Leading off . . .
•    The Washburn Ichabods will take a step out of MIAA play one final time as they travel to St. Joseph, Mo., to take part in the Missouri Western/Hy-Vee Regional Crossover with six games starting on Friday.
•    Washburn will face six Northern Sun teams during the event.
•    On the final day, Washburn will take on Upper Iowa, a team they beat earlier this season 8-4 on Feb. 17.
•    Erica Harper has eight multi-hit games to lead the team and Jordan Erickson has seven. Ashley Ruder and Savannah Moore each have five.
•    Jordan Erickson leads the team with four multi-RBI games while Savannah Moore, Erica Harper, Lacie Myers, Lexie Myers and Dakota Sanders all have three.
•    Ashley Ruder has reached base in five straight games.
•    Erica Harper, Lacie Myers and Lexie Myers all will carry a three-game hitting streak into weekend action.
•    The three saves by Samantha Carson this season is the most by an Ichabod pitcher since 1997 when Kathy Mohler had three setting an Ichabod single season record. Carson now has five in her career which is a school record breaking the three Mohler had.
•    Samantha Carson has appeared in 129 games as an Ichabod making 107 career starts.
•    Kelsee Henry's 11 innings pitched against Pittsburg State was the third-longest outing by an Ichabod in a game which she did not give up an earned run.
•    Megan Stegman has started 118 games at Washburn and has played in 122 games.
•    After going 8-13 with a 3.86 earned run average as a freshman, Ashley Wills has gone 6-2 this season with a 2.94 earned run average.
 
The Week that was . . .
•    Washburn was 1-7 last week after winning its final game of the week in an 8-6 win against Missouri Southern on Friday.
•    Savannah Moore led the Ichabods with a .381 batting average with eight hits.
•    Jordan Erickson led the Ichabods with nine hits during the week and twice tied a school record with six at bats in two different games.
•    Megan Stegman led the Ichabods with seven runs scored and drove in a team-high 5 RBI along with Lexie Myers and Lacie Myers.
•    As a team, the Ichabods had an ERA of 5.01.
•    Washburn was outscored 37 to 14 in innings two through five.
 
Where to follow . . .
•    Fans can also follow the Ichabod softball team at @WashburnSB for updates as well at the athletic department twitter handle at @wusports.
•    Live stats for certain game will be linked at www.sidearmstats.com/washburn/softball.
 
This week's opponents . . .
Mary
•    Mary is 5-14 this season entering the weekend.
•    Taylor Mendez leads the team with a .375 batting average.
•    Brieann Backes is 3-5 in the circle with a 4.59 ERA.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 3-0 winning last season in St. Joseph 3-1.
 
Minnesota State
•    The Mavericks received votes in the latest NFCA top 25 coaches poll.
•    MSU has a 17-3 record and riding an 11-game winning streak entering action this weekend.
•    Jess Meidl is batting a team-high .508 and as a team they are batting .347.
•    Libby Bemis is 8-2 with a 0.54 ERA and Coley Riley is 9-1 with a 1.22 ERA.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 10-7, but MSU has won the last four meetings.
•    The last Ichabod win came on Marcy 29, 2008 in a 6-5 win.
 
Winona State
•    The Warriors are 16-3 this season and have a team batting average of .351 with a team ERA of 1.61.
•    Lani VanZyl has a .426 batting average with 23 hits while scoring 16 runