The Washburn Lady Blues will step out of MIAA play on Wednesday when they travel to Kansas City to face the Rockhurst Hawks at 3 p.m. at Loyola Park. Washburn (7-17, 3-7 MIAA) is coming off a doubleheader split with Lincoln on March 29. Washburn will return to conference play when the Lady Blues will host Missouri Southern on Friday in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. and then Pittsburg State the following day with a twinbill starting at 1 p.m. at the Washburn Softball Complex. The Lady Blues will then start a six-date, 12-game roadtrip beginning at Northeastern State on April 12.

Know the foes . . . 

• Rockhurst is 14-7 this season while going 4-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

• The Hawks will take on William Jewell in a doubleheader on Tuesday before facing the Lady Blues the next day.

• Rockhurst swept Maryville in a doubleheader on March 30.

• Rockhurst topped Southwest Baptist in its season opener 10-2 in Arkansas and Missouri Southern 4-1 at the same classic.

• The Lady Blues lead the all-time series with the Hawks 1-0.

• The two teams have only met once - on Feb. 27, 2010 with Washburn winning 5-2 at the MSSU/PSU Border Battle.

• Missouri Southern is 18-16 this season and 5-7 in MIAA play.

• The Lions split a doubleheader with Northwest Missouri last time out on March 30 winning 1-0 and falling 2-1.

• The Lady Blues are the first two games in a 10-game roadtrip for the Lions.

• The Lady Blues trail the all-time series with the Lions 35-37. 

• Washburn snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lions with a 11-5 win on April 21 last season in Topeka.

• Pittsburg State is 17-15 and 5-7 in MIAA play this season.

• The Gorillas will take on Emporia State on April 5 before coming to Topeka to face the Lady Blues.

• The Lady Blues lead the all-time series with the Gorillas 62-48 and have won seven of the last 10 meetings.

Blue Notes . . . 

• #3 Kristen Bell -- Hit her third career home run against Lincoln on March 29.

• #4 Katie Schroeder -- Her 21 hits this season is fourth on the team and her seven 2-out RBI lead the team.

• #5 Marina Quimby -- Has thrown seven complete games in 11 starts.

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

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

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

• #9 Haylee Marsteller -- Hit first career home run - a grand slam - against Central Missouri in a 6-3 on March 19.

• #10 Deidra Jones -- Has reached base in a team-season-high 14-straight games batting a team-best .441 while batting .521 in MIAA play.

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

• #13 Skyler Gentry -- Has reached base in two straight games.

• #15 Leah Garland -- Has had 2 RBI's in a game three times this season.

• #16 Lauren Thimmesch -- Her .507 slugging percentage is second on the team and her five home runs leads the Lady Blues … has 6 of Washburn's seven wins in the circle.

• #22 Shelby Erickson -- Batting 5 of 8 with runners on third and less than two outs.

• #23 Alex Zordel -- Has reached base in each of the last 12 games entering this week's action while batting .419 in MIAA play with a team-high 13 conference hits.

Rewind - stats and notes from the week which was

• Washburn was 1-3 last week after being swept by Emporia State and splitting with Lincoln.

• Alex Zordel batted .636 going 7 for 11 with 2 RBI.

• Deidra Jones hit .500 going 5 for 10 with a double, 4 RBI and scored two runs.

• Katie Schroeder scored five runs batting .364 and was hit by two pitches.

• Shelby Erickson drove in three runs.

• Washburn batted .298 compared to .328 for Emporia State and Lincoln.

• Washburn was outscored 5 to 1 in the fourth inning and 4 to 0 in the sixth inning of games last week.

• Washburn was 5 of 5 in stolen bases and stranded 33 base runners.

• Washburn opponents stranded 29 while turning five double plays.

Slap hits. . . 

• Alex Zordel is the only Lady Blue to record four hits in a game this season and she has five multi-hit games.

• Deidra Jones leads the Lady Blues with seven multi-hit games.

• Deidra Jones has reached base in 23 of 24 games this season.

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

• Deidra Jones is batting .429 (6 of 14) with runner in scoring position which leads the team.

• Washburn has been outscored 32 to 6 in the sixth inning of games this season and 47 to 22 in the second inning of games.

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

• Washburn is 0-12 when scoring fewer than three runs in games this season.

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 26-41 in her second season on the bench and overall Becerra has recorded a 60-60 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 1041-748-1 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 start an 12-date road trip counting for 24 games beginning on April 12 at Northeastern State.