Warm ups . . . 

The Washburn Lady Blues will return to action this weekend beginning on Feb. 8 when they travel to Durant, Okla., for the Southeastern Oklahoma Regional Invitational. The Lady Blues are coming off a 2-2 weekend from the Arkansas-Montiecello Classic to start the season.

Know the foes . . . 

• This weekend the Lady Blues will face five members of the Great American Conference and a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in Drury.

• Washburn will face Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas-Monticello for the second time this season as the Lady Blues topped Ouachita Baptist 4-3 and fell to UAM 11-3 at the Monticello Classic.

• Washburn will face host Southeastern Oklahoma at 10 a.m. on Feb. 8 followed by Drury at noon the same day.

• On Saturday, Washburn will take on Cameron at noon and Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m.

• Washburn wraps up the invitational on Sunday facing Ouachita Baptist at 2 p.m. and Arkansas-Monticello at 4 p.m.

• The Lady Blues are 2-6 all-time against Southeastern Oklahoma and have dropped the last six meetings not winning since a 4-3 win on Feb 23, 2007.

• Washburn holds a 2-0 advantage over Drury and has not played each other since a 9-5 win on Feb. 27, 2010.

• Washburn is 3-2 against Cameron all-time and have not played since a 3-0 win on Feb. 18, 2011.

• Against Southern Nazarene, Washburn is 1-1 and have not faced each other since a 2-1 loss on Feb. 23, 2008.

• Washburn leads the series 2-0 over Ouachita with last weekend's 4-3 win.

• Washburn is 2-4 against Arkansas-Monticello after last weekend's 11-3 loss.

• All six games will count as regional games for the Lady Blues as they have moved from the NCAA South Central Region to the Central Region, which encompasses the MIAA, the GAC and the Northern Sun Conferences.

Blue Notes . . . 

• #3 Kristen Bell -- batted .500 in the first weekend of play with six hits and five runs scored.

• #4 Katie Schroeder -- Drove in two runs starting all four games last weekend.

• #5 Marina Quimby -- Recorded five strikeouts in two appearances in first collegiate action.

• #6 Lauren Byrn -- Saw action in two games recording two at bats.

• #7 Amanda Kirkhart -- Had three hits in nine at bats driving in two runs last weekend.

• #8 Kayla Oldham -- Did not appear in any games in Arkansas last weekend.

• #9 Haylee Marsteller -- Made two starts collecting a hit and scoring two runs.

• #10 Deidra Jones -- Leads the team with a .545 batting average driving in a team-high five runs in Arkansas.

• #12 Tori Gloudeman -- Was one for two in one start last weekend.

• #13 Skyler Gentry -- Drove in a run with and recorded a double in four games last weekend.

• #14 Mallorie Monhollon -- Did not appear in any games in Arkansas last weekend.

• #15 Leah Garland -- Made one start last weekend in Arkansas collecting a walk.

• #16 Lauren Thimmesch -- Leads the team with two home runs while going 2-0 in the circle with a 1.75 ERA with 11 strikeouts.

• #22 Shelby Erickson -- Drove in two runs collecting three hits in the first weekend of play.

• #23 Alex Zordel -- Collected a hit with a run scored and an RBI in the first weekend of action.

Slap hits. . . 

• Deidra Jones and Lauren Thimmesch each have a four-game hitting streak.

• Jones leads the team with two multi-RBI games; Thimmesch has one.

• Kristen Bell has recorded the only three-hit game of the season.

• Thimmesch, Jones and Alex Zordel have reached base at least once in all four games.

Lady Blues head coach Vanessa Becerra 

• was named the Washburn Lady Blues head softball coach on Aug. 3, 2011 after spending four seasons at Metro State in Denver, Colo., with the final season coming as the head coach. 

• is 21-26 in her second season on the bench and overall Becerra has recorded a 55-44 mark in her third year as a head coach.

• in her lone season as the head coach at Metro State, Becerra led the Roadrunners the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championship while advancing to the NCAA regional tournament for the third-straight season finishing with a 34-18 record. 

• has coached three Lady Blues to all-MIAA honors.

• has had 12 Lady Blues named to the MIAA's Academic Honor Roll.

Lady Blues softball history. . . 

• The Lady Blues are 1036-737-1 in their 44th year of softball. 

• The Lady Blues have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008). 

• Washburn won the 2002 regular season MIAA title.

Up Next . . . 

Following their trip to Durant this weekend, Washburn will not return to game action until Feb. 22-24 at the NSIC/MIAA Crossover Dome Tournament in Rochester, Minn. Washburn will open its home slate on March 5 when they will face Northwestern Oklahoma in non-conference action.