Leading off
•     The Washburn Ichabods will step out of MIAA play when they will play host to Rockhurst at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Falley Field in a nine inning game. 
•    The Ichabods were ranked No. 21 in the latest NCBWA top 25 poll and ranked No. 3 in the NCBWA Central Regional Poll up from No. 6 last week.
•    The game was pushed back from Tuesday to allow another day for the field to dry out.
•    The Ichabods are coming off a 5-0 week after sweeping Southwest Baptist in their MIAA opening four-game series in Wichita and then taking an 8-7 win over Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday last week.
•    The Ichabods outscored their opponents 88 to 36 in eight games this season.
•    Washburn is batting .366 as a team and has a 3.55 earned run average while opponents have recorded a .246 batting average and a 10.89 ERA.
•    Of Washburn's six home runs this season, four have been grand slams … the NCAA Division II record is nine by Armstrong set in 1988 in 54 games played.
•    Rockhurst will be playing its first games of the season against Washburn.
•    The 8-0 start for the Ichabods is the first time the Ichabods have started 8-0 since the 1948 season when the Ichabods finished the season 10-0.

In the dugout
•     Washburn is led by first-year head coach Harley Douglas. He served as an assistant to former coach Steve Anson for three years and he's a 2002 Washburn graduate. He played at WU from 1997-00.
•    He is 8-0 in his first season in the Washburn dugout.
•    Douglas played for the Ichabods from 1997-2000. 
•    He was an all-MIAA second team selection as an outfielder his senior year at Washburn. 
•    He finished with a .363 career batting average, the 13th highest in school history. 
•    He's second in school history with 11 triples and eighth with 136 runs scored … third with 75 career stolen bases. 
•    Douglas graduated in 2002 from Washburn with an exercise physiology degree and in 2004 with an education degree. He earned a master's degree in adaptive special education from Emporia State in 2010.

Noting the Rockhurst
•    Rockhurst is playing its first games of the season.
•    The Hawks finished the 2014 season 17-31 and 15-20 in the GLVC.
•    Rockhurst returns second team all-conference outfielder Calin McCourt, who batted .310 with 12 multi-hit games, and starting shortstop Brett Marr, who hit .308 with 25 RBIs. 
•    The Hawks also return starting pitchers Michael Lydon-Lorson and Joe Huber.

Series with the Hawks
•    The Ichabods trail the series with Rockhurst 35-33.
•    Washburn won two of three meetings in 2014 including the last meeting at Rockhurst 8-3 on April 22.
•    The Ichabods and Hawks are also scheduled to play each other on March 10 in Kansas City. 

Last time out
WICHITA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod baseball team improved to 8-0 with a via a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth in an 8-7 win over Minnesota-Crookston Saturday in Wichita.
The Ichabods were the recipients of four bases on balls in the ninth inning when Dylan Turpin drew a walk scoring Wes Jones who pinch ran for Tanner Triggs who led off the frame with a walk.
Washburn scored two in the top of the first inning when David Gauntt drove in two runs with a double scoring Payton Soicher and Kyle Carnahan who singled in the inning. 
The Golden Eagles scored one in the top of the second inning and then Washburn came back with three in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Parker Gibson, Carnahan and Tanner Johnson.
After scoring two in the third and adding three more in the fourth, UMC took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the fourth, but Washburn got a bases loaded RBI from Gauntt after he was hit by a pitch tying the score at 6-6. Washburn took back the lead in its next at bat taking a 7-6 lead.
The Golden Eagles tied the score in the eighth and then Washburn picked up the win with the walkoff walk in the bottom of the ninth.
Gibson finished with three hits and Carnahan had two while Gauntt drove in three runs.
Dan Gabler picked up the win pitching six innings in relief striking out eight in the win..

Last meeting with Rockhurst
(4/22/14) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Ichabods scored six runs in the third inning Tuesday on the way to their sixth straight win, 8-3 at Rockhurst. Washburn improved to 24-19 overall.
Washburn trailed 2-0 after two innings but took advantage of a Rockhurst error to open the top of the third. Taylor Herrington had an RBI single and Kyle Carnahan drove in two runs with a double down the left field line. Matt Jackson also drove in a run in the inning with a groundout.
 The Hawks got a run back in the fourth but Washburn added two more in the top of the ninth to put the game away. Gragg drove in Wes Jones with a bunt single and David Gauntt's single to left drove in Parker Gibson.
 Jones and Herrington each had two hits and Washburn had 10 as a team while playing error-free baseball.
 The pitching staff combined to give up 14 hits to Rockhurst but just the three runs scored as the Hawks left 12 runners on base. They loaded them in the second after scoring their first two runs but Washburn starter Hank Wellborn left them full as he retired the side. They also left the bases loaded in the eighth when they trailed just 6-3.
 Wellborn earned the win as he started the game. He gave up two runs on four hits and he struck out a batter. Four relievers finished the game with Greg Mason pitching out of the jam in the eight and AJ Green pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning in his ninth straight outing without an earned run.

On Deck
Washburn will then have a four-game series at Fort Hays State on Feb. 29-March 1 in Hays.