PSU upends Washburn, advances to MIAA semifinals
May 17—With its baseball season on the line Sunday afternoon, Pittsburg State found a way to get the job done.
Part of the solution was a two-run eighth inning that helped lift the Gorillas to a 9-7 win over Washburn at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kan., clinching a 2-1 series triumph and advancing them to the semifinals of the MIAA postseason tournament later this week.
"There were times throughout the game where we could have pouted about the way things were going," PSU head coach Bob Fornelli said. "But instead we stuck our nose in, got after it and figured out how to win the baseball game."
A five-run sixth by Washburn (20-22) forced a 7-7 tie before PSU (28-14) plated its two go-ahead runs in the eighth on two hits and one Ichabods throwing error.
With the bases loaded for PSU and one out in the eighth, Garret McGowan plated a run on a sacrifice grounder to the left side of the infield. and on the same play, an errant throw to first allowed another run to cross for the Gorillas to give them a two-run lead.
PSU reliever Dawson Pomeroy took care of the rest as he retired the side in the top of the ninth with a groundout, a fly out and a strikeout. The junior righty, who also played third base in the game, tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while striking out a pair in the winning effort.
Sunday's win marked the second straight for the fourth-seeded Gorillas after dropping their season opener to the fifth-seeded Ichabods on Friday. PSU will take on top-seeded Central Missouri in the tournament semifinals at noon Thursday in Joplin.
"I think we've come a long way," Fornelli said. "Earlier in the year, when things went wrong we'd go backwards. But I think our guys showed a lot this weekend by losing the first game and coming back and finding a way to win the next two.
"We're competing and giving ourselves opportunities to win baseball games. That's what you need, because everybody is going to be playing well at this point in the season. Everybody is good enough to beat everybody."
PSU faced a 2-1 deficit through three innings before it erupted for six runs in the fourth, an inning highlighted by RBI at-bats by Greyson Pinkett, Cruz Aranda and Aaron Gerdes, as well as a three-run home run by McGowan.
An RBI single by Aranda in the bottom of the third pulled PSU to within a run of Washburn earlier in the game. He finished 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Blain Ohlmeier went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Justin Root started the game for PSU and went 5 1/3, allowing three earned runs.
The Gorillas are looking to improve their season resume in order to land a spot in the six-team NCAA Central Region Tournament in a couple of weeks.
"We still have a chance," Fornelli said. "We have a tough road to hoe with Central Missouri on Thursday and whoever it might be after that. But we have to go play good baseball this week."
Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.
