Washburn Ichabods Week 7 Game Notes
Record: 13-12 (9-9 MIAA)

Game Notes

vs Missouri Southern Lions
Topeka, Kan. • Falley Field

Friday	04/06	vs	Missouri Southern	7 inn.	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Friday	04/06	vs	Missouri Southern	9 inn.	4:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Saturday	04/07	vs	Missouri Southern	7 inn.	12:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Saturday	04/07	vs	Missouri Southern	9 inn.	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats

Leading Off
The Ichabods will return home to Falley Field where they have won six straight as they host Missouri Southern in a four-game MIAA series this weekend. The two will play a doubleheader Friday at 2 p.m. and then another twin bill Saturday at noon.

Both teams will be looking for wins after getting swept in their MIAA series last weekend. Washburn lost four at Missouri Western and enters the series at 13-12 overall and 9-9 in the MIAA. The Lions are 19-11 and 12-10 after losing four straight at then-No. 10 Central Missouri.

The Ichabods are 6-1 at Falley Field this year with a 4-0 record against MIAA teams at home. This series starts a 10-game home stand for Washburn. The Ichabods will then play 11 straight on the road and then play just two more at home to wrap up the regular season.

The Series Record
Missouri Southern leads the all-time series 39-30. The two split their four games in Joplin last year. The last time they played four in Topeka, the Lions won three of them.

Last Time Out For Washburn
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Washburn fell 5-2 in the opener of a doubleheader Sunday at Missouri Western and then gave a walk-off win to the Griffons, 5-4 in the second game. Washburn fell to 13-12 and 9-9 in the MIAA. The Griffons jumped to 19-9 and 12-6 in the league as they completed the four-game sweep over Washburn.

Connor Crimmins doubled in Marcus Peavler in the top of the second in the opening game and then John Calhoun drove in Josh Wilder to give Washburn a 2-0 lead. The Griffons got three runs of their own the next half inning off three hits and then they added two more in the fourth to go up 5-2.

Tyler Bean went the distance on the mound for Washburn and fell to 3-1. He gave up eight hits while striking out three and walking none. Brandon Simmons also went the distance, giving up 10 hits to Washburn but winning his sixth game of the year.

The Griffons jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning in the second game and led 4-0 after the third. They held Washburn scoreless until the sixth when Brad Alberts hit a two-run home run. Boone Plager and Alberts each then singled in a run in the seventh to tie the score at 4-4.

With no outs and two on in the ninth, Jarad Bell hit a single through the left side to drive in the game-winning run for MWSU.

Trent Speaker worked the final six innings for Washburn and picked up the loss (1-2). The only run he gave up was the game-ended as Mark Biesma started and gave up four runs through 2 2/3 innings.

Alberts finished the second game 3 for 4 with three RBI. Three other players had two hits as Washburn totaled 12.  
Calhoun still leads the league in hitting and slugging

Washburn senior John Calhoun leads the MIAA in hitting and in slugging percentage heading into the weekend. He's batting .429 and leads a group of nine MIAA players hitting over .400 so far this year. He also leads the league with a .704 slugging percentage. Of his 42 hits, 15 have gone for extra bases. He's fourth in the MIAA with 42 hits and nine doubles and he's fifth with six home runs.

Calhoun had a 12-game hitting streak early in the year and his batting averaged climbed as high as .543 during that stretch. He's hit safely in 20 of 25 games this year.

Calhoun not only leads Washburn in hitting, he also leads the team with 24 runs scored and 14 stolen bases. His stolen base total is the most in a single-season since Kyle Peter swiped 27 in 2007.

Head Coach Steve Anson now seven 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 seven wins shy of 800 wins. Anson, the winningest coach in the MIAA, is 793-729-3 (.518) in 33 seasons at Washburn and 816-751-3 (.521) 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 return to friendly Falley Field
The Ichabods are 6-1 at home this year and they will hope to return to those winning ways after going 1-5 in six games on the road last week.

