By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
No. 21-ranked Washburn softball picked up a pair of shutout MIAA wins on Friday, blanking the Lincoln Blue Tigers, 5-0 and 7-0 at Gahnstrom Field.
With Friday's sweep the Ichabods ran their winning streak over Lincoln to 16 games.
Pitcher Sheyenne Cheek improved to 5-0 in the circle Friday, picking up the second-game win in Washburn's MIAA sweep over Lincoln. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Hadley Kerschen went 5 of 7 on the day Friday as Washburn softball earned an MIAA sweep over Lincoln. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will be back in action at 1 p.m. Saturday, hosting Central Missouri in an MIAA doubleheader.
In Friday's first game, Washburn broke open a scoreless tie with a solo run in the bottom of the third when Jaycee Ginter drove in Hadley Herschen, who singled.
The Ichabods (25-5 overall, 4-2 MIAA) stretched their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning with a two-out rally, taking advantage of two Lincoln errors.
After loading the bases, Autymn Schreiner scored on a wild pitch and then Kerschen hit her first home run of the season, with her three-run shot scoring Paige Roggins and Allison Hemsath, who came in as a pinch runner.
Washburn remained scoreless the rest of the game but the five runs were more than enough as starting pitcher Ginter improved to 17-2 while striking out 10 and facing the minimum of 15 batters and not allowing a hit before giving away to Sheyenne Creek, who pitched the final two innings.
Overall, the Blue Tigers (4-16, 1-5 MIAA) were held without a hit for 62/3 innings before getting their first base runner of the game.
Kerschen had three of Washburn's seven hits, driving in three and scoring twice.
Marrit Mead had two hits and Ginter and Kaylee Wagner added the other two.
The Ichabods wasted little time jumping on top in the second game, scoring four times in their first at bat en route to cruising to the 7-0 win.
Washburn did its damage in the first inning with two outs as Ginter doubled and then Mead followed with a single. Jaden LaBarge singled to drive in both Mead and Ginter and after a walk drawn by Erin Boles, Danielle Schlader doubled down the left-field line sending both Boles and LaBarge home as the Ichabods jumped out to the 4-0 lead.
In the second, Washburn added another run when the Ichabods took advantage of a wild pitch by the Blue Tigers, scoring Kerschen who singled with two outs. Washburn scored a solo run in the fourth when LaBarge singled to score Mead, who singled and then stole second as the Ichabods went up 6-0.
Washburn scored its final run in the fifth on Kerschen's second home run of the day.
Cheek improved to 5-0 in the circle for the Ichabods, tossing three innings and striking out three before Ginter pitched the final two innings, striking out five Blue Tigers.
Overall Kerschen was 5 of 7 in the series, driving in four, scoring four times and raising her batting average 26 points on the day to .404.
WU baseball wins opener at Western
Washburn baseball opened its three-game series at Missouri Western with a 4-3 victory on Friday afternoon.
The Ichabods will play Game 2 at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Missouri Western (5-19, 2-12 MIAA) scored the first run of the day in the bottom of the second with a two-out single up the middle.
The score stayed at 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth when Washburn's Caden Bressler got things going with a single to right field and then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Otto Jones. With one out, Cal Watkins drove in Bressler with a single to tie the score.
The Ichabods (18-10, 11-3 MIAA) added to their lead the following inning.
Easton Bruce led off the frame and reached base after getting hit by the pitch. Cale Savage singled through the left side to put runners on the corners for Trevor McCollum, who drove in a run with a single to right field. Ike Book kept the line moving when he ripped a triple down the right field line to put Washburn up, 4-1.
The Griffons trimmed the deficit to one after scoring one run in eighth and ninth innings, but Chase Torkelson came on in relief and retired each of the three batters he faced in the final inning to receive the save.
Washburn had 10 hits on the afternoon while Missouri Western had seven.
McCollum was 3-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Savage and Bressler were both 2-4 and scored once.
On the mound, Casey Steward improved to 2-1 on the season after his six inning start and allowed just one run, three hits, and two walks while striking out seven.
