By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Gavin Wilhelm gets fired up every time he gets to toe the pitching rubber for Washburn University baseball.
But the junior right-hander had extra incentive Saturday and responded with the best outing of his Ichabod career, leading WU to a 5-0 Senior Day two-hit shutout over No. 5 Pittsburg State in Steve Anson Stadium at Falley Field.
Washburn junior pitcher Gavin Wilhelm gave up just one hit in six-plus innings in Saturday's 5-0 win over No. 5 Pittsburg State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Wilhelm, a Seaman product, gave up just one hit in 6.1 innings and recorded five strikeouts before seniors Griffin Huiatt, Blake Priest and Caleb Lunnon came on in relief to finish off the shutout over the MIAA champion Gorillas.
"All these guys here are the closest I've ever been with, and this is the most fun team I've ever been a part of,'' Wilhelm said. "The connections have just been unreal this season and just knowing that this is the guys' last game at Falley here just really meant a lot.''
Wilhelm, who improved to 3-0 on the season, got off to a quick start against the Gorillas (39-9 overall, 26-9 MIAA) and seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.
"I just felt good the entire day,'' Wilhelm said. "Everything was working for me. I had good defense behind me, I was just taking it one pitch at a time and just going from there.''
"Gavin today was really good,'' Washburn coach Harley Douglas said. "He had all his pitches working, he really commanded the zone and went after it very quickly and when you can get on top of it then you can start throwing the pitches you want and I thought he did a good job with that today.
"It's great to see, with him coming off the injury and being able to do that today.''
Prior to the game Washburn honored seniors Huiatt, Priest, Lunnon, Jackson Mervosh, Maclane Finley, Kyle Snyder, Max Clark and Keegan McDonald.
And once the series finale got under way it didn't take long for the Ichabods (21-28, 17-18) to get on the scoreboard.
Ian Luce singled with one out, and after Jack Borgmann walked and Levi Risenhoover was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded.
Easton Wasinger drove one home with a single, a second scored on a wild pitch and Trenton Barry lifted a sacrifice fly to center to put the Ichabods up 3-0.
Wilhelm held Pittsburg State without a hit until the fourth inning while Washburn went up 4-0 in the bottom of the third on a solo home run from Borgmann.
Wilhelm exited with one out in the seventh inning and Huiatt finished off the inning.
In the seventh Borgmann slashed a single and Risenhoover worked a walk to put two runners on before Barry slapped a double into the right-center gap to account for the final margin.
Priest took over on the mound in the middle of the eighth and he and Lunnon combined to finish out the game without allowing another baserunner as Washburn picked up its third shutout of the season.
Luce, Borgmann and Barry also had multi-hit days.
Third baseman Jack Borgmann reached base all four times, including a home run, in Saturday's 5-0 win over No. 5 Pittsburg State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Borgmann reached base all four times, going 2-2 with two walks, three runs and an RBI. Barry drove in a pair of runs.
The Ichabods finished the regular season as the No. 8 seed in the MIAA Tournament and will take on the No. 9 seed Central Oklahoma in the first round on Wednesday in Edmond, Okla.
"I think that's a testament to these guys for sure,'' Douglas said of Saturday's win. "I'm proud of my coaching staff. We could have hung it up when we were struggling and doing some different things and I thought today was a testament to what we've tried to do as a team and as a staff and really continue to fight for each other.
"I'm excited to head down next week and hope we continue to play good ball.''
WASHBURN 5, PITTSBURG STATE 0
Pittsburg State (39-9, 26-9) 000 000 000 -- 0 2 0
Washburn (21-28, 17-18) 301 000 10x -- 5 9 0
Blecha, Neill (3), Murry (6), Leiker (7), Crouch (8) and Nottleman. Wilhelm, Huiatt (7), Priest (8), Lunnon (9) and Richardson. W -- Wilhelm (3-0). L -- Blecha (4-2). 2B - Washburn: Barry. HR -- Washburn: Borgmann.
