TOPEKA, Kan. (May 7, 2016) -- Bennett Oliver tied the UCM single-season home run record with his 20th of the year and the 16th-ranked Mules beat #30 Washburn 8-4 on Saturday afternoon. The Mules run their winning streak to six games and now stand at 33-12 overall and 31-7 in MIAA play.
The Mules jumped on top with four runs in the top of the second inning and they never looked back.
Blake Wilfong had an RBI single to start the scoring,
Matt Elliott added a two-run triple and
Dylan Farrell's RBI double capped the inning. All four runs were scored with two outs after the first two batters of the inning were retired.
The Ichabods (31-17, 26-12 MIAA) got a run back in the home half, scoring an unearned to make it 4-1.
Jackson Schnurbusch scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and the Mules led 5-1. Oliver led off the fifth inning with his record-tying home run to make it 6-1 and
Cole Distler added an RBI double to make it 7-1. The lead grew to 8-1 in the eighth on Oliver's RBI double.
Washburn got a pair of runs back in the home half to pull within 8-3 and they put up a small rally in the ninth, scoring one run to make it 8-4. The Bods had runners at the corners with no outs, but
Lucas Williams cut a runner down at the plate and induced a game-ending double play to record the save.
Ethan Westphal (8-2) picked up the win after allowing one unearned run on three hits in 6.2 innings of work. He walked three and struck out three.
Mike Hefferan (7-3) took the loss for Washburn after allowing four runs on four hits in just two innings of work.
The series and regular season wraps up on Sunday. First pitch has been moved up one hour and the game will now start at noon at Falley Field.
