Game Day Outlook
Washburn hosts No. 19/20 Emporia State (28-11, 20-8 MIAA) this Tuesday, April 19 to close a four-game homestand in game two of its midweek series against the Hornets ... WU won the series opener at Emporia last week, 11-8, and will look to wrap up a series win against the ranked Hornets with a 5 p.m., first pitch from Falley Field ... in last week's game, Maustin Otterstatter started and threw 3.1 innings, allowing six runs before Jaren Kutzke entered to throw the next 1.2 frames ... Greg Mason (2-2) picked up the win with three innings pitched as the senior struck out three and Lance Barkley earned his fourth save of the season with a perfect ninth ... Riley Krane was 4-for-5 on the day with five RBI, picking up two doubles and scoring two runs himself ... Barkley (two RBI) and Parker Gibson each had two hits for the Ichabods as Barkley, Kyle Carnahan (two RBI) and Tanner Triggs each had home runs on the day  ESU won its weekend series with Northeastern State, 2-1, and went 2-2 last week ... over the last 10 games, ESU is 6-4 ... the Hornets are hitting .344 as a team and have a 4.36 ERA ... Tyler Stubblefield is the top starter with an 8-1 record through 11 games (10 starts), positing a 2.37 ERA with 74 strikeouts ... Shane Davies has made 12 relief appearances and has a 2.30 ERA ... offensively, Evan Koehler (.338) leads the team with 18 home runs and 56 RBI and is one of 12 players (min. 8 starts) who is hitting over .300 ... more information on opponents and series history can be found on page one of the game notes.

United Way First Pitch
Wednesday's game with Emporia State at Falley Field will host Washburn University's First Pitch of the "United We Play, United We Win" Campaign ... events will include a pre-game tailgate with a free-will donation and door prizes throughout the night ... WU Vice President Admin and Treasurer Rick Anderson will through out the first pitch to Mr. Ichabod, with United Way President and CEO Miriam Krehbiel taking part in the pregame festivities.

Last Week's Recap (April 13-16)
Washburn went 4-0 last week, including a three-game series sweep over Lindenwood at home ... the Ichabods had a 11-8 win at No. 19 Emporia State before clawing out three close games with the Lions: 4-2, 3-1 and 7-6 (12 innings) ... Josh Ramirez (G3 vs LWU), Mike Hefferan (G2 vs LWU), Nick Silva (G1 vs LWU) and Greg Mason (ESU) all had wins for WU on the hill while Jaren Kutzke (eight strikeouts, 0.00 ERA) and Lance Barkley (3.0 IP, 3 saves) each made three relief appearances ... Riley Krane (.368) lead the team with three doubles and one triple for the week, driving in eight ... Tanner Triggs was 5-for-16 (.313) at the plate iwth a home run and Zane Mapes (.308) was the other Ichabod over .300 for the week, adding a double as one of his four hits.

Closing Time
Washburn's Lance Barkley has made himself known as a triple-threat on the Ichabods this season, with a .321 batting average, a .980 fielding percentage and a 0.00 ERA through nine appearances on the mound ... the Ichabod first baseman has established himself as WU's closer on the year, throwing 11.2 innings with just two unearned runs allowed and only five hits ... the Topeka, Kan., native has six saves for the Ichabods this season, which is only one short of tying Washburn's single season record of seven, set three times since 1996 ... Barkley, a junior transfer, is also within reach of WU's career saves record of 10, set by Don Huss (1987, 89) ... Barkley is currently 27th nationally and 2nd in the MIAA in saves.

Power Numbers on the Rise
Washburn has seen its power numbers explode over the last three weeks, including a stretch of eight straight wins from March 30 to April 8 ... during the eight-game winning streak, Washburn  hit 19 home runs and had 20 doubles with five home runs ... over a three week stretch from March 30 to April 11 (11 games) Washburn racked up 58 extra base hits, including 24 home runs.

200 Hit Club
Parker Gibson and Kyle Carnahan both joined the 200-hit club at Washburn this season and currently rank in the top 10 all-time at WU ... Parker Gibson's two-RBI single against Missouri Southern in the fourth inning on March 26 was his 200th career hit ... Carnahan joined the club with a two-run home run in the seventh inning at No. 19 Emporia State on April 13 ... Gibson is the active team leader in career hits (214) and Carnahan is tied for sixth with 200 ... among active leaders in NCAA Division II, Gibson sits 19th.

Gibson sets Career ABs record
Senior outfielder Parker Gibson claimed the school record for career at-bats last weekend in game one against Nebraska-Kearney on April 1, 2016 ... the senior entered the weekend with 662 career at-bats, tied for first all-time alongside Sam Sissom and now has 711 for his career with 11 regular season games remaining ... he is currently eighth all-time among active players in NCAA Division II.

Going With Greg
When Washburn has made a call to the bullpen this season (and in the past four years), a majority of the calls have been to senior right hander Greg Mason, who has 74 relief appearances in four seasons (including 27 this season) ... Mason ranks fifth among active NCAA Division II pitchers in career relief appearances, and is now first all-time on Washburn's career record list for appearances ... this season, Mason leads the nation and conference in appearances  ... a quick glance at the MIAA record book has Mason six appearances away from tying the conference career record of 80 with 11 games remaining in the regular season.

Active NCAA Career Leaderboard - HR
With 39 career home runs (and 14 this season), David Gauntt is currently tied for fourth among active NCAA Division II leaders in home runs ... No. 1 on the list is Mike McClellan of Columbus State with 40 and third on the list is Will Albertson (Catawba) with 37 ... among all divisions (DI, II and III) Gauntt is currently third (as of April 11 release of stats)

Active NCAA Career Leaderboard - HBP
Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt both rank in the Top 3 among active Division II members in career hit-by-pitches and are top 15 among all divisions ... Carnahan is third in DII and 10th in all division with 48 career HBP while Gauntt has been hit 46 times, which is fourth in DII and 12th in all divisions (as of April 11 release of stats)

Three-Headed Monster
Parker Gibson, Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt are three seniors who will exit their Washburn careers as some of the most successful Ichabods in school history ... they rank among career leaders in several offensive categories and continue to climb record charts as their final season at WU crawls past the midway point ... those record lists where at least two of the three are listed in the Top 10 are below.

Gone From Gauntt
39 times over the last four years (and 30 times in the last two) Washburn has  seen David Gauntt hit a home run when he steps to the plate ... this season, with 14, Gauntt is 14th in the nation and fourth in the conference ... last year with 16, Gauntt ranked 16th in the nation and had 0.3 home runs per game.

Steady Silva
Nick Silva (8-0, 2.52 ERA) leads the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts this season on the hill and has been consistent throughout his 10 starts ... the junior transfer has 50 strikeouts in 60.2 innings pitched on the year, allowing just 17 earned runs (and 22 total runs) ... Silva has gone at least five innings in eight of his 10 starts and had shutout opponents twice ... six times he has struck out at least five opponents ... in the MIAA, Silva is tied for first in wins while sitting second in earned runs allowed, third in ERA and walks allowed (14) and seventh in innings pitched. 

Late Innings Trend
When leading after the seventh inning, Washburn has established itself as a team that can close out a win with a 22-1 record in those situations ... when trailing after the seventh, however, the Ichabods are just 1-10 (with the only win coming April 16 vs LWU) ... in looking towards the end of the middle innings (sixth), WU is 22-5 when leading and 2-7 when trailing, picking up its first win in that situation on April 13 at Emporia State.

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.


Double Um Up
With 37 double plays on the defensive end, Washburn is averaging 0.97 double plays per game and ranks among the nation's best in that defensive category through 38 games ... Washburn is 15th in NCAA Division II and second in the conference in double plays turned, and 11th nationally (and second in the MIAA) in double plays per game.


Swiping Bases
Washburn has swiped 94 bases this season and 2.47 per game, which ranks ninth nationally in total stolen bases and seventh in stolen bases per game while leading the conference in both ... 10 Ichabods have swiped at least one base this season, and Kyle Carnahan leads the team (and conference) with 28, while Parker Gibson has has swiped 18 ... Carnahan has stolen three bases in a game twice this season, and is currently seventh in NCAA Division II in stolen bases (and sixth with 0.78 stolen bases per game) ... both Carnahan and Gibson rank among the Top 10 in WU's career record list.


Plate Vision
Payton Soicher has worked 36 walks this season (0.95 per game) and ranks among the best nationally and in the conference in those categories ... Soicher is 10th nationally (and second in the MIAA) in walks per game and is 14th in NCAA Division II (and second in the conference) in total walks.

Scoring Frenzy
Washburn has scored in double-digits in 16 games this season and has been held to less than five runs in only eight games ... When scoring 10 or more runs, WU is 15-1 on the year (only loss came with 10 runs) ... The Ichabods are 20-6 in games it scores over the five-run mark and 2-7 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 been plunked 72 times on the year through 38 games which ranks sixth nationally and first in the MIAA ... Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt have each been hit 16 times this season to lead the team, tied for sixth best nationally and first in the MIAA .. Zane Mapes has een hit 10 times and is one of seven other Ichabods to 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.

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.