warm ups . . . 

The Washburn Lady Blues will take to the road for four games as they will take on Central Missouri on Tuesday and Southwest Baptist on Saturday in a pair of MIAA doubleheader this week. Washburn enters the week with a 5-13 record going 1-3 in conference play. 

Know the foes . . . 

• Central Missouri is 13-7 and 3-1 in the MIAA.

• The Jennies went 3-1 in MIAA play sweeping Missouri Western and splitting with Northwest Missouri.

• The Jennies lead the all-time series 44-36 with the Lady Blues. UCM won the last meeting 5-2 on April 26, 2012 in the MIAA Tournament.

• Southwest Baptist enters the week with a 4-16 record while going 0-4 in MIAA play.

• SBU was swept by Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri last week.

• The Lady Blues lead the all-time series with the Bearcats 43-7 and have won the last six meetings. SBU's last win over Washburn was on April 26, 2010 in a 3-1 win.

Blue Notes . . . 

• #3 Kristen Bell -- Has started all 58 games of her Washburn career at catcher committing only three errors in 42 chances for a .988 fielding percentage.

• #4 Katie Schroeder -- Has started 102 of 104 career games.

• #5 Marina Quimby -- Pitched a career-high seven innings against Wayne State on March 14.

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

• #7 Amanda Kirkhart -- Leads the team with six doubles this season and seven walks.

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

• #9 Haylee Marsteller -- Tied for second on the team with five walks.

• #10 Deidra Jones -- Leads the team with a .409 batting average with 12 runs scored, 18 hits and tied for team lead with 10 RBI.

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

• #13 Skyler Gentry -- Recorded first home run at Washburn against Nebraska-Kearney.

• #15 Leah Garland -- Hit third career home run against Nebraska-Kearney on March 15.

• #16 Lauren Thimmesch -- Leads the team with five home runs and tied for team lead with 10 RBI.

• #22 Shelby Erickson -- Tied for the team lead with 10 RBI and second with 17 hits.

• #23 Alex Zordel -- Currently riding a six-game hitting streak.

Rewind - stats and notes from the week which was

• Washburn was 2-4 last week.

• Alex Zordel batted .455 with six RBI and two home runs while recording 10 hits.

• Washburn recorded a team ERA of 8.02.

• Deidra Jones was 5 for 14 with 4 RBI and was hit by a pitch four times.

• Washburn was outscored 7-1 in the sixth inning and 5-1 in the fourth inning.

• Lauren Thimmesch had three home runs last week batting .300 driving in five runs and scoring four.

Slap hits. . . 

• Deidra Jones has reached base in the last eight games and 17 of 18 overall this season.

• Shelby Erickson and Alex Zordel have the only 4 RBI games this season for the Lady Blues.

• Washburn has been outscored 27 to 4 in the sixth inning of games this season.

• Alex Zordel's 25 career home runs rank fifth on the Washburn all-time chart. 

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 24-37 in her second season on the bench and overall Becerra has recorded a 58-55 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 1039-744-1 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 . . . 

The Lady Blues will return home to take on Emporia State on March 27 followed by Lincoln on March 29.