The Ichabods lost their home opener February 29 to Rockhurst but have since won six straight. They bat .325 at home and keep opponents to a .245 average. John Calhoun is hitting .519 (14 for 27) at home and Brad Alberts is .500 at home (9 for 18). The Washburn bullpen has a 1.74 ERA at Falley Field.

Despite Washburn's dominance at home, the Ichabods have hit just two of their 26 home runs at Falley Field just year. Opponents have only hit one out of the park.

Ichabods get first four-game sweep since 2009
The Ichabods took all four games March 24-25 against Southwest Baptist for their first four-game sweep since 2009. The Ichabods also went on a six-game winning streak and it was 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 had won nine of their last 10 games from March 14 through March 27 with the loss coming in a four-game series at Truman on March 17. Washburn batted .313 during that 10-game stretch. Brad Alberts hit .500 (16 for 32) while John Calhoun hit .368 with two homers and 14 RBI.

The Washburn pitching staff had a 2.57 ERA during the stretch and struck out 63 while walking just 24. Brett Ash went 2-0 in two starts with a 1.12 ERA. He struck out 16 while walking just three.

Washburn in tie for fifth in MIAA standings
The Ichabods sit in a three-way tie for fifth in the league with a 9-9 record. Central Missouri leads the pack at 18-4 and Emporia State is second at 15-7. Washburn's opponent this week, Missouri Southern, is fourth at 12-10.

The top six teams in the league will earn spots in the MIAA tournament, May 10-13 in Kansas City, Kan., at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Bean contributes at the plate and on the mound in senior year
Tyler Bean is hitting .333 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 five starts, he has a 3-1 record and a 2.70 ERA. He's 10th in the MIAA in ERA and first  in the league only allowing four walks. He's struck out 18 and walked four while allowing just 10 earned runs in 33 1/3 innings. At the plate, Bean has a .337 batting average with a team-high seven home runs and he's second with 20 RBI.

In Bean's 19 at-bats while the starting pitcher, he's hitting .368 with two homers. In all other at-bats, he's .329 with five homers.

Ichabods showing power at the plate
Washburn has 26 home runs through 25 games this year. Last year the Ichabods hit 24 homers in 50 games. Washburn has a .472 slugging percentage this year after slugging .375 last year.

Tyler Bean leads Washburn with seven home runs and he has a .611 slugging percentage. John Calhoun leads the Ichabods with a .704 slugging percentage.

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 14 steals this year and has been caught stealing three times. He has three games this year with two steals.

He already has the most steals as an Ichabod since Kyle Peter stole 27 in 2007.

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 Missouri Southern Lions
The Lions are 19-11 overall and 12-10 in the MIAA after dropping four straight at then-No. 10 Central Missouri last weekend. Michael McCoy leads the team batting. 382 and with 26 RBI. Luke Acosta is batting .321 and he leads the team with 31 runs scored.

Ryan Wheat is 4-1 on the mound with a 1.60 ERA for the Lions. He's struck out 32 and walked nine through 39 1/3 innings.
Missouri Southern won its first 11 games and 15 of its first 16. The Lions are 4-10 since then.

Season Flashbacks: Don't Forget...
Schachenmeyer earns MIAA pitcher of the week honor: Washburn senior pitcher Kerry Schachenmeyer was named the MIAA pitcher of the week after throwing a shutout March 24 against SBU. Schachenmeyer shared the pitching award with Fort Hays State's Shawn Lewick. Schachenmeyer pitched a com­plete-game shutout as Washburn won 11-0 against Southwest Baptist as part of a four-game sweep. He allowed just three hits and struck out four. In the fourth inning, he allowed a single and then walked two to load the bases. He got the next batter to fly out to end the inning and leave all three on base. He allowed just one batter the final three innings with a hit-by-pitch.
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 continue their 10-game home stand with six more games next week. April 10 they will host Fort Hays State in a doubleheader and then April 13-15 they will host four games against Lincoln.

The Ichabods will then play 11 straight on the road before coming home to wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader May 5 against Emporia State.