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Leading Off...
Washburn will play its 1st games at NSU since 1990 when a 4-game series begins Friday at 2 p.m.
The Ichabods are 24-19 overall and 21-15 in the MIAA. They enter the final weekend of the season tied for 5th in the league and they can climb as high as a tie for 2nd or drop all the way to 8th.
The top 4 teams in the standings host Nos. 5-8 in an MIAA tournament best of three series May 1-4.
The 4 winners of those series will meet in Springfield, Mo., May 8-10 for the remaining rounds of the MIAA tournament.
Washburn has won 6 straight games. The Bods won 7 in a row in 2006, 9 straight in 2000 and 11 straight in 1995.
Northeastern State is 21-25 overall and looking to hold at least its No. 8 spot in the conference standings with a 17-19 record.
Washburn lost all 3 to the RiverHawks last year as the series was played in Emporia and at Lake Shawnee in Topeka. WU is 3-6 overall against NSU and last won in 2003.
WU will wrap up the regular season with a game Tuesday at 3 p.m. at William Jewell. Washburn has not played the Cardinals since 1977.
Kyle Carnahan is batting .408 and he's reached base safely in all but one game this year. He had a 16-game hitting streak come to an end last week.
Carnahan entered the week 5th in the MIAA in hitting and 3rd with a .510 on-base pct.
Senior
Brett Ash leads the MIAA with a 1.21 ERA and just a .149 opponent batting average. He's given up 6 earned runs and 24 hits in 44.2 innings.
Ash is 5-1 and he's won 5 straight games, going the distance every time.
Ash is 1st in WU history with 25 complete games, 3rd with 22 wins & 2nd with 189 K. 26 more K will move him to 1st.
Washburn is 9-0 in the second game of four-game series this year but just 2-7 in game four.
Ash,
Taylor Gentry and
Eric Schmid all rank in the top 15 in the MIAA in ERA and opponent batting average.
Ichabods enter altered weekend series at NSU with chance to improve MIAA tournament standingThe Ichabods will enter the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to jump as high as second in the league or fall to eight as they play a four-game series at Northeastern State.
The threat of rain Sunday altered the original schedule and Washburn will now play doubleheaders Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m. The Ichabods will then wrap up the regular season with a single game Tuesday at William Jewell at 3 p.m.
Washburn has won a season-high six straight games and is 24-19 overall. The Ichabods are tied for fifth in the conference with Nebraska-Kearney with a 21-15 record. They must do better this weekend than UNK and fourth place Missouri Western by at least one game to jump into the top four and host an MIAA tournament first round series next weekend.
The RiverHawks are 21-25 overall and are holding the eighth and final spot in the MIAA tournament with a 17-19 record.
William Jewell is 17-24 this year and will host Quincy with four games this weekend before hosting Washburn.
Postseason scenariosThe Ichabods are tied with Nebraska-Kearney for fifth in the MIAA standings and Missouri Western is five percentage points ahead of them at fourth. Washburn must have a better record than UNK and MWSU this weekend and at least tie No. 6 Southwest Baptist to move into the top four. The Ichabods can also catch No. 3 Emporia State and No. 2 Central Oklahoma.
UNK has the tiebreaker over Washburn but the Ichabods have the tiebreaker over ESU and MWSU.
Ash climbs to second in career strikeouts and is third in career wins
Senior
Brett Ash moved to second in career strikeouts at Washburn when he recorded eight of them last Friday against Lincoln. He passed Mike Lineback (1982-85) and now has 189. He's 26 away from Jake Lenherr (2003-06).
The win against the Blue Tigers was his fifth straight complete game to give him 25 complete games, most at Washburn, and 22 wins, third most. He needs two more wins to catch Lenherr for second and four more to tie for first.
Ash's start last week moved him to first at Washburn with 38 games started. He's second with 255.0 innings pitched. His career ERA of 3.18 is eighth among WU pitchers with at least 100 innings and third among pitchers with 200 innings.
Ash leads the MIAA in ERA and opponent batting averageBrett Ash leads the MIAA with a 1.21 ERA and a .153 opponent batting average. He's allowed just six earned runs and 24 hits in seven starts.
Ash has not allowed more than five hits and two earned runs in a game this year.
Carnahan has reached safely in all but one game this yearKyle Carnahan has nearly been on a season-long offensive streak as he's reached base safely in all but one game. He entered the week fifth in the MIAA batting .402 third in the league with a .510 on-base percentage. After Washburn's two games earlier this week he's now batting .408.
Carnahan's only game being held without getting on base was March 22 in the third game at Pittsburg State. He's batting .500 (35 for 70) in the 22 games since then with a .629 slugging percentage and .584 on-base percentage.
Carnahan will look to become Washburn's first .400 hitter since Wes Joy hit .401 in 2007.
Ichabods tough in the middleWashburn is 9-0 in the second game of four-game MIAA series this year. The Ichabods are 6-3 in the third games to make them 15-3 in the middle two games of the series. They are 4-5 in openers and 2-7 in finales. Washburn has won five series, lost three and split one this year.
The win last Saturday against Lincoln in game four was Washburn's first series finale win since winning game four against Lindenwood in the season-opening weekend.
Doubleheaders mean at least one win for IchabodsThe Ichabods are 20-8 this year in doubleheaders and they have swept six of their 14 twin bills. They split the other eight and have not been swept in a doubleheader this year.
Washburn is 11-3 in the opener and 9-5 in the finale. The Ichabods are 4-11 in single games this year.
About Northeastern StateThe RiverHawks are 21-25 overall and eighth in the MIAA at 17-19. The lost two non-conference games Tuesday to Arkansas-Fort Smith and before that they split a four-game series with Southwest Baptist.
Caleb Hill entered the week batting .340 to lead the team and Cody Robinson is batting .324 to lead the everyday starters. He also leads the team and is second in the MIAA with 12 home runs and a .699 slugging percentage.
Ryan Helsley is 5-3 on the mound with a 3.72 ERA and Addison Williams has a 3.18 ERA in 20 relief appearances.
About William JewellThe Cardinals are 17-24 this year and 13-15 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. They will host Quincy with four games this weekend before hosting Washburn. Bryan Porting entered the weekend batting .299 to lead the team and Drew Mitrisin has a 4-3 record and 2.11 ERA on the mound.
Season Notes-
AJ Green has pitched in nine straight relief appearances without allowing an earned run. He's thrown 9 2/3 innings during that time allowing five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
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Eric Schmid has allowed just one earned run in his last two starts. Unfortunately for his win-loss record, the Ichabods dropped the first of those two games 2-1 in the ninth inning at UNK and in the start last weekend against Lincoln he had to leave one out short of qualifying for the win due to injury. He had struck out eight Lincoln batters through 3 2/3 innings before getting pulled. At UNK he allowed an earned run off six hits in 8 1/3 innings.
- Washburn has used 17 different pitchers this year. Ten have made starts and 14 have worked out of the bullpen at least once. Eight of the pitchers have ERAs under 4.00.
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Parker Gibson is third in the MIAA with 19 stolen bases and
Kyle Carnahan is ninth with 11.
- Washburn's 24 wins is the most since 27 in 2012. The Ichabods won 29 in 2006 and 37 in 2000.
- Washburn will be looking to host its first postseason home games since 1999. The Ichabods swept a best-of-three series against Southwest Baptist that year and then went on to beat Central Missouri in the next round before falling twice to the Mules.
Up NextThe Ichabods will look for a top-four finish in the MIAA standings so they can host a first round tournament series May 1-4. The top four teams host Nos. 5-8 in best of three series at campus sites.
The four series winners will meet May 8-10 in Springfield, Mo., for the remaining rounds of the MIAA tournament. Those rounds will be double elimination and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Central Region tournament May 15-18.
