Washburn Ichabods Week 6 Game Notes
Record: 12-7 (8-4 MIAA)

Game Notes


at Fort Hays State (9-11, 7-8 MIAA)
Hays, Kan. • Larks Park

Tuesday	03/27	at	Fort Hays State	7 inn.	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Tuesday	03/27	at	Fort Hays State	9 inn.	4:00 p.m.	Live Stats

at Missouri Western (15-7, 8-4 MIAA)
St. Joseph, Mo. • Springs Sports Complex

Saturday	03/31	at	Missouri Western	7 inn.	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Saturday	03/31	at	Missouri Western	9 inn.	4:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Sunday	04/01	at	Missouri Western	7 inn.	12:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Sunday	04/01	at	Missouri Western	9 inn.	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats

Leading Off
The Ichabods will take their five-game winning streak on the road as they play six MIAA games this week away from home. Tuesday they'll play a doubleheader at Fort Hays State starting at 2 p.m. and then Saturday and Sunday they'll play four at Missouri Western. Saturday the two will play a doubleheader at 2 p.m. and Sunday they'll play another twin bill at noon.

Washburn swept Southwest Baptist last week to improve to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the MIAA. The Ichabods moved into a three-way tie for first in the MIAA after their first four-game series sweep since 2009.

FHSU is 9-11 overall and 7-8 in the MIAA after winning three of four against then-No. 1 Central Missouri. The Griffons are 15-7 and 8-4 in the MIAA after winning three of four against Lincoln. MWSU will play two against Emporia State Tuesday before hosting Washburn. The four games with the Ichabods will mark the end of a 17-game home stand for the Griffons.

The Series Records
Fort Hays State is 91-65 all-time against Washburn and the series goes back to 1966. The Ichabods took three out of four last year and they split the year before. Washburn has won five straight in Hays dating back to 2009.

The Ichabods are 57-48 against Missouri Western in a series that dates back to 1970. The Griffons won all three games in Topeka last year but the year before that Washburn swept a two-game series.

Last Time Out For Washburn
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Ichabods completed their first four-game series sweep since 2009 as they took two games Sunday in a doubleheader against Southwest Baptist at Falley Field. Washburn won the first game 4-3 with a walk-off hit in the seventh and then took the second game 7-3.
The Ichabods improved to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the MIAA and they moved their winning streak to five games, the highest it's been since winning seven straight in 2006.

John Calhoun doubled in the bottom of the seventh with the score tied 3-3. He later advanced to third on a wild pitch then scored on a single from Tyler Bean to give Washburn the walk-off win. Bean had just switched to designated hitter after pitching the first 5 1/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs off 11 hits with three strikeouts. Richard Mais entered the game in the sixth and pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to earn the win, his first decision of the year.

Washburn was down 1-0 after half an inning but scored three in the bottom of the first. Calhoun walked to lead off and then stole second base. He went to third after SBU misplayed a Boone Plager sacrifice bunt and then later scored on a delayed steal to home. Blaine Matthews later drove in Plager on a sacrifice fly and then Brad Alberts later scored on an error to give Washburn all three of its runs without a hit.

After each team went four innings without scoring, the Bearcats tied the game in the sixth on a two-run single from Tyler Christophel. Mais then entered the game and got the last two outs that inning and then after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh, retired three straight SBU batters to set up Bean's game-winning hit.

The Ichabods played comeback in the second game as well but left little doubt after a 6-run fourth. The Bearcats scored two in the third and then after Bean led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, Alberts hit a two-run home run to left field. Calhoun later walked in a run with the bases loaded and then Plager drove in two more on a single. Bean's second hit of the inning drove one more in to end scoring that inning.

Mark Biesma started for Washburn and went the first five innings to earn the win. He allowed three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Trent Speaker pitched three hitless and scoreless innings after that and then AJ Green closed out the game in the ninth.

Alberts went 3 for 5 and was a triple away from hitting for the cycle. He also scored twice. He ended the four-game series going 7 for 13 (.538) with four runs scored. Washburn batted .348 as a team during the series.

Ichabods have player at top of MIAA batting and pitching statistics
Washburn senior John Calhoun led the MIAA in batting average and senior pitcher Tyler Bean leads the league in ERA in the March 18 MIAA statistical report.

Calhoun was batting .475 and he also led the league with an .847 slugging percentage and he was second with six home runs. Calhoun was sixth in the MIAA with 28 hits and sixth with 20 RBI.

Calhoun had game-winning RBI in three of Washburn's four wins two weeks ago. March 14 against St. Mary he had a game-winning two-run single as Washburn overcame a 4-3 deficit. He then had the game-winning RBI grounder in the opener at Truman March 16 and hit a game-winning three-run homer March 17 in the second game of the series. He scored Washburn's first run March 18 as they won the finale. He singled, stole second and then scored on a single. Calhoun had had two homers in the first game March 17.

Bean had made three starts on the mound prior to the statistics report for Washburn and he had a 0.82 ERA with a 3-0 record. He had only allowed two earned runs in 22 innings and had 12 strikeouts to just three walks. Bean was the only MIAA starting pitcher not to have allowed an extra-base hit.

Head Coach Steve Anson now eight games from 800 at Washburn
Washburn head coach Steve Anson coached his 1500th game at Washburn in the season finale last year and now in 2012, his 33rd season at Washburn, he's eight wins shy of 800 wins. Anson, the winningest coach in the MIAA, is 792-724-3 (.522) in 33 seasons at Washburn and 815-746-3 (.522) in 34 seasons overall as a head coach.

