Weekly Notes

 Warm ups . . . 
•    The Washburn Ichabod softball team will wrap up the regular season with a pair of road doubleheaders at Lincoln on April 25 and at Lindenwood on April 26.
•    The Ichabods have not played since an April 12 doubleheader against Central Oklahoma. Washburn had a doubleheader scheduled for April 16 with Wayne State but it was canceled with snow in Nebraska.
•    The Ichabods enter the week in a three-way tie for fifth-place in the MIAA standings with Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri with identical 12-10 records.
•    The Ichabods split a doubleheader with Central Missouri on April 1 and swept a twinbill against the Bearcats on March 8.
•    The top eight teams in the final MIAA standings qualify for the postseason tournament in Overland Park, Kan., starting on May 1
•    In the latest NCAA rankings, the Ichabods are fourth in the nation and lead the MIAA in home runs per game averaging 1.46 per contest.
•    The ichabods are 15th in the nation and first in the MIAA in slugging percentage at .525.
•    Washburn has already broken the Ichabod single-season record for home runs of 50 set in 2002. They enter the doubleheader with Lincoln with 57.
•    Washburn is also ninth in the nation in slugging percentage at 0.619 and 18th in the nation in scoring at 7.08 runs per game.
•    Defensively, the Ichabods are 16th in the nation in double plays per game and second in the MIAA with 0.46 per game.
•    Washburn's Lauren Thimmesch is ranked 11th in the nation in home runs per game (0.38) and eighth in overall home runs (15) in the latest rankings.
•    Katie Schroeder is third in the nation while leading the MIAA with six triples this season as of the latest NCAA rankings.

 Knowing the foes . . . 
Lincoln
•    The Blue Tigers are 4-35 overall and 0-22 in MIAA play entering a midweek non-conference doubleheader with Central Methodist on April 22.
•    The Blue Tigers have a team ERA of 8.30 while opponents have recorded a 1.69 ERA against Lincoln.
•    Sam Kircher leads the team with a .370 batting average with nine home runs and 20 RBI.
•    Lincoln will face Emporia State after the twinbill with the Ichabods on April 26.
Lindenwood
•    The Lions are 17-24 overall and 10-12 two game behind the Ichabods in the MIAA standings.
•    Lindenwood faces Emporia State on April 25 prior to meeting the Ichabods the following day.
•    The Lions have non-conference doubleheaders on April 21 and April 22 against Columbia College and Missouri Baptist respectively.
•    Courtney Opich leads the team with six home runs and a .414 batting average. Overall the Lions are batting .273 with a team ERA of 4.21.

 WU Bod Notes . . . 
#2 • Alex Sweeney • Has appeared in eight games this season scoring two runs with two hits and an RBI.
#3 • Kristen Bell • Will seek a medical redshirt for the 2014 season.
#4 • Katie Schroeder • Second on the team with 13 multi-hit games.
#5 • Marina Quimby • Leads the team with 52 hits and a .416 batting average.
#6 • Kaylee Erickson • Has gone 2-5 in the circle with five complete games in 17 starts.
#8 • Jordan Erickson • Leads the team with 10 doubles.
#9 • Haylee Marsteller • Batting .313 with 21 runs scored and 30 hits in 35 games played.
#10 • Deidra Jones • Second on the team with nine home runs and third with 31 RBI.
#11 • Samantha Carson • Leads the team with a 9-2 record in the circle while batting .284 with 40 hits and eight home runs adding 32 RBI which is second on the team.
#13 • Skyler Gentry • Had two of Washburn's eight hits against No. 22-ranked Central Oklahoma in the 5-3 win on April 12 last time out.
#15 • Leah Garland • Has yet to appear in a game this season.
#16 • Lauren Thimmesch • Her 15 home runs this season is third on the single season Washburn chart.
#21 • Bre Hixon • Four of her 13 hits have been for home runs while driving in 18.
#22 • Shelby Erickson • Her 89 career RBI is just outside of the top 10 on Washburn's all-time chart.

