Leading off
•     The Washburn Ichabods travel to Maryville, Mo., starting a four-game series with the Bearcats starting Thursday.
•    The schedule has been moved up a day with rain forecasted for the weekend starting with a single game on Thursday followed by a doubleheader on Friday and then one single game on Saturday.
•    The Ichabods are one game ahead of the Bearcats in the MIAA standings entering the weekend. 
•    Washburn is 22-17 overall and 15-13 in the MIAA while Northwest Missouri is 19-20 overall and 14-14 in conference play.
•    The Ichabods will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak after dropping the final three games of the four-game series with Central Missouri and then a non-conference game on Tuesday against Emporia State.
•    Washburn enters the week in seventh place in the MIAA standings one game back in the loss column behind Missouri Western and Northeastern State. Missouri Southern is 19-5 on top of the conference standings and Nebraska-Kearney is in second at 18-10 tied with Central Missouri. The Lopers come to Falley Field April 24-26.
•    Washburn is 11th in the latest MIAA statistical rankings in batting average with a .290 batting average while the Bearcats are 13th with a .273 batting average. 
•    The Ichabods are ranked sixth in the MIAA in ERA with a 5.36 while the Bearcats are second with a 6.25 ERA.
•    The Ichabods fell out of the NCBWA Central Regional Poll from No. 7 on Monday … the NCAA regional rankings determine which teams go to the postseason.
•    The Ichabods outscored their opponents 277 to 239 in 39 games this season and 48 to 38 in the first inning of games this year and 35 to 23 in the third inning of games … Washburn is being outscored 38 to 31 in the second inning by opponents … Washburn is outscoring opponents 11 to 5 in the ninth inning this season … overall the Ichabods are 10-0 when leading after eight innings, 13-0 after seven innings and 19-0 when leading after six innings.
•    Of Washburn's 34 home runs this season, seven have been grand slams … the NCAA Division II record is nine by Armstrong set in 1988 in 54 games played.
•    Connor Crimmins needs 19 more at bats to move into the top 10 career chart as an Ichabod.
•    Parker Gibson is 11th in the MIAA in the latest rankings in runs scored with 40 … David Gauntt is in second in walks with 26, fourth in being hit by a pitch with 15, 13th in RBI and 10th in home runs with 10 … Riley Krane is in fifth in triples with four … Kyle Carnhan and Gibson are tied for fifth in the MIAA in stolen bases with 13 …Tanner Kilmer is ranked second in the MIAA in ERA with a 2.92 and Tanner Johnson leads the MIAA in putouts with 325.
•    The 10 home runs hit by David Gauntt are the most by an Ichabod since John Calhoun and Tyler Bean had nine in 2012.

Noting Northwest Missouri
•    The Mules (19-20, 14-14 MIAA) is coming off a four game series losing three of four at Emporia State last time out. The Bearcats took the second game of the series.
•    Steven Garber leads the team with a .362 batting average. He also leads the team with six home runs and 38 RBI.
•    Carson Smith and Anthony Caenepeel both have four wins to lead the Bearcat pitching staff who has a team ERA of 6.25.
Series history with Northwest Missouri
•    The Ichabods lead the all-time series 55-53 after taking 3 of 4 meetings in Topeka last season. In 2013 the Bearcats won 3 of 4 sweeping a doubleheader in Topeka and splitting a pair of games in Maryville.

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 22-17 in his first season in the Washburn dugout going 15-13 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.

Last time out
April 14, 2015 -- TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod baseball team came up on the short end of the stick in a 15-7 loss to Emporia State in game which saw the teams combine for 31 hits and 22 runs. 
After the Hornets scored a solo run in their first at bat, the Ichabods came back and took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first. After a lead off walk by Riley Krane, he scored on a double down the left field line by Connor Crimmins who would then score on a single to left by Tanner Triggs.
Emporia State (27-10) scored five in the second inning followed by solo runs in the third and two more in the fourth taking a 9-3 lead. Washburn (27-10) cut the Hornet lead back to 9-6 after scoring three in the fourth inning after RBI singles by Payton Soicher and Parker Gibson and a groundout by Krane. Gragg recorded a double in the inning and scored on Gibson's single.
The Ichabods added a solo run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Gragg sending Tanner Johnson home but it would be the last run the Ichabods would score as 12 of the final 13 Washburn batters were retired by four different Hornet pitchers to finish the game.
David Gauntt had three hits and scored a run and Triggs added three hits as well while scoring two runs. Greg Mason (1-1) took the loss pitching two innings while Jarro Miller improved to 3-1 for the Hornets gaining the win.

Last meeting with Northwest  Missouri
(3/20/14) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Ichabods pounded 12 hits as the wind blew in at Falley Field but they only produced four runs in a 7-4 loss Sunday afternoon to Northwest Missouri.
 Washburn won MIAA series 3-1 but dropped to 13-13 and 13-11 in the MIAA. The Bearcats improved to 16-13 and 11-10 in the league. Washburn will play a non-conference game Tuesday at Rockhurst in its next action.
 Washburn trailed 7-1 before getting three runs in the eighth on an RBI single from Connor Crimmins and a two-run single from Riley Price. The Ichabods then entered the ninth down 7-4 and had runners on first and third after a single from David Gauntt but a double play ended the game.
 Eric Schmid pitched the first 5 2/3 innings and gave up six runs, five earned, off four hits and three walks. He fell to 1-2 with the loss. The Ichabod bullpen then allowed just one hit and an unearned run the final 3 1/3 innings as the Ichabods attempted a comeback.
 Kyle Carnahan batted 2 for 3 with a run scored. He batted .800 (8 for 10) in the series as Washburn batted .367 as a team. Matt Jackson went 2 for 5 and scored twice to give him seven runs scored in the series.
Northwest Missouri only got five hits but the Bearcats took advantage of four Washburn errors.

On Deck
Washburn will host Fort Hays State in a single game on April 22 starting at 6 p.m. The Ichabods will wrap up the regular season April 24-26 hosting Nebraska-Kearney in a four game set. The MIAA Tournament starts April 30 on campus sites with the top four teams hosting teams five through eight in the final standings. The winners of the three game series will advance to the MIAA Tourney at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City.