Weekend Outlook
Washburn welcomes Missouri Southern to Falley Field this weekend for a three-game series, March 24-26 ... MSSU enters the weekend at 17-5 (8-5 MIAA) on the season and has won its previous two games, going 7-3 in its last 10 games ... MSSU is hitting .341 as a team with  35 home runs and 58 doubles, led by Jesse Rall's .464 average, five doubles and 11 home runs (with 32 RBI) ... additionally, the Lions have eight starters hitting over .300 for the year ... on the mound, Payton Walker (1.29 ERA, 5-1), Zach Litchen (2.97 ERA, 3-1) and Cody Hutchinson (5.28 ERA, 3-2) anchor a strong pitching staff that has a combined ERA of 3.99 with 182 strikeouts ... WU dropped all five matchups against the Lions last season and trails in the all-time series, 48-33 ... more information on opponents and series history can be found on page one of the game notes.

Steve Anson Day - March 26
This weekend's series finale on Saturday, March 26 has been deemed Steve Anson Day in celebration of the longtime Washburn Baseball head coach who passed away suddenly after the 2014 season ... The first 125 fans in the park will receive a free Washburn t-shirt with Coach Anson's number (19) on the back ... Coach Anson was head coach at Washburn from 1980 to 2014, filling out 1,645 lineup cards in his 35 seasons while coaching over 500 student-athletes in his time as an Ichabod.

Midweek Recap
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn dropped its midweek MIAA contest with Fort Hays State, 8-1, on Tuesday, March 22 at Falley Field ... Maustin Otterstatter (0-1) took the loss, throwing four innings with four runs allowed on seven hits, striking out two ... Josh Ramirez pitched the fifth and gave up three runs before Greg Mason tossed a shutdown sixth inning ... Braden Larkey threw two complete and gave up one run before Zach Linquist had a spotless ninth ... Eight different Ichabods had a hit on the day, as David Gauntt led the team with a solo home run in the eighth inning ... Zane Mapes had the Ichabods' other extra base hit with his ninth double of the year ... Gauntt's eighth home run of the season put WU in the lead in the second, 1-0, but saw that lead disappear in the top of the fourth as FHSU manufactured four runs off of five hits ... Down 5-1 after FHSU added another in the fifth, Washburn threatened to keep things close by putting runners on second and third with two outs in the inning, but couldn't find the clutch hit to push a run home ... After FHSU added two more in the top of the sixth, a pinch hit double for Mapes with two outs in the seventh gave WU another scoring opportunity ... The Ichabods, however, were kept off the board the rest of the way as the Tigers plated one more in the eighth to close out the scoring.

Weekend Recap
Washburn picked up its third MIAA series win of the season at Pittsburg State last weekend, taking the first and third games of the series to sandwich as tough 5-4 loss in game two ... WU run-ruled the Gorillas, 14-1, on Saturday, March 19 and then closed the series with a 14-11 win on Monday, March 21 ... as a team, Washburn hit .327 for the weekend and had a 4.12 ERA, racking up 18 extra base hits and 16 strikeouts ... David Gauntt hit .556 with two home runs and two doubles, slugging 1.444 with four walks over the series in three starts ... Payton Soicher slugged 1.000 for the three games with two home runs and a double, hitting .364 to go with four RBI, tied with Riley Krane for second on the team ... Nick Silva put together his second consecutive shutout start in the series opener, picking up the win in a run-rule contest, throwing 4.0 innings with three strikeouts while scattering five hits ... Silva did not walk a batter and allowed just two runners past first, not allowing an extra base hit ... Greg Mason made three relief appearances and threw 3.2 innings of shutout play, allowing two hits with two strikeouts ... Jaren Kutzke and Josh Ramirez also had shutout relief appearances, as Kutzke had three strikeouts in three innings and Ramirez picked up a relief win on Monday after throwing 2.1 innings with just one hit allowed.

Silva Picks Up Weekly Honor
Washburn's Nick Silva was named the MIAA/AstroTurf Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 1, announced by the conference office ... Silva  threw all nine innings in a 11-2 win over Missouri Western last Saturday, Feb. 27, allowing two runs (one earned) with only one walk allowed and four strikeouts ... Working efficiently, the right-hander from Littleton, Colo., threw 99 pitches and faced just five over the minimum with five 1-2-3 innings for his first complete game at Washburn.

No Hit Bid
Mike Hefferan was dominant in his Saturday start against Northwest Missouri in the weekend series finale, going 7.2 innings while taking no-hit bid into the sixth inning for his second win of the season as Washburn won, 9-2 ... Hefferan scattered three hits and did not allow a run, striking out four Bearcats on the afternoon.

Double Um Up
With 25 double plays on the defensive end, Washburn is averaging 1.10 double plays per game and ranks among the nation's best in that defensive category through 23 games (as of 3/21 release) ... Washburn is 20th in NCAA Division II and first in the conference in double plays turned, and 8th nationally (and second in the MIAA) in double plays per game.

Swiping Bases
Washburn has swiped 60 bases this season and 2.52 per game, which ranks 15th and 9th nationally (respectively)  while leading the conference ... 10 Ichabods have swiped at least one base this season, and Kyle Carnahan leads the team with 18, as he also stole three bases in one game two times this season ... Carnahan also ranks 10th nationally in stolen bases among NCAA Division II and is first in the MIAA.

Plate Vision
Payton Soicher has worked 25 walks this season (1.10 per game) and ranks among the best nationally and in the conference in those categories ... Soicher is ninth nationally (and second in the MIAA) in walks per game and is 14th in NCAA Division II (and first in the conference) in total walks.

Scoring Frenzy
Washburn has scored in double-digits in eight games this season and has been held to less than five runs in only four games ... When scoring 10 or more runs, WU is 7-1 on the year (only loss came with just 10 runs) ... The Ichabods are is 11-5 in games it scores over the five run mark and 1-6 in games it hasn't reached five runs.

Crowding the Plate
After breaking the school record last season with 90 hit-by-pitches, Washburn has already been plunked 48 times on the year through 23 games which ranks fifth nationally and first in the MIAA (as of 3/21 release) ... Kyle Carnahan has been hit 12 times already this season to lead the team and ranks third nationally (and first in the MIAA), while ranking first in the nation with a 0.60 hit-by-pitch per game average ... David Gauntt has been hit 11 times (11th nationally) while five other Ichabods have been hit at least three times ... the Ichabods ranked third in NCAA Division II last season in hit by pitches ... individually, David Gauntt was 11th nationally with 18 hit-by-pitches while Connor Crimmins (current student assistant coach) was 14th (17) and Carnahan ranked 30th (14).
 
Bods Receive Votes in Preseason Polls
Washburn baseball received votes in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division II Preseason Poll, released Dec. 22 and in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) Central Region Preseason Poll, released Jan. 26 ... in the ABCA poll, WU was joined by four other MIAA schools ... Missouri Southern was picked 24th while Emporia State was 38th ... Central Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney were also in the receiving votes section ... in the NCBWA Preseason Poll, ESU, MSSU and UCM were listed in the Top 10.

Career Record Watch List - Parker Gibson
Senior outfielder Parker Gibson already ranks in the Top 15 of several career record lists as the 2016 season is in its early stages ... check out the game notes for lists where he ranks among the leaders.

Home Run Record List
David Gauntt leads the team with seven home runs this season (including two, two-home run performances) to move into second place on Washburn's career home run record list with 32, passing Scott Gregor, who had 28 from 198-87) ... Gauntt ended 2015 tied for third alongside Terry Middendorf (1984-85, 87-88) and Jesse Schmidt (2002-06) with 25 ...   No. 1 on the list is J.P. Wright, who played at Washburn from 1986-88 and hit 64 home runs ... Gauntt has led the Ichabods in home runs in both of the previous two seasons with 16 in 2015 and eight in 2014.

Career RBI Record Watch List
Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt entered the 2016 season just outside of the Top 15 on Washburn's career RBI record list and have joined the list through 15 games this season ... Parker Gibson is coming up on career RBI 100 and could enter the record list later this season ... the list can be found in the game notes.

Upperclassman dominate starting lineup
An upperclassman-heavy lineup has the Ichabods poised for a successful 2016 season, with five seniors and two juniors marked in for seven of the 10 offensive lineup positions ... two positions, first base and right field, are up in the air but junior Lance Barkley has been marked in at one of them in all 14 games ... junior Kasey Clark has also seen time at first base (five starts) while junior Wes Jones (five starts) and freshman Bowe Behymer (three starts) have been in the lineup at right field ... Tanner Triggs is the lone sophomore in the lineup as designated hitter.

2016 Season Preview
The Ichabods enter 2016 poised for a postseason run under second year skipper, Harley Douglas ... WU returns return three All-MIAA Third Team picks in Kyle Carnahan, David Gauntt and Parker Gibson and have supplemented a roster that returns 22 letterwinners with 24 newcomers, including 17 new arms on the pitching staff ... The Ichabods return their top three hitters (sorted by average) in Carnahan (.371/.602/.462), Riley Krane (.355/.538/.407) and Gibson (.335/.398/.403), and the top two power threats in Gauntt (16 home runs, 53 RBI) and Carnahan (10 home runs, 53 RBI ... Also returning in the lineup is Payton Soicher, who started 44 games with a .299 average and Tanner Triggs, who hit six home runs with a .287 average and earned All-MIAA honorable mention honors while serving as the primary designated hitter ... On the bump, Maustin Otterstatter (4-2, 5.47 ERA, 28 strikeouts) and All-MIAA honorable mention pick Mike Hefferan (4-1, 2.31 ERA, 34 strikeouts) return as the most seasoned in a starting role, while Ryne Dowling (2-0, 3.06 ERA), Greg Mason (16 appearances, 4.84 ERA) and Dan Gabler (11 apperances, 32 strikeouts) return with the most experience out of the bullpen ... Newcomers Lance Barkley (Fort Scott CC), Quentin McGrath (East Central) and Nick Silva (Colby CC) transferred to Washburn for the 2015-16 school  year and are expected to contend immediately for starting roles.

Best College for Baseball
Washburn baseball received national recognition in September after NCSA Athletic Recruiting named the program the No. 1 "Best College for Baseball in 2015" in NCAA Division II on its website.
  
Gauntt named Perfect Game Summer College All-American
Washburn's David Gauntt was named a 2015 Second Team Summer Collegiate All-American by Perfect Game for his play with the Xenia Scouts of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League over the summer ... Announced Aug. 19, the All-American honors came in addition to Gauntt earning First Team All-League honors and being picked to the All-Star Team earlier in the summer ... Gauntt finished the summer with a .322 batting average while slugging .587 and posting a .430 on base percentage ... Gauntt's seven home runs ranked fourth in the GLSCL and came alongside 13 doubles, two triples and 39 runs batted in.
  
Three Ichabods named GLSCL All-League, All-Stars
Washburn's David Gauntt, Kyle Carnahan and Quentin McGrath played together on the Xenia Scouts of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League over the summer and were all named to the All-League and All-Star teams ... Gauntt hit .322 for the summer with 46 hits, 13 doubles, seven home runs and 39 RBI ... Carnahan played in 40 games, hitting .299 with 46 hits, 12 doubles, seven home runs and 27 RBI ... McGrath went 6-0 on the hill, putting together a 3.58 ERA over 47.2 innings with 19 earned runs allowed, 38 strikeouts (team-high).

MIAA Preseason Poll
Missouri Southern earned 11 first place votes and was picked by the coaches to win the MIAA in baseball ... The Lions earned the top spot in the poll after winning the MIAA regular season and post-season title in 2015 ... Emporia State, the other MIAA school in the NCAA Tournament last season, earned the second spot with one first place vote ... Central Missouri who earned two first place votes, was picked third by the coaches. Lindenwood earned 122 points to take the fourth spot in the poll, coming in just two points ahead of Missouri Western (picked fifth) ... Washburn was six points behind MWSU with 114 votes while Nebraska-Kearney (97), Central Oklahoma (87), Fort Hays State (64) and Northeastern State (60) closed the Top 10 ... The final four spots in the rankings went to Southwest Baptist, Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State and Lincoln.