Complete Game Notes (pdf)
Leading Off...
The Ichabods have had eight games canceled due to snow including five MIAA games that cannot be made up.
Washburn went 1-4 last week with a win at Pittsburg State in a three-game series. Northwest Missouri swept the Ichabods.
Head coach Steve Anson just coached his 1,600th career game on February 19 at Fort Hays State. He's gone 833-770-3 in 35 seasons with 34 at Washburn and one at Wayne State (Neb.).
Washburn leads the all-time series with Missouri Western, 57-52 but has lost eight straight in the series, including all five games played last year.
Emporia State leds Washburn 140-64 in the series that goes back to 1949. The Ichabods took 4 of 5 against ESU including one in the MIAA tournament opener.
Riley Price leads the Ichabods batting .429 (9 of 21) with five RBI this year.
Dakota Kell is batting .394 (13 of 33) with four RBI and four doubles.
Connor Crimmins leads the Ichabods with eight stolen bases in eight attempts. Overall, Washburn is 17 of 20 on the base paths.
Washburn has yet to hit a home run but has eight triples after tying a school record with three triples last Saturday at Pittsburg State.
MWSU on Wednesday then home and away series with ESU this weekend await Ichabods; Sat. games moved up an hour
The Ichabods will return to action with five games this week with four of them home at Falley Field. The Ichabods will start the week by hosting Missouri Western Thursday at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader. Washburn will then host two against Emporia State Saturday at 12 p.m. and then wrap up the week with a single game Sunday at ESU at 1 p.m.
The MWSU games were scheduled to be played Tuesday this week but cold weather moved it to Thursday. The Saturday games were scheduled to start at 1 p.m. but moved up an hour to accommodate the NCAA women's basketball regional tournament on campus.
Washburn went 1-4 last week to fall to 3-7 overall and in the MIAA. The Ichabods were swept at home last Thursday against Northwest Missouri and then won one of three last weekend at Pittsburg State.
Missouri Western is 9-3 overall and 5-0 in the MIAA and will play its first home game Wednesday against William Jewell before travelling to Topeka. Emporia State is 7-11 and 6-8 in the MIAA. The Hornets host McPherson Wednesday before the Washburn series this weekend.
Keeping up with the changes
The Ichabods have had eight games canceled this year due to snow and at one point went 15 days without being able to play. One game from the Rockhurst series has been rescheduled for March 20 at 5 p.m. at Falley Field. The other two games in that original series may be made up if an open date can be found. The MIAA games against Lincoln and Nebraska-Kearney cannot be made up due to MIAA rules.
Head Coach Steve Anson beginning his 34th season at Washburn
Washburn head coach Steve Anson reached a career milestone with his 800th win as the Ichabods coach last year and he's in his 34th season at Washburn with an 810-748-3 (.520) record.
Anson, the winningest coach in the MIAA, is 833-770-3 (.520) in 35 seasons overall as a head coach after coaching the 1979 season at Wayne State (Neb.) and then starting at Washburn in 1980.
He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, and is a 1976 graduate of Kansas State where he still holds the Wildcats' career record with 19 triples.
Alberts named to NCBWA preseason all-region team
Senior first baseman
Brad Alberts was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason all-Central Region second team announced in the preseason.
Alberts earned second team all-MIAA last year as he finished second on the team hitting .377 and was third with eight home runs. He finished with 41 RBI, 16 doubles and 37 hits, all second best on the team. He will be Washburn's leading returner in all of those categories.
Alberts is currently batting .265 with five RBI and four runs scored.
Last time out
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Washburn out-hit Pittsburg State 11-10 but committed a school-record seven errors in a 12-3 loss Saturday in the series finale against the Gorillas.
The Gorillas led 5-1 going into the bottom of the fourth when they added six more runs off four hits to go up 10-1.
Riley Price went 4 for 4 for Washburn but never crossed the plate for a run. Washburn left 11 total runners on base.
Dakota Kell went 3 for 4 and scored two of Washburn's runs. He tripled in the fourth then was driven in on a sacrifice fly.
Taylor Herrington tripled in the fifth and scored on a ground out by
Parker Gibson.
Washburn then tied a school record in the sixth inning when
Tyler Bailey tripled and drove in Kell. It marked the sixth time in school history Washburn had three triples in a game. The last was Against Bemidji State in 2007.
Washburn's seven fielding errors was the most in school history. The Ichabods had six errors six different times, the last in 2007 against Nebraska Omaha.
AJ Green started for Washburn and allowed the first eight runs off seven hits through 3 2/3 innings. Four other Ichabod pitchers took the mound in the game with
Taylor Gentry providing two innings of hitless and scoreless pitching to finish the game.
Ichabods return three all-MIAA selections from last year
Senior pitcher
Brett Ash and senior first baseman
Brad Alberts earned all-MIAA second team honors last year and sophomore catcher
Richard Swan earned honorable mention.
Ash went 7-4 last year with a 2.81 ERA. He tied for the NCAA Division II lead with 10 complete games. Alberts was second on the team batting .377. Swan batted .243 and he threw out 18 would-be base stealers.
Washburn lost all-MIAA first-teamer and All-American
John Calhoun, who batted .398 with 43 RBI. The Ichabods also lose second-teamer
Tyler Bean and honorable mention players
Kerry Schachenmeyer and
Marcus Peavler.
MIAA coaches pick Ichabods seventh in preseason poll
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Ichabods were picked seventh in the MIAA preseason baseball coaches poll released January 23.
Washburn went 27-24 overall last year and finished fourth in the MIAA at 22-18. The Ichabods advanced to their second straight MIAA tournament as the No. 4 seed and won a first round game before falling twice on the second day.
The Ichabods totaled 118 points in the voting, 10 points above No. 8 Lindenwood, one of four MIAA newcomers. Missouri Southern was sixth with 135 points. Three-time defending champion Central Missouri was the unanimous choice at No. 1, followed by Missouri Western at No. 2, Emporia State at No. 3, Central Oklahoma at No. 4 and Fort Hays State at No. 5.
With the addition of four new schools (LWU, UCO, No. 9 Northeastern State and No. 10 Nebraska-Kearney) pushing MIAA baseball to a 15-team sport, the conference tournament will expand to an eight-team event. The top four teams will host Nos. 5 through 8 in an on-campus, best of three round and then the tournament will shift to a neutral site for the final four teams.
Coming Up Next
The Ichabods will make up an earlier game with Rockhurst on March 20 at 5 p.m. Washburn will then return to MIAA action March 23 at No. 4 Central Missouri with two games and then a single game on March 24.
