Weekend Outlook
Washburn travels to Southwest Baptist University this weekend for a three-game series in Bolivar, Mo. ... Southwest Baptist enters the weekend at 16-15 (11-10 MIAA) on the season ... The Bearcats are led offensively by Caleb Sneed who is hitting a team high .421, which ranks 2nd in the MIAA, while Sean Murley is hitting .405 on the season, ranking him 5th in the MIAA ... Carter Sherban ranks 11th in the MIAA with a .391 average, while Christian Binger ranks 18th in the MIAA with a .370 average ... Chance Wolfe (.330), Trevor Bowling (.320), and Jeff Bouchard (.307) are also all hitting over .300 ... Sneed has scored a team high 35 runs, while Sherban has knocked in a team high 33 RBI on the season ... On the mound Cory Borsh holds a 3.97 ERA with an opponent's batting average of .227 ... the Ichabods have won six straight in the series and are 4-0 under head coach Harley Douglas against the Bearcats, sweeping a neutral site four-game series last season ... more information on opponents and series history can be found on page one of the game notes.

Midweek Recap
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn built a 4-2 lead in the middle innings and hung on the rest of the way to secure a win in the midweek series finale against Fort Hays State on Tuesday, April 5 ... 
Maustin Otterstatter (1-1) went five complete, allowing two runs off of five hits and a walk while striking out two ... Greg Mason pitched the next three innings in scoreless fashion, allowing just one walk and one hit with two strikeouts before Lance Barkley earned his third save of the season by throwing a scoreless ninth ... Barkley was the team's leader at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a double in the game ... Bowe Behymer also had a double for the Ichabods on a windy day at the field, while Tanner Triggs and Zane Mapes came up with WU's other hits ... Mapes was also hit by two pitches in the game, as were Behymer and David Gauntt ... WU fell behind 1-0 in the first and tied at up in the second, and after falling behind 2-1 in the third, the Ichabods again tied it up in the fourth ... the fifth inning saw the Ichabods score two more and hang on for the lead the rest of the way.

Weekend Recap (April 1-3)
Washburn swept Nebraska-Kearney in a three-game series last week, exploding on the offensive end with 40 total runs and 52 hits including 11 home runs, eight doubles and two triples ... as a pitching staff, WU had a 4.50 ERA and 22 strikeouts, holding opponents to a .291 batting average against ... it was the first series sweep of the weekend and featured several career highlights and standout performances ... Cole Gardner hit his first career grand slam (and first WU grand slam of the season) in WU's 16-3 win on Saturday ... Kyle Carnahan hit .563 over three starts last weekend with three home runs and a double, driving in five ... that nearly matched David Gauntt's output as the catcher hit .467 with a double and three home runs, driving in five ... Combined, WU had 11 over its 13 players who had an at-bat hit over .300 for the weekend ... on the mound, Nick Silva, Mike Hefferan and Jaren Kutzke earned wins while Greg Mason made three relief apperances with three strikeouts, allowing just one hit over 3.1 innings.

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 is on page three of the game notes.

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 681 for his career with 18 regular season games remaining.

Active NCAA Career Leaderboard - HR
With 38 career home runs (and 12 this season), David Gauntt is currently second among active NCAA Division II leaders in home runs ... No. 1 on the list is Mike McClellan of Columbus State with 38 and third on the list is Will Albertson (Catawba) with 34 ... among all divisions (DI, II and III) Gauntt is currently third (as of April 3 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 second in DII and seventh in all division with 48 career HBP while Gauntt has been hit 44 times, which is fourth in DII and 13th in all divisions (as of April 3 release of stats)

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 67 relief appearances in four seasons (including 20 this season) ... Mason ranks eighth 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 currently ranks second in the MIAA in appearances and fourth nationally in DII ... a quick glance at the MIAA record book has Mason 13 appearances away from the conference career record of 80 with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

Steady Silva
Nick Silva (6-0, 2.59 ERA) leads the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts this season on the hill and has been consistent throughout his eight starts ... the junior transfer has 41 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched on the year, allowing just 14 earned runs (and 18 total runs) ... Silva has gone at least five innings in six of his eight starts and had shutout opponents twice ... five times he has struck out at least five opponents. 

Late Innings Trend
When leading after the seventh inning, Washburn has established itself as a team that can close out a win with a 18-1 record in those situations ... when trailing after the seventh, however, the Ichabods haven't won a game and are 0-9 ... in looking towards the end of the middle innings (sixth), WU is 18-4 when leading and 0-7 when trailing.

Mr. 200
Parker Gibson's two-RBI single against Missouri Southern in the fourth inning on March 26 was his 200th career hit ... Gibson is the active team leader in career hits (206) and is third on the team this season with 38 hits ... among NCAA Division II active leaders he is 18th.

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 33 double plays on the defensive end, Washburn is averaging 1.06 double plays per game and ranks among the nation's best in that defensive category through 29 games ... Washburn is 10th in NCAA Division II and first in the conference in double plays turned, and sixth nationally (and second in the MIAA) in double plays per game.

Swiping Bases
Washburn has swiped 74  bases this season and 2.47 per game, which ranks 10th nationally in total bases and 7th in stolen bases per game while leading the conference in both (as of April 3) ... 10 Ichabods have swiped at least one base this season, and Kyle Carnahan leads the team (and conference) with 24, while Parker Gibson has has swiped 12 ... Carnahan has stolen three bases in a game twice this season, and is currently fifth in NCAA Division II in stolen bases (and fifth with 0.86 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 30 walks this season (0.97 per game) and ranks among the best nationally and in the conference in those categories ... Soicher is 10h nationally (and second in the MIAA) in walks per game and is 12th in NCAA Division II (and second in the conference) in total walks as of the April 3 stats release

Scoring Frenzy
Washburn has scored in double-digits in 13 games this season and has been held to less than five runs in only seven games ... When scoring 10 or more runs, WU is 12-1 on the year (only loss came with 10 runs) ... The Ichabods are 18-6 in games it scores over the five run mark and 2-6 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 63 times on the year through 31 games which ranks sixth nationally and first in the MIAA ... Kyle Carnahan has been hit 16 times already this season to lead the team and ranks second nationally (and first in the MIAA), while ranking second in the nation with a 0.567hit-by-pitch per game average ... David Gauntt has been hit 14 times (ninth nationally and second in the MIAA) 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.

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.