 Bods and ends . . . 
Katie Schroeder's six triples this season is two shy of the school record and the most since Torrie Beauchamp had six in 1999 … Lauren Thimmesch's 15 home runs is third on the all-time single season chart at Washburn … Schroeder has the top three most hit by pitch single season marks (12 - 2013, 10 - 2010, 10 - 2014) … Marina Quimby's current batting average of .416 would rank seventh on the Ichabod's single season chart … Samantha Carson is looking to become the first Ichabod to reach double-digit pitching wins since Kayla Oldham had 10 in 2012 … when leading after six innings the Ichabods are 14-2, when trailing after six innings the Ichabods are 0-15 … the Ichabods are 15-3 when scoring at least seven runs this season.

 What's in a name . . . 
• Starting the 2013-14 school year, all of the women's athletic teams will be called Ichabods.
• All women's teams prior to the 2013-14 school year can and will be referenced to as Lady Blues.
• Name change was made to have a unified athletic department and to have a graphical representation of the sports teams at Washburn.
• 'Bods is allowable on second reference
• Lady Ichabods or Lady 'Bods should never be used.

 Last time out for Washburn . . . 
(April 12) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod softball split an MIAA doubleheader with No. 22 Central Oklahoma falling 4-0 in the opener before coming back for a 5-3 win in the second game. Washburn will return to action on Wednesday at Wayne State.
Game 1 – UCO 4, WU 0
Central Oklahoma's Kalynn Schrock struck out eight Ichabods en route to a perfect game facing 21 batters in the Bronchos 4-0 win. UCO scored two runs in the first inning off starter Marina Quimby (1-5) who struck out six in the complete game. Quimby gave up three earned runs in the loss. UCO added two more in the fifth inning stretching its lead to 4-0.
Game 2 – WU 5, UCO 3
The Ichabods (20-19, 12-10 MIAA) scored four runs in the bottom of the first taking advantage of a hit by pitch by Katie Schroeder to lead off the game and a walk by Quimby. Lauren Thimmesch singled to left field scoring Schroeder. Shelby Erickson then singled to left scoring Quimby and Thimmesch came around to score after a throwing error by the Bronchos (35-11, 19-3 MIAA). Washburn added an unearned run in the second inning. Schroeder singled followed by singles by Quimby and Thimmesch. Schroeder scored on Thimmesch's single on a throwing error by UCO. Washburn starting pitcher Samantha Carson had a no hitter until the a lead off homer by the Bronchos in the top of the fifth. UCO would go on to score three runs in the frame cutting Washburn's lead to 5-3. Thimmesch replaced Carson in the circle and retired the side with three straight ground outs. Thimmesch allowed just one base runner in the sixth. In the seventh, UCO had its first two batter reach base on back to back singles. A fielder's choice gave the Ichabods one out and then Devyn Frazier lined out to left fielder Jordan Erickson who fired the ball to Schroeder for the double play ending the game. Seniors Schroeder and Skyler Gentry as well as Thimmesch each had two hits. Schroeder scored a pair of runs.

 Ichabod head coach Vanessa Becerra . . . 
• was named the Washburn Ichabod 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 52-76 in her third season on the bench at Washburn and overall Becerra has recorded a 86-94 mark in her fourth 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 six Ichabods to all-MIAA honors.
• has had 25 Ichabods named to the MIAA's Academic Honor Roll.

 Ichabod softball history. . . 
• The Ichabods are 1067-783-1 in their 45th year of softball. 
• The Ichabods have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008). 
• Washburn won the 2002 regular season MIAA title.

 Up next . . . 
• The top eight teams in the final MIAA standings will advance to the postseason tournament in Overland Park, Kan., May 1-4 at the Blue Valley Recreation Complex. Tournament seedings will be announced at the conclusion of the MIAA regular season.