•  The Washburn Ichabod softball returns to MIAA play after a seven-game hiatus from league play starting on Friday at Missouri Southern followed by a pair of games at Pittsburg State on March 26.
•  Washburn split a doubleheader with Newman on March 22 falling in the first game 9-6 in 11 innings before coming back to win the nightcap 5-4.
•  The Ichabods have won five of their last six games entering the weekend with a 13-13 record.
•  Missouri Southern is 15-22 overall and 3-7 in MIAA play while the Gorillas are 22-9 overall and 6-0 in MIAA play.•  Sophomore infielder Cassidy Merriman leads the Ichabods with 21 runs scored, a .375 batting average, 24 RBI and 33 hits … her .705 slugging percentage and .431 on base percentage also lead the team …  this season she has eight multi-RBI games and has reached base in each of the last 24 games.
•  Senior second baseman Taylor Zimmerman has 29 hits this season and a team-high seven home runs … her 20 RBI is second on the team and her .655 slugging percentage is second on the squad … she was named the NFCA National Player of the Week following the weekend games with Lindenwood and Lincoln.
•  Senior infielder Marina Quimby is third on the team with a .330 batting average and her 30 hits is second and her 14 runs scored is tied for third … she needs four runs scored to reach 100 for her career starting 150 of 155 career .
•  Freshman infielder Erin Keeney is batting .311 with 28 hits which is fourth on the team … her 14 runs scored is tied for third and her 14 RBI is third on the team … Keeney leads the team with 11 multi-hit games.
•  Senior outfielder Haylee Marsteller is tied for fourth on the team with a .311 batting average and is carrying a four-game hitting streak into the weekend.
•  Junior pitcher Samantha Carson leads the team with a 2.26 earned run average in 93 innings pitched going 6-5 in the circle … in relief she has pitched 11 innings with a 0.64 earned run average striking out six allowing only one earned run recording a 2-0 record and a save.
•   Haylee Marsteller drove in her 50th run of her career at the regional crossover … … her 61 walks are sixth on the Ichabod career chart.
•   Cassidy Merriman's 18 career home runs 11th all-time at Washburn and she needs three more to move into the top 10 all-time … Taylor Zimmerman's 17 career home runs are 12th at Washburn.
•   The Ichabods are 10-4 when leading after four innings, 6-4 when leading after five innings and 6-1 when leading after six innings.
•   Washburn has outscored their opponents 121 to 113 this season and have outscored them 24 to 15 in the fourth inning, but have been outscored 16 to 10 in the sixth inning.
•   Samanatha Carson's 10 innings pitched against Newman was the most since Samantha Farris pitched 10 against Truman on April 8, 2009.
 Missouri Southern
•  The Lions are 15-22 this season and 3-7 in the MIAA.
•  The Lions have stole 70 bases this season in 83 attempts.
•  Leading hitter Abi Corbett (.373) is 25 of 28 in stolen base attempts and Alana Hester (.315) is 25 of 32 in stolen bases.
•  Ashley Lutz is 8-10 in the circle with a 2.77 earned run average.
•  The Ichabods trail the all-time series 39-40 as the teams have split the last three MIAA doubleheaders.
 
Pittsburg State
•  The Gorillas are 22-9 overall and a perfect 6-0 in MIAA play entering the weekend.
•  Pitt State received votes in the latest NFCA top 25 coaches poll.
•  Sierra Hall leads the team with a .385 batting average.
•  As a team the Gorillas are batting .279.
•  Emmie Robertson is 13-4 in the circle with a 1.98 earned run average with 143 strikeouts and only 33 walks as opponents are batting .177 against her.
•  The Ichabods lead the all-time series 64-53 and will be looking to break a three-game losing streak to the Gorillas.
•  Washburn's last win over the Gorillas was a 5-3 win on April 5, 2014.
 WICHITA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods split a non-conference doubleheader at Newman on Tuesday falling 9-6 in 11 innings in the opener before coming back to take the nightcap 5-4.
Game 1 - Newman 9, Washburn 6 (11 innings)
The Ichabods (13-13) broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth after Cassidy Merriman led off the inning with a single and then scored on a single up the middle by Taylor Zimmerman.
The Jets took advantage of an Ichabod error scoring three unearned runs in the sixth inning taking a 3-2 lead.
Washburn came back with a run in the top of the seventh tying the score at 3-3 on a one out, RBI double by Lacie Myers scoring Marina Quimby.
Washburn took the lead in the eighth inning on a double down the left field line by Merriman scoring Alex Sweeney who was put on second using the international tie breaker, but the Jets tied it up at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning.
In the ninth, the Ichabods again took the lead at 5-4 on a sac fly by Quimby scoring Sierra Kemp, but the Jets tied it sending it to the 10th inning.
In the 10th inning, Washburn got a runner to third with one out but couldn't push across the run, but the Jets also came up empty as well moving the game to the 11th inning.
Washburn scored a run in the top of the inning on a sac fly buy Erin Keeney scoring Megan Stegman, but a three-run homer by Newman's Missy Swanson ended the game with the 9-6 win.
Quimby had three hits in the game and Merriman, Zimmerman and Keeney each had two.
Samantha Carson allowed only one earned run in 10 innings pitched while striking out five throwing 127 pitches. Ashley Wills took the loss falling to 6-6 on the season.
Game 2 - Washburn 5, Newman 4
After Merriman led off the game getting hit by a pitch, she would later come around and score on an RBI single by Zimmerman.
Quimby's second home run of the season put Washburn up 2-0 in the third, but the Jets cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the frame.
In the fourth, Washburn added four runs when Haylee Marsteller led off the inning with a double and scored on a ground out by Lexie Myers after moving to third on a wild pitch.
Ashley Ruder reached after being hit by a pitch and then scored when Merriman connected on her sixth home run of the season.
The Jets remained scoreless until the seventh inning when they scored three times, but Carson entered the game getting the final two outs of the game picking up the save for Quimby who pitched 6 1/3 innings allowing three earned runs improving to 1-1 on the season in the circle.
Washburn outhit the Jets 9 to 3 in the game as Merriman and Quimby each had two.
 • was named the Washburn Ichabod head softball coach on Aug. 3, 2011 after spending four seasons at Metro State in Denver, Colo., with the final season coming as the head coach.
• is 92-117 in her fifth season on the bench at Washburn and overall Becerra has recorded a 126-135 mark in her sixth year as a head coach.
• in her lone season as the head coach at Metro State, Becerra led the Roadrunners the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championship while advancing to the NCAA regional tournament for the third-straight season finishing with a 34-18 record.
• has coached 20 Ichabods to all-MIAA honors.
• has had 54 Ichabods named to the MIAA's Academic Honor Roll.
 • The Ichabods are 1107-822-1 in their 47th year of softball.
• The Ichabods have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008).
• Washburn won the 2002 regular season MIAA title.•  The Ichabods return home on April 1 with Central Missouri and April 2 hosting Southwest Baptist the following day.