Complete Game Notes (pdf)

Leading Off...

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Washburn will open the season with nine straight at home including four this weekend.

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Thursday and Friday the Bods host Bemidji State with 2:30 p.m. games. Saturday they host Minnesota-Crookston with a 12 p.m. doubleheader.

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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.

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The Bods went 26-24 last year and finished seventh in the MIAA at 22-18. They lost in the first round of the MIAA tournament.

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Bemidji State went 21-22 last year and Minnesota-Crookston went 1-47. Both teams are scheduled to open their seasons at Washburn.

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Washburn was picked ninth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll. Northeastern State was picked ahead of Washburn at eighth and Emporia State was picked first.

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Kyle Carnahan is Washburn's leading returner at the plate. The junior third baseman flirted with .400 all season and finished sixth in the MIAA with a .395 average.

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Carnahan reached base safely in all but two games last year. He led the MIAA with a .513 on-base percentage.

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Parker Gibson finished third in the MIAA with 22 stolen bases. He returns as a junior center fielder.

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Junior catcher David Gauntt was named first team all-MIAA last year. He finished 10th in the MIAA with eight home runs and led the team with a .569 slugging percentage.

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Gibson and Carnahan were both named honorable mention all-MIAA last year, as was outfielder Wes Jones.
Two returning pitchers are projected to be in Washburn's starting rotation. Senior Eric Schmid went 1-3 with a 3.76 ERA in 10 starts last year and sophomore Maustin Otterstatter led the staff with a 4.00 ERA. He went 4-4 with two saves and worked 11 relief appearances and two starts.

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Douglas coaching era opens with four games at Falley Field this week
The Ichabods open the 2015 season Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Falley Field against Bemidji State as part of a nine-game home stand that includes four games this week.

Washburn will play the Beavers again Friday at 2:30 p.m. and then host Minnesota-Crookston Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader.

The Ichabods will be led by first-year head coach Harley Douglas as he inherits a team that went 26-24 last year and finished seventh in the MIAA at 22-18. Douglas was a 2002 Washburn graduate. He played for former coach Steve Anson from 1997-2000 and returned as an assistant from 2012-14.

Washburn returns starters to every position in the lineup this year including all-MIAA third baseman Kyle Carnahan. He led the Ichabods and finished sixth in the MIAA hitting .395 and he reached safely in all but two games.

The Beavers and Golden Eagles are both scheduled to open their seasons at Washburn. Bemidji State went 21-22 last year and 15-15 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Minnesota-Crookston went 1-47 and 0-36 in the NSIC. The Bods are 15-0 against UMC and last met in 2007. Washburn is 13-5 against BSU after winning four of five in 2009.

League coaches pick Ichabods ninth in preseason poll
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Head coach Harley Douglas' first Ichabod squad will start the season ranked ninth in the MIAA preseason poll released Friday.

The MIAA coaches gave the Bods 75 points, 12 shy of No. 8-ranked Northeastern State. Emporia State earned the top spot in the poll with 164 points and 10 first-place votes. Central Missouri was second and Central Oklahoma was third. Those two schools each earned two first-place votes.

The Ichabods finished 26-24 last year and seventh in the MIAA at 22-18. They played Emporia State in the MIAA tournament first round and lost that series in three games. The Hornets finished second in the league and went on to win the postseason tournament. Central Missouri won the MIAA regular season championship.

Plenty of talent returns to the lineup for first-year head coach Harley Douglas
While Washburn returns starters from last year to all nine positions on the field, only a few starting lineup spots for this year were locked up when preseason practice started this spring.

Three juniors who won all-MIAA honors throughout their careers return to their starting spots in the lineup. Catcher David Gauntt was named first team all-MIAA catcher last year after finishing 10th in the league with eight home runs. He led the Bods with a .569 slugging percentage.

Up the line a bit from him will be Kyle Carnahan, returning for his third year as starting third baseman. He hit .395 last year and was honorable mention all-MIAA. He reached safely in all but two games last year. Parker Gibson is the third junior who will keep his starting spot. He hit .269 last year and led the team with 22 stolen bases. He was honorable mention all-MIAA his freshman year.

Senior Connor Crimmins will start in left field once again while Wes Jones and Payton Soicher battle for the other spot. Jones was all-MIAA honorable mention after hitting .343 last year.

Dylan Turpin and Tanner Johnson return looking for time at first base. Returners Corey Gragg and Riley Krane will look for time at second base and the shortstop spot will either be filled by Cole Gardner or transfer  Zane Mapes. A number of other transfers and returning redshirts will all battle for time in the infield.

Senior Eric Schmid and sophomore Maustin Otterstatter earned spots in the starting rotation. Otterstatter led the staff last year with a 3.00 ERA. Others will battle to fill the remaining two rotation spots in four-game MIAA series and the mid-week games Washburn will play. Among them are returners Connor Brady and Hank Wellborn.

Among the bullpen pitchers, Greg Mason led the staff last year with 18 appearances and Sam Jones picked up two wins.

Douglas taking over Ichabod baseball as first former player named head coach
Former Ichabod all-MIAA outfielder Harley Douglas was promoted to head baseball coach this summer. Douglas was an assistant with the Ichabods the last three years and was named interim coach in July after the death of 35-year head coach Steve Anson.

Douglas is the first former Ichabod player to serve as Washburn's coach. He's the first new baseball coach at Washburn since Anson took over in 1980 and just the fifth person to coach the Ichabods since complete historical records were archived in the 1950s.

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. He's 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.

Up Next
The Ichabods will open MIAA play February 20-22 with a four-game series at home against Southwest Baptist. The nine-game, season-opening home stand will then conclude February 24 against Rockhurst.