Leading off
•     The No. 19 (ABCA)/No. 21 (NCBWA)-ranked Washburn Ichabod baseball team opens a four-game against Missouri Western in a battle of two of the top three teams in the MIAA standings starting Friday with a single game starting at 5 p.m. A doubleheader will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series will wrap up with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
•    The Ichabods and the Griffons are two of the hotter teams in the MIAA as the Ichabods have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Griffons are 8-2 in their last 10 contests.
•    The Ichabods (16-3, 10-2 MIAA) are second in the latest MIAA statistical rankings in batting average with a .349 batting average while the Griffons (14-7, 9-3 MIAA) lead the MIAA in earned runs average with a 3.53 ERA.
•    Washburn is coming off a 6-1 loss at Newman on Wednesday while the Griffons topped Central Missouri in a non-conference game 10-5 on March 17.
•    The Ichabods fell from No. 6 to No. 19 in the ABCA rankings and went from No. 19 to No. 21 in the NCBWA Top 25 poll … this season marked the first time the Ichabods were ranked in either national poll.
•    The Ichabods went from No. 1 in the NCBWA Central Regional Poll to No. 4 in the latest poll released on Monday … the NCAA regional rankings determine which teams go to the postseason.
•    The 16-3 start equals the best start for the Ichabods after 19 games since the 1994 season.
•    The Ichabods outscored their opponents 185 to 98 in 19 games this season and 35-17 in the first inning of games this year … Washburn is being outscored 13 to 7 in the seventh inning by opponents and 14 to 12 in the eighth inning … Washburn is outscoring opponents 11 to 4 in the ninth inning this season … overall the Ichabods are 7-0 when leading after eight innings, 9-0 after seven innings and 15-0 when leading after six innings.
•    Washburn is batting .338 as a team and has a 4.98 earned run average while opponents have recorded a .266 batting average and a 9.42 ERA.
•    In MIAA play, the Ichabods are batting .317 compared to .265 for their opponents holding a 5.55 ERA while foes have an 8.69 ERA.
•    Of Washburn's 14 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.

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 16-3 in his first season in the Washburn dugout going 10-2 in MIAA games.
•    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 Missouri Western Griffons
•    The Griffons are 14-7 overall and 9-3 in MIAA play.
•    Cosimo Cannella and David Glaude lead the team with a .389 batting average as the Girffons bat .311 overall as a team.
•    Richard Peoples leads the pitching staff with a 2.33 ERA going 4-1 in nine appearances, but he has not started any games this season … he also has a team-high three saves.
•    The Griffons have the best team ERA of any MIAA pitching staff with a 3.61 ERA.

Series with the Griffons
•    The Ichabods lead the all-time series 60-57.
•    Washburn took three of four meetings during the 2014 season in St. Joseph.
•    Prior to that series, the Griffons won 12-straight over the Ichabods sweeping four games in 2013, five in 2012 and three in 2011. 
•    Washburn won both meetings in 2010.

Last time out
WICHITA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod baseball team was held scoreless for the first six inning of the game at Newman and fell 6-1 to the Jets. The Ichabods return to MIAA play with a four-game series starting on Friday when they will host Missouri Western starting at 5 p.m.
Washburn's only run of the game came in the seventh inning when Tanner Johnson drove in Alex Head who picked up a lead off double. The Jets scored three runs in the first inning and added two more in the third and their final run in the bottom of eighth.
Parker Gibson,Riley Krane, David Gauntt, Head and Johnson all had hits for the Ichabods. Brad Honeycutt (0-1) took the loss striking out two giving up six hits and five earned runs.

Last meeting with Missouri Western
(3/10/14) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Ichabods scored twice in the first inning and held on for a 4-3 win Monday afternoon to open a doubleheader at Missouri Western. Washburn then ended up on the losing end of a 12-11 sluggfest in the final game.
 The split Monday gave the Ichabods their second MIAA series victory this year as they took three of four. 
Matt Jackson drove in a run in the first inning of the opener with a triple and then he scored on an error on a David Gauntt hit to give Washburn a 2-0 lead.
Washburn starter Eric Schmid gave up a Griffon run in the second and he ended up going five innings to get his first win (1-1). He allowed two unearned runs off four hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Washburn added a run in the fourth on an RBI bunt single from Kyle Carnahan and then the Ichabods got what ended up being the deciding run in the fifth. Taylor Herrington led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a groundout from Wes Jones.
Drew Ridley pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Ichabods and then AJ Green gave up a run in the seventh but was able to strand the tying run on third base to end the game and give him his first save.
Jones ended the game with two of Washburn's six hits. The Griffons ended with seven hits and each team had an error.
The Ichabods scored seven runs in the first two innings of the second game but gave up five runs in the fourth and three in the fifth. The two teams combined for 23 runs and 21 hits.
Connor Crimmins drove in four runs with three of them coming in a bases-clearing double in the first inning. Jones and Carnahan each had two hits and Parker Gibson drove in two runs with a double in the second inning.
Washburn drew 11 walks in the game with Gauntt getting three of them. Herrington and Cole Gardner both walked and scored twice.
The two teams combined to use 11 pitchers. Washburn starter Maustin Otterstatter went three full innings and pitched into the fourth. He gave up six runs off six hits and four walks as he made his first start. Reliever Alex Laughlin took the loss as he gave up three runs through two thirds of an inning.

On Deck
The Ichabods will face Truman State in a single game on March 26 in Kirksville, Mo., before opening a four-game set at Lindenwood starting the following day. Washburn's next home game will be on March 31 against Newman at 5 p.m. in a single game against the Jets.