Game Day Outlook
Washburn opens a final two-week homestand of the regular season this weekend, April 28-30 with Central Oklahoma ... forecasted weather in the area has shifted the series to Thursday (April 28) through Saturday (April 30), with game times set for 7 p.m. (Thursday), 5 p.m. (Friday) and 1 p.m. (Saturday) ... game times are subject to change, however, as the forecast develops ... UCO (25-18, 17-15 MIAA) sits tied for seventh in the conference standings and is coming of a midweek win over Northeastern State (7-3) ... UCO is 2-3 in its previous five games and 5-5 in its last 10 ... the Ichabods and Bronchos faced off in a non-conference matchup in Magnolia, Ark., earlier this season, with Washburn taking a 16-5 victory ... as a team, UCO is hitting .313 and has a 6.17 team ERA ... Jon Kamies (.389) leads the team in hitting and has 14 doubles and 17 home runs with 65 RBI (all team-highs) ... on the mound, Daulton Leiker (4.52, 5-1) and Greg Hyde (6.44, 4-1) are the team's primary starters, as Leiker has 64 strikeouts in 63.2 innings and Hyde has 40 strikeouts in 50.1 innings ... WU trails UCO in the all-time series, 22-17 ...  more information on opponents and series history can be found on page one of the game notes.

Midweek Recap (April 27)
No. 27 Washburn Baseball saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end in a midweek contest at Emporia State on Wednesday, April 27, falling 13-3 in eight innings ... WU had 10 hits in the game, but couldn't slow a Hornet offense that had 16 hits and took advantage of two Ichabod errors ... Despite the loss, however, Washburn did clinch the series win with victories in the first two midweek sets between the teams over the previous three weeks ... Maustin Otterstatter (1-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) off six hits and a walk ... Otterstatter struck out four before giving way to Zach Linquist, who entered with no outs in the third and struck out two, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits ... Braden Larkey threw the fifth in shutout fashion, and Evan Payne tossed the rest of the game with a stat line of six hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts ... Kyle Carnahan was 3-for-4 and Riley Krane was 2-for-4 as both Ichabods had a double and an RBI ... Lance Barkley came up with WU's other run batted in, and Parker Gibson added two hits in the contest.

Last Week's Recap (April 22-24)
Washburn went 4-0 last week with a win over Emporia State in a midweek game and a three-game sweep of Lincoln ... the Ichabods took down Emporia State, 9-2, to officially clinch a win in the three-game midweek series before picking up run-rule victories in all three contests at Lincoln ... WU won the opener, 20-3, in seven innings before winning 11-1 and 20-4 in eight innings for the final two games ... Washburn hit .454 as a team and had a 2.81 ERA ... Payton Soicher led all starters with a .615 average for the week, picking up two doubles, two triples and a home run with six RBI ... Parker Gibson (one double, four RBI), David Gauntt (one home run, four walks) and Bowe Behymer (double, home run, four stolen bases) all hit .500 individually ... Nick Silva threw 4.1 innings in a start against ESU before Greg Mason earned the win ... Mike Hefferan (5.0 IP, 7 K's in G1), Dan Gabler (1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K's in G2) and Josh Ramirez (7.0 IP, 4 K's in G3) all had wins against Lincoln in starts.

Playoff Picture
With two weeks remaining in the regular season (and six total games), Washburn sits two game out of first place in the MIAA standings at 24-9 ... UCM currently leads the conference at 26-7, and Missouri Western is in third at 23-10 ... ESU (22-11) is two games behind WU ... the Ichabods host UCM in a three-game set to close the season May 6-8, with a regular season championship potentially on the line ...  the conference tournament is set for May 12-15, 2016 in St. Charles, Mo. ... UCM, WU, MWSU and ESU have all clinched spots in the MIAA Tournament, with five further spots available.

NCAA Tournament Hopes
Washburn is in the hunt for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance with seven games remaining in the regular season and a conference tournament to go ... the NCAA Central Region Tournament is held May 19-22 at a site determined later ... WU was tabbed fifth in the first set of NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings, released Wednesday, April 27 ... This is the first of three rankings leading up the NCAA Central Region Tournament, held May 19-22 at the top-seeded school ... The Central Region is made up of teams from the MIAA, the NSIC and the GAC ... Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the postseason conference tournaments, with the final five seeds handed out on an at-large basis ... the complete regional rankings are found on page five of the game notes

Running Wild
Washburn torched the basepaths last weekend at Lincoln, stealing 17 bases over three games while totaling 93 total bases in three games ... Bowe Behymer was 4-for-4 on the basepaths while Parker Gibson and Kyle Carnahan each had three stolen bases.

Closing Time
Washburn's Lance Barkley has made himself known as a triple-threat on the Ichabods this season, with a .329 batting average, a .979 fielding percentage and a 0.00 ERA with 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 38th nationally and 3rd in the MIAA in saves.

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 (224) and is just seven hits away from tying the school record ... among active leaders in NCAA Division II, Gibson sits 16th.

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.

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 731 for his career with six 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 75 relief appearances in four seasons (including 28 this season) ... Mason ranks fourth 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 five appearances away from tying the conference career record of 81 (set by current Pitt State pitcher Ryan McKay) with seven games remaining in the regular season.


Active NCAA Career Leaderboard - HR
With 40 career home runs (and 15 this season), David Gauntt is currently tied for third among active NCAA Division II leaders in home runs ... No. 1 on the list is Mike McClellan of Columbus State with 48 and second on the list is Will Albertson (Catawba) with 45.

Active NCAA Career Leaderboard - HBP
Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt both rank in the Top 5 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 49 career HBP while Gauntt has been hit 48 times, which is five in DII and 14th in all divisions

Gone From Gauntt
40 times over the last four years (and 31 times in the last two) Washburn has  seen David Gauntt hit a home run when he steps to the plate ... this season, with 15, Gauntt is 19th in the nation and fifth 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, 2.49 ERA) leads the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts this season on the hill and has been consistent throughout his 11 starts ... the junior transfer has 52 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched on the year, allowing just 18 earned runs (and 23 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 (18) 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 25-1 record in those situations ... when trailing after the seventh, however, the Ichabods are just 1-11 (with the only win coming April 16 vs LWU) ... in looking towards the end of the middle innings (sixth), WU is 26-5 when leading and 2-8 when trailing, picking up its first win in that situation on April 13 at Emporia State.

Double Um Up
With 48 double plays on the defensive end, Washburn is averaging 1.05 double plays per game and ranks among the nation's best in that defensive category through 43 games ... Washburn is third in NCAA Division II and first in the conference in double plays turned, and second nationally (and first in the MIAA) in double plays per game.

Swiping Bases
Washburn has swiped 116 bases this season and 2.67 per game, which ranks fourth nationally in total stolen bases and stolen bases per game while leading the conference in both ... 12 Ichabods have swiped at least one base this season, and Kyle Carnahan leads the team (and conference) with 31, while Parker Gibson has has swiped 23 ... Carnahan has stolen three bases in a game twice this season, and is currently fifth 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 38 walks this season (0.88 per game) and ranks among the best nationally and in the conference in those categories ... Soicher is 20th nationally (and second in the MIAA) in walks per game and is 16th 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 nine games ... When scoring 10 or more runs, WU is 15-1 on the year (only loss came with 10 runs) ... The Ichabods are 22-6 in games it scores over the five-run mark and 4-8in 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 76 times on the year through 43 games which ranks eighth nationally and first in the MIAA ... Kyle Carnahan and David Gauntt have each been hit 17 times this season to lead the team, tied for 11th best nationally and first in the MIAA .. Zane Mapes has been 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.