including a 9-3, 4-2 doubleheader sweep over Lincoln Monday at Gahnstrom Field.
Now the Ichabods get a brief one-day break Tuesday before continuing their grind of 20 games in 14 days with a twinbill at Missouri Southern on Wednesday in Joplin, Mo.
The Ichabods were supposed to face Northwest Missouri on Wednesday, but because of wet weather and snow in parts of Missouri and Kansas, that doubleheader has been pushed back to Thursday in Maryville, Mo. and the Southern twinbill, originally slated for Friday, has been slotted in for Wednesday (3 p.m. start).
Washburn, 23-6 overall and 9-3 in the MIAA, enters the back-to-back doubleheaders on a high note after completing its homestand with Monday's wins over the Blue Tigers.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of Monday's opener, with Ashton Friend hitting a two-run home run and Bri Francis doubling and scoring on a single from Kamryn Garvie.
Friend added a run-scoring single in the second before the Ichabods, leading by just a 4-2 margin after a pair of Lincoln runs in the fifth, broke the game open with five runs in the sixth inning, including a grand slam homer from freshman Jaycee Ginter, a Shawnee Heights product.
Marrit Mead, Brianna Fuchs, Friend and Garvie all had two hits for Washburn while Ginter had four RBI and Friend three.
Raegen Hamm allowed three hits in four innings en route to improving to 12-4 on the season while Ashlie Thissen finished up on the mound for WU with three innings of work to pick up the save.
Mead singled and stole a pair of bases before scoring on Friend's sacrifice fly to get Wasbbun on the board in the bottom of the first in the second game.
Washburn added another run in the third on Friend's single, which scored Mead, who had doubled, and went up 3-0 in the fourth, with Kimi Patterson singling and scoring..
The Blue Tigers (6-31-1, 3-21) got on the board in the fifth inning with a home run and then added an unearned in the sixth but Patterson hit a home run off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth to account for the final margin.
Ginter picked up the pitching win to improve to 11-2 while Hamm recorded her second save of the season after entering the game with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning. Hamm pitching a scoreless seventh, striking out two.
Mead and Friend each had two hits and Friend drove in two runs.
After going on the road for the twinbills at Southern and Northwest Missouri, Washburn will return home to host Emporia State for a Sunday doubleheader (1 p.m. start).
FIRST TEAM
WASHBURN 9, LINCOLN 3
Lincoln 000 020 1 -- 3 7 1
Washburn 310 005 x -- 9 12 1
Stalling, Miller (6) and Wagner. Hamm, Thissen (5) and Francis. WP -- Hamm (12-4). LP -- Stallings (2-4). Save -- Thissen. 2B -- Lincoln: Hollon. Washburn: Francis, Garvie. HR -- Washburn: Friend, Ginter.
SECOND GAME
WASHBURN 4, LINCOLN 2
Lincoln (6-31-1, 3-21) 000 011 0 -- 2 7 1
Washburn (23-6, 9-3) 101 101 x -- 4 8 0
Walker and Marquez. Ginter, Hamm (6) and Francis. WP -- Ginter (11-2). LP -- Welker (2-9). Save -- Hamm. 2B -- Lincoln: Callahan, Lawson. Washburn: Mead. HR -- Lincoln: Miller. Washburn: Patterson.
