Mules Seven Unanswered Runs Not Enough to Come Back vs. Ichabods

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (March 22, 2019) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball (17-9, 9-5 MIAA) showed a lot of fight in their 8-7 loss Friday afternoon to Washburn. UCM got down 8-0 after six innings, but scored seven straight as they clawed their way back. The Mules got the tying run to third in the ninth, but the Ichabods left him stranded as they held on for the win.

Play-by-Play
• The first five batters of the game all reached base against Mules starter Ben Kelsch. Nothing was hit very hard, but the Ichabods were able to find holes and three run-scoring hits gave them a 4-0 lead before the Mules even came to the plate.
• For the first six innings when the Mules finally did come to the plate, it wasn't pretty. They had just two hits in those innings as Washburn started Jacob Head was cruising.
• Washburn added three more runs in the fourth, all unearned. An error started the inning off and with two on, an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt allowed two runs to cross the plate. An infield single brought home the third run of the inning.
• Washburn made it 8-0 in the sixth with a two out rally. With two outs and a man on first base, the Ichabods drew two straight walks and a balk brought in the team's eighth run.
• The Mules offense finally came to life in the seventh. With one out, Erik Webb doubled to left center to start the rally. Micah Evans brought in Webb with a single up the middle.
• Zak Whalin cut the lead in half, 8-4, with a bases clearing single as Donovan Ditto, Harrison Schnurbusch and Evans all came in to score. 
• UCM brought the lead down to just one in the eighth scoring three more. Michael Sinks brought in two with an opposite field double to right and Whalin picked up another RBI with an infield single.
• Washburn threatened to add to their lead in the ninth. With two outs and two on, the Ichabods tried to score from second on an infield hit that bounced off of pitcher Jonathan Sprinkle's foot. The ball was kicked right to Donovan Ditto fortunately for UCM who fired home to end the inning.
• UCM led off the ninth inning with a double from Mason Janvrin. Alex Madera moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt, putting the tying run 90 feet away. With the infield in, Erik Webb hit a bullet to the shortstop, who looked Janvrin back to third and fired to first in time to get Webb. Washburn ended the game one batter later with a strikeout.

Mules Stat Leaders
• Zak Whalin was 2-4 with three RBI.
• Harrison Schnurbusch scored twice and was 2-5 at the plate.
• Michael Sinks was 1-4 with two RBI.
• Erik Webb and Alex Madera each had a hit and scored a run.
• Micah Evans was 1-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
• Ben Kelsch started and lasted 5.2 innings. He gave up eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits with four strikeouts.
• Evan Rathburn threw 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

For the Ichabods
• Starter Jacob Head threw seven innings allowing four runs on six hits with two strikeouts.
• Nathan Lorenzen earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
• Brady Hoover and Peter Shearer were each 2-5 with a run and an RBI.
• Javis Larson finished 3-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Xavier De Leon was 2-4 out of the leadoff spot with a run and an RBI.

News and Notes
• Erik Webb pushed his hitting streak to 25 games with his double in the seventh.
• It took until the ninth, but Mason Janvrin's double extended his reached-base streak to 26 games.
• Four of the Mules six RBI came with two outs.
• With a runner on third base and less than two outs, the Mules drove in the runner on one of five occasions while the Ichabods were 3-4 in such situations. 
• The leadoff hitter for Washburn reached base in five of nine innings.
• Twelve of Washburn's 13 hits were singles. 
• Evan Rathburn has now thrown nine straight scoreless innings in his last six outings and lowered his ERA to 0.79 this season. 

Up Next
• The team's will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon with a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.