•  The Washburn Ichabod softball team returns to action and will have its home opener this weekend as they will travel to Emporia State for a pair of MIAA games and then face the Hornets in a pair of non-conference games on Saturday in the first games of the season at the Washburn Softball Complex.
•  Washburn (6-7, 2-2 MIAA) is coming off a 2-2 MIAA-opening weekend after sweeping Lincoln on March 4 in a pair of five-inning games before losing at Lindenwood the following day.•  After the first five games of the season, the Ichabods are led by a pair of freshmen who are both hitting above .391.
•  Freshman Ashley Ruder leads the Ichabods with a .571 batting average and returns to the field after recovering from a concussion suffered at the Winona State Dome Classic … she has 12 hits in seven games played this season.
•  Freshman Erin Keeney is batting .391 with 18 hits while recording 9 RBI and eight runs scored … Keeney leads the team with seven multi-hit games.
•  Senior Taylor Zimmerman has 15 hits this season and a team-high six home runs after hitting three in the first game at Lincoln and hit a fourth one in game two against the Blue Tigers … she added one more last weekend against Lindenwood … she leads the team with 11 runs scored and she is second on the team with 13 RBI.
•  Sophomore Cassidy Merriman leads the team with 15 RBI … she also carries an 11-game hitting streak into this weekend and leads the team with six multi-RBI games … the next closest Ichabod has two …she also has reached base in 11-straight games.
•  Senior Marina Quimby is second on the team with 17 hits.
•  Junior pitcher Samantha Carson leads the team with a 4-2 record and a 1.99 earned run average in 49 1/3 innings pitched … in relief she has pitched 8 1/3 innings with a 0.00 earned run average striking out four allowing only one unearned run.
•  The Ichabods will be looking to snap a 37-game losing streak to Emporia State on the softball field.
•  The last win by the Ichabods over the Hornets on April 25, 2005 in a 4-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader.
 Emporia State
•  The Hornets are 11-8 this season and 3-1 in the MIAA after sweeping Lindenwood and splitting conference games with Lincoln last weekend.
•  As a team the Hornets are hitting .318 and have 15 home runs and have stolen 43 bases in 50 attempts compared to their opponents who have stolen eight bases.
•  ESU has a team ERA of 3.98 with Eryn Stockman leading the team with six wins and a 2.25 ERA.
•  The Hornets are led by first-year coach April Huddleston who is 11-8 in her first year as the head coach at Emporia State. She is the tenth head coach of the Hornet softball program. She steps in as head coach for her first year having served as an assistant with the Hornets for seven seasons. Huddleston was a member of both the Hornets national runner-up teams in 2006 and 2009, and was named first team all-MIAA at shortstop her senior year.
•  The Hornets lead the all-time series 49-81-1.
 • Haylee Marsteller went over the 100-hit mark at the Winona State Dome Classic … she now has 109 for her career … her 55 career walks are tied for eighth on the Ichabod career chart.
•  Marina Quimby needs 11 runs for 100 for her career and went over the 150 hit mark against Lincoln.
•  As a program, the Ichabods collected its 1,100th win against Lincoln in the second game.
•  Taylor Zimmerman's 16 career home runs is 14th at Washburn and Cassidy Merriman's 15 home runs are 17th.
 ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods were swept in an MIAA doubleheader at Lindenwood falling 7-2 and 5-4 on Saturday. Washburn returns to action Friday at Emporia State before returning home to face the Hornets two more times in Topeka the following day.
Game 1 - Lindenwood 7, Washburn 2
The Lions took the opener after scoring three unearned runs in the third inning taking advantage of an Ichabod error going up 3-0. The Lions added two more in the fifth inning going up 5-0. Washburn got on the board in the sixth inning when Cassidy Merriman homered to left center scoring Megan Stegman who reached on a an error by the Lions. Lindenwood went up 7-2 in the sixth adding a pair of runs. Washburn came up scoreless in the seventh as the Lions took the opener. Marina Quimby, Merriman, Taylor Zimmerman, Haylee Marsteller and Sierra Kemp all had hits for Washburn. Samantha Carson took the loss allowing four earned runs scattering 10 hits.
Game 2 - Lindenwood 5, Washburn 4
In the nightcap, the Ichabods took a 1-0 lead when Cassidy Merriman stole home putting Washburn up. Washburn regained the lead on a 2-out, 2-RBI triple by Merriman scoring Lacie Myers and Sierra Kemp as Washburn went up 3-2. However once again, the Lions came back with a pair of runs to go back up 4-3 after two innings. The Lions added a solo run in the third. Washburn scored one in the seventh cutting the lead to 5-4 on a home run on a solo home run by Taylor Zimmerman, but Washburn would leave a pair on base, but not get any more home as the Lions picked up the win. Ashley Wills took the loss scattering eight hits. Marina Quimby finished with three hits and Merriman, Zimmerman and Lacie Myers each had two hits.
 • 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 85-111 in her fifth season on the bench at Washburn and overall Becerra has recorded a 119-129 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 1100-816-1 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 to MIAA play against Northeastern State at the Washburn Softball Complex on March 15.