Weekly Notes | Live stats for Texas A&M-International

Up First . . .
The Lady Blues will return to action for the first time since playing in the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invitational when they will have their home opener facing Texas A&M-International on St. Patrick's Day at 1 p.m. in a doubleheader at the Washburn Softball Complex. Following the game with the Dustdevils, Washburn will face conference foes Southwest Baptist, Central Missouri, Missouri Southern, Pittsburg State, Emporia State and Lincoln in the first MIAA Crossover in Springfield, Mo. Washburn will open the MIAA slate on March 25 and 26 when they will play host to Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Omaha.

In the dugout . . .
Lisa Carey, the all-time winingest coach at Washburn, is in her ninth season in the Lady Blues' dugout. She was named the program's 13th coach Aug. 14, 2002 and has recorded a 242-200 (.563) mark during her Washburn tenure.  The former University of Oklahoma three-time All-American and National Champion has led the Lady Blues to two of the three NCAA Division II tournament appearances in school history making the trips in two of the last five seasons. She has led the Lady Blues to two of the three NCAA appearances in school history. In eight seasons at the helm of the program, she has coached 52 Lady Blues to all-MIAA honors, seven all-region team selections, the 2007 MIAA Freshman of the Year, the 2009 MIAA Most Valuable Player, 49 MIAA Academic Honor Roll award winners as well as an ESPN The Magazine Academic all-district selection.

A look at the opponents . . .
Texas A&M-International is 14-19 this season entering a pair of games with Emporia State on March 16. They topped the Lady Blues 2-1 on Feb. 19 at the South Central Shootout earlier this season.
Southwest Baptist in 1-5 overall and 0-2 in MIAA play already starting its conference slate. Central Missouri in 9-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play after sweeping SBU. Missouri Southern is 11-7 this  season. Pittsburg State is 4-7 overall and Emporia State is 12-5 overall and received notes in the latest NFCA Top 25 Coaches poll. Lincoln is 5-7 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play after spitting its twinbill with Truman to open conference play. The three-day event in Springfield will count for regional games only and not impact the MIAA standings.

Series history. . .
• Southwest Baptist: Washburn leads the all-time series 38-7 and the teams have split the last six meetings. Prior to that the Lady Blues had won the last 18 in the series.
• Central Missouri: The Jennies lead 32-37 and have won the last three meetings and 9 of the last 11 games in the series.
• Missouri Southern: The series is tied at 31-31 and the Lady Blues and Lions have split the last four meetings.
• Pittsburg State: Washburn leads the series 54-43 and has won the last four and 14 of the last 17 games.
• Emporia State: The Hornets lead the series 67-45 and have won the last 22 straight. The last Lady Blues win in the series was on April 20, 2005 in a 4-3 win.
• Lincoln: Washburn leads the all-time series 18-1 and has won the last two. The teams have not met since the 2004 season.

Who's on deck? . . .
Washburn will open the MIAA slate on March 25 and 26 when they will play host to Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Omaha in Topeka.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
March 4 - WTAM Lady Buff Invite
CANYON, Texas -- The Washburn Lady Blues went 1-1 in the first day of action at the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs Invitational falling to the host Lady Buffs 9-0 before topping Eastern New Mexico 6-0.
#6 West Texas A&M 9, Washburn 0 (5 innings)
The Lady Blues fell behind 1-0 after the first inning and then the No. 6-ranked Lady Buffs added four in the third inning and four more in the fourth for the 9-0 win. Kacy Covert, Katie Schroeder, Hilary Weatherford, Lauren Himpel and Britny Cushing each had a hit for the Lady Blues. Kelsie Novotny took the loss allowing only three earned runs while WTAMU took advantage of three Washburn fielding errors leading to the six unearned runs for the Lady Buffs.
Washburn 6, Eastern New Mexico 0 Washburn scored three runs in the first inning and three in the seventh inning en route to the 6-0 win. Danielle Fox picked up the win striking out a career-high 12 in the shutout performance.
In the first inning Alex Zordel had a 2-RBI single to left and Lauren Himpel tripled to drive in a run.  In the seventh inning, Hilary Weatherford drove in two with a double to left while Lauren Himpel picked up another RBI on a double of her own.
March 5 - WTAM Lady Buff Invite
CANYON, Texas -- The Washburn Lady Blues split action in the second day of play in the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs Invitational.
#6 West Texas A&M 6, Washburn 2
The Washburn Lady Blues rallied to knot the score at 2-2 entering the bottom of the sixth, but allowed the Lady Buffs to score four runs in the bottom of the frame in a 6-2 loss.
Washburn scored both its runs on a homer by Alex Zordel driving in Lindsey Himpel who singled. Hilary Weatherford and Jacque Horejsi also had singles. Danielle Fox took the loss.
Washburn 8, Eastern New Mexico 7
Washburn rallied from a 7-2 deficit scoring three runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take an 8-7 win over Eastern New Mexico. Washburn scored two runs in the second inning on RBI singles by Marissa Martin and Katie Schroeder. The Zias scored six runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead. The comeback started in the bottom of the sixth on a three-run homer by Hilary Weatherford to cut into the lead. In the seventh inning, Jacque Horejsi doubled to left driving in Lindsey Himpel. Katie Schroeder drew a walk forcing in Lindsey Himpel. Alex Zordel drove in the game-winning run when she singled to center scoring Marisa Martin. Danielle Fox picked up the win in relief. Marissa Martin, Alex Zordel and Hilary Weatherford each had two hits.

Player notes . . .
1 • Britny Cushing • Second on the team with 47 put outs and no errors in 50 chances.
2 • Lindsey Himpel • Was 1 for 4 in first action of the season after being released from injury.
4 • Katie Schroeder • Second on the team with a .333 batting average with 13 hits and five RBI.
5 • Lauren Himpel • A perfect 4 for 4 in stolen base attempts this season.
7 • Kacy Covert • Batting .310 with 9 hits and a double in 29 at bats this season.
8 • Second on the team with six runs scored and hit .333 at the West Texas Lady Buff Invitational.
10 • Marisa Tetuan • Scored a run playing in two games in Texas last time out.
13 • Lindsey Moore • Missed action at West Texas after suffering a broken nose and has since been released to play earlier this week … has reached base safely in a team-best eight straight games.
16 • Jessie McGown • Appeared in two games in Texas last time out.
17 • Paige Hightower • Appeared in two games in Texas last time out.
18 • Jacque Horejsi • Second on the team with six RBI this season.
20 • Kelsie Novotny • Has a 3.00 ERA in eight appearances this season.
21 • Danielle Fox • Was 2-1 with a 2.68 ERA in three games in the circle last time out in Texas.
22 • Shelby Erickson • Third on the team with 12 hits this season scoring three runs with four RBI.
23 • Alex Zordel • Tied for team lead with four multiple hit games and two multiple RBI games.
25 • Hilary Weatherford • Enters the next game with a team-best seven-game hitting streak … hit a team-high .538 with seven hits in 13 at bats with 5 RBI.