Warm ups . . . 

The Washburn Lady Blues will return to the field after a 18-day layoff because of weather issues as they will take on the Wayne State Wildcats on Thursday and then open MIAA play with Nebraska-Kearney on Friday and Fort Hays State on Saturday. The Lady Blues (3-9) have not played since an 8-0 win over Sioux Falls on Feb. 24 at the NSIC/MIAA Crossover. 

Know the foes . . . 

• Wayne State has not played since March 8 and enter the game with a 7-3 record.

• The Lady Blues leads the all-time series with Wayne State 13-8 after splitting a doubleheader last season.

• Nebraska-Kearney is 4-10 this season entering the game with the Lady Blues. 

• Washburn is 13-25 against the Lopers all-time and the two teams have not met since a March 14, 2000 doubleheader split in Topeka.

• Fort Hays State is 13-3 this season and will face Newman on March 12 before opening its MIAA season on March 15 against Emporia State before facing the Lady Blues the following day.

• Washburn leads the all-time series with the Tigers 35-29, but have lost the last six against Fort Hays State.

Blue Notes . . . 

• #3 Kristen Bell -- Has started all 55 games of her Washburn career at catcher committing only two errors in 239 changes for a .992 fielding percentage.

• #4 Katie Schroeder -- Currently riding a five-game hitting streak.

• #5 Marina Quimby -- Picked up her first collegiate win against Sioux Falls in the Lady Blues' last game.

• #6 Lauren Byrn -- Has made three starts appearing in four games this season.

• #7 Amanda Kirkhart -- Leads the team with four doubles this season batting .300.

• #8 Kayla Oldham -- Will miss the 2013 season with an injury.

• #9 Haylee Marsteller -- Has made four starts collecting two hits with two runs scored.

• #10 Deidra Jones -- Leading the team with 13 hits and tied for team high with two home runs and seven runs scored.

• #12 Tori Gloudeman -- Has made three starts collecting two hits.

• #13 Skyler Gentry -- Has started 11 games recording a double.

• #15 Leah Garland -- Hit second career home run in win over Sioux Falls last time out.

• #16 Lauren Thimmesch -- Tied for the team lead with seven runs scored and two home runs.

• #22 Shelby Erickson -- Leads the team with eight RBI collecting 10 hits batting .303.

• #23 Alex Zordel -- Her five assists against St. Cloud State was a career-high.

Rewind - stats and notes from the week which was

• Washburn was 1-3 at the NSIC/MIAA Crossover.

• Shelby Erickson led the team with a .545 batting average with 6 RBI and six hits while also hitting three doubles.

• Lauren Thimmesch had a team-high three runs scored.

• Washburn was 5 of 7 in stolen base attempts - its first seven attempts of the season.

• Katie Schroeder had hits in all four games and was 2 of 3 in stolen base attempts.

• Washburn outscored its opponents 7-2 in the first inning of games, but was outscored 13-0 in the second inning.

• The Lady Blues were outscored 5-0 in the seventh inning of games in Minnesota.

Slap hits. . . 

• Shelby Erickson leads the team with four multi-hit games.

• Shelby Erickson also has the only 4 RBI game for the Lady Blues this season.

• Deidra Jones has the only 3 RBI game for the Lady Blues this season.

• Kaite Schroeder has reached base in each of the last five games.

• The Lady Blues have been outscored 37-16 this season in the first two innings.

• Washburn is outscoring its opponents 18-11 in the third and fourth innings.

• The Lady Blues are being outscored 36-8 in the last three innings of the game.

• The Lady Blues are 3-1 when leading after four innings, 0-6 when trailing after four innings.

• Washburn is 3-1 when scoring four or more runs.

• The Lady Blues are 0-8 when score three or fewer runs.

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 22-33 in her second season on the bench and overall Becerra has recorded a 56-51 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 1037-740-1 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 . . . 

Washburn will continue MIAA play with Central Missouri on March 19 in Warrensburg and then face Southwest Baptist on March 25. The Lady Blues will return home to take on Emporia State on March 27 followed by Lincoln on March 29.