By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University baseball coach Harley Douglas was less than pleased after his Ichabods let a late lead get away in Saturday's home 9-8 MIAA loss to Northeastern State and he told his team that in no uncertain terms in a long postgame talk.
Former Seaman standout Maclane Finley is congratulated by his teammates after throwing a scoreless inning in Sunday's 11-2 Washburn win over Northeastern State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And the Ichabods, who committed five errors in Saturday's loss, apparently took Douglas' message to heart, responding with one of their best overall performances of the season on Sunday, rolling to an 11-2 win to take the series over the RiverHawks.
"We kind of had a little bit of a come to Jesus meeting with what happened (Saturday),'' Douglas said. (Northeastern) did a good job and came out and took advantage of our mistakes, but we have to put more into it with what we're trying to do. And I think yesterday put that all into perspective and we told them, 'You need to take a step back and realize what you're doing this for.'
"I think a lot of them did some thinking and realized it was time for us to kind of start trying to focus on each other instead of just ourselves. Anytime you can get a series win in this conference is huge. It's huge for us because it's the first time in a very long time we've put together a complete game. We hit, we pitched, we played defense and it explained to them just how good we can be if we just pay attention to what we're doing and pay attention to details.''
The Ichabods took control with five runs over the first two innings, got solid pitching performances from former Seaman standout Maclane Finley and Blake Priest and played error-free baseball en route to the decisive win.
Washburn, 12-19 overall, 9-10 MIAA, struck first on offense, with Trenton Barry leading off with a walk and scoring on a two-out double into right by Brandt Beeby in the bottom of the first.
After Beeby stole third he came home on the throw down to second on a stolen base by Jack Borgmann to put Washburn up 2-0.
Eli Dean (2) is greeted by his Washburn teammates after scoring a run in Sunday's 11-2 MIAA romp past Northeastern State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
In the second inning Eli Dean led off with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly from Barry.
Ian Luce followed with a triple that scored Owen Laessig to make a it 4-0 game and Levi Risenhoover capped off the three-run inning with a double.
After a pair of scoreless innings by Washburn starter Finley, the RiverHawks (11-21, 6-14) got on the board in the third, with a pair of hits scoring a run with no outs.
Northeastern State loaded the bases but Finley was able to escape the jam with a strikeout.
The Ichabods got the run back in the third, with Dean stroking a leadoff single and scoring on a two-out single from Laessig to give Washburn a 6-1 advantage.
The score stayed that way until the sixth inning when Northeastern State scratched out a run on three hits.
In the home half of the sixth Washburn loaded the bases with one out, scoring one run on a double play groundout to go up 7-2.
Priest took over on the mound in the seventh inning and tossed a scoreless frame.
In its next at bat Washburn loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk with one out before Luce singled up the middle to score two runs.
The Ichabods continued to add on to its lead in the eighth as Easton Wasinger and Borgmann slashed singles and Kolby Wheeler followed with a single that scored both runners to make it an 11-2 game.
Priest stayed on the mound for the remainder of the game, throwing a scoreless eighth inning and earning a save as he retired the RiverHawks in order in the ninth.
Washburn out-hit the RiverHawks 15-6 while Finley and Priest combined for nine strikeouts and just four walks.
Finley struck out six batters in his six innings of work while allowing just two runs and earning the win. Priest did not allow a hit in his three innings, striking out three.
Ian Luce had three hits and three RBI in Washburn's 11-2 MIAA win over Northeastern State on Sunday at Steve Anson Stadium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Luce went 3-6 with a team-high three RBI for the Ichabods while Dean went 3-4 in his first career multi-hit game and Barry went 2-4 in the leadoff spot.
The Ichabods hit the road to face Division I Wichita State on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