Anson entered 2012 with the 10th highest win total among active NCAA Division II coaches with 803. That's the highest among MIAA coaches. Among coaches all-time, he's 27th in career wins.

Ichabods get first four-game sweep since 2009
Washburn took all four games last weekend against Southwest Baptist for their first four-game sweep since 2009. The Ichabods are also on a five-game winning streak and it's their biggest streak since winning seven straight in 2006. Washburn's last four-game sweep was March 20 and 21 at home against Northwest Missouri.

The Ichabods have won eight of their last nine games with the loss coming in a four-game series at Truman on March 17. Washburn is batting .296 during the last nine games with Brad Alberts leading the team with a .481 (13 of 27) average. John Calhoun has 13 RBI in the last nine games.

The Washburn pitching staff has a 2.06 ERA in the last nine games and Brett Ash and Kerry Schachenmeyer are both 2-0 with ERAs under 1.40 in two starts each.

Washburn enters week tied for second in MIAA standings
Washburn is tied with two other teams for second in the MIAA with 8-4 records. Central Missouri leads the league with a 12-4 mark and all four teams are tied in the loss column. Missouri Western State, Washburn's weekend opponent, is also 8-4, as is Pittsburg State. The Ichabods moved from seventh to second after their four-game sweep last weekend.

Bean contributes at the plate and on the mound in senior year
Tyler Bean is hitting .318 in his two-year Washburn career and he's been the Ichabods starting third baseman in nearly every game. This year he's also returning to the mound as a starting pitcher for Washburn. Through four starts, he has a 3-0 record and a 1.65 ERA. Last week he was first in the league with a 0.82 ERA. He's struck out 15 and walked four while allowing just five earned runs in 27 1/3 innings. Bean has a .290 batting average this year with five home runs and 15 RBI.

In Bean's 15 at-bats while the starting pitcher, he has six hits (.400) and a two home runs. As the third baseman, he's batting .250 (9 of 36).

Ichabods showing power at the plate
Washburn has 21 home runs through 19 games this year. Last year the Ichabods hit 24 homers in 50 games and through 19 games, the Ichabods had just six homers. Washburn has a .475 slugging percentage this year after slugging .375 last year.

John Calhoun leads Washburn with six home runs and 24 RBI and he has a .784 slugging percentage. Tyler Bean has five homers.

Calhoun running wild on the base path
When John Calhoun isn't driving himself in with home runs, he's getting on base and then putting himself into scoring position with stolen bases. He has 12 steals this year and has been caught stealing just once. He has three games this year with two steals.

Ichabods picked sixth in MIAA preseason poll
The Ichabods were picked to finish sixth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll released Thursday by the conference office. Washburn finished sixth in last year's conference standings to earn a trip to the postseason tournament.

The Ichabods went 22-28 last year and 20-23 in the conference. Central Missouri and Emporia State shared the MIAA regular season title with 37-7 records and UCM was picked first this year with 99 points and nine first-place votes. ESU got two first-place votes and 92 points. The Ichabods earned 56 points and trailed No. 5 Missouri Southern (63 points), No. 4 Fort Hays State (73 points) and No. 3 Missouri Western (74 points).

About the Fort Hays State Tigers
The Tigers took three of four games against then-No. 1 Central Missouri last weekend and they've won seven of their last eight. Prior to that, Fort Hays State had lost seven straight and had started the year 2-10. The Tigers are now 9-11 overall and 7-8 in the MIAA.

Sheldon Howell leads the team with a .420 batting average and Ryan Busboom is batting .395 with five home runs and 28 RBI. The Tigers are batting .331 as a team but are allowing opponents to hit .321 this year.

Shawn Lewick has a 2.43 ERA with a 2-1 record on the mound. He's struck out 30 through 29 2/3 innings.

About the Missouri Western Griffons
Missouri Western took three of four games last weekend against Lincoln last weekend. They lost game four of the series and prior to that, they had won 10 straight including a sweep over then-No. 11 Missouri Southern.
Spencer Shockley leads the team with a .369 batting average and Nate Ramier leads with five homers and 18 RBI. Brandon Simmons is 5-1 on the mound with a 2.25 ERA and Ethan Ward is 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

Season Flashbacks: Don't Forget...
Shutout leads Ash to MIAA pitcher of the week honor: Junior pitcher Brett Ash threw a complete game shutout March 16 in Washburn's series opener at Truman to earn him MIAA pitcher of the week honor. Ash went nine innings against the Bulldogs and allowed six hits and a walk while striking out eight. He pitched out of a two-hit inning in the second and then in the fourth he allowed the bases to get loaded and got out of the inning with a strikeout. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the complete game and shutout.
Ichabods update record books with offensive explosion: The Ichabods scored 17 runs and had 21 hits March 12 in the third game of their series at Pittsburg State. Since single-game records were kept in 1999, that's the sixth-highest hit total and the second-highest in an MIAA game. The Ichabods had 24 hits at Southwest Baptist on April 14, 2000. The six home runs Washburn hit was tied for the highest in school history. Washburn also hit six homers at SBU on April 14, 2006. John Calhoun had six hits, tied for the second most in school history. He and Richard Swan became the first pair of Ichabods to each hit two homers in the same game since single-game records were kept in 1999.

Up Next For The Ichabods
The Ichabods will return to Falley Field next week to host Missouri Southern April 6-7 as part of a 10-game home stand. They'll then play 11 straight on the road before wrapping up the regular season May 5 at home against Emporia State.