By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's softball team didn't have to wait long to wipe away the sour taste left by Saturday's doubleheader loss to nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma.
Returning to action 24 hours later, the Ichabods bounced back to take a 5-4, 11-1 MIAA twinbill sweep over Newman Sunday at Gahnstrom Field, improving to 21-6 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
Freshman Marrit Mead had a big day at the plate, including a pair of home runs, as Washburn swept Newman Sunday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods got complete-game pitching performances from Raegen Hamm and Jaycee Ginter while Marrit Mead had a huge day at the plate to spearhead Washburn's 19-hit, nine extra-base hit attack.
"We challenged our kids yesterday to bounce back and play the way we can play,'' said Washburn coach Brenda Holaday said, whose team had returned to action Saturday for the first time in three weeks due to COVID-19 protocols. "There's still a lot of room for improvement, but I thought we took a step today.''
Washburn took control in the opener with five runs in the second inning and the Ichabods survived a four-run seventh-inning rally by Newman to hold on the win.
Hamm, a junior, gave up eight hits while walking two batters and striking out three, improving to 11-4 on the season.
Washburn pitcher Raegen Hamm picked up her 11th win of the season in Sunday's 5-4 win over Newman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Mead, a freshman out of Santa Fe Trail, went 2 for 4 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored while Hadley Kerschen and Bri Francis also had two hits, with Kimi Patterson hitting a home run and Kerschen, Francis and Paige Robbins all stroking doubles.
Shawnee Heights product Ginter, a freshman, threw a six-hitter with four strikeouts and four walks in the second game, allowing just a single run in the top of the fifth.
Mead, the Ichabods' leadoff hitter, hit a pair of solo home runs in the second game, going 3 for 3 with four runs scored while Ginter went 2 for 2 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored.
Shawnee Heights product Jaycee Ginter picked up her 10th pitching win and also hit a home run in Washburn's 11-1 win over Newman Sunday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Robbins had a pair of hits and Ashton Friend a double as the Ichabods ended the game after four and a half innings due to the 10-run spread.
Washburn opened the game with four runs in the first and added three runs in the second and third and a single run in the fourth.
"Newman's got a lot of hitters in their lineup and I thought we did a nice job,'' Holaday said. "We had a little bit of a slipup the first game, seventh inning, but credit them, too. They put the bat on the ball and got some hits, so that win was really big for us and then I thought we got our bats going the second game and that was important.
"We have lot of kids in our lineup that can hit and they just needed to have enough at-bats to get back in a rhythm so overall, it was a good day.''
Washburn Rural product Taylor Ullery, who started for Holaday as a freshman at Rural, went 2 for 4 on the day for Newman (6-27, 4-18) with a double, a pair of walks, a run batted in and a run scored.
"I went over and gave her a hug before the game and congratulated her on what a good season she's having,'' Holaday said. "She's doing really well.''
The Ichabods, in the midst of a stretch of 20 games over 14 days, will be right back in action Monday, hosting Lincoln in a 1 p.m. twinbill at Gahnstrom Field.
The Lincoln games were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but moved up because of inclement weather expected on Tuesday.
FIRST TEAM
WASHBURN 5, NEWMAN 4
Newman 000 000 4 -- 4 8 0
Washburn 050 000 0 -- 5 10 1
Dewitt and Kwak. Hamm and Francis. WP -- Hamm (11-4). LP -- Dewitt (2-14). 2B -- Newman: Cox, Ullery, Wallace, Kuhrt, Kwak. Washburn: Mead, Kershen, Francis, Robbins. HR -- Washburn: Patterson.
SECOND GAME
WASHBURN 11, NEWMAN 1
Newman (6-27, 4-18) 000 01 -- 1 6 3
Washburn (21-6, 7-3) 433 1x -- 11 9 0
Veltien, Wentworth (2) and Kwak. Ginter and Francis. WP -- Ginter (10-2). LP -- Veltien (4-10). 2B -- Washburn: Friend. 3B -- Central Oklahoma: Puempel. HR -- Washburn: Mead 2, Ginter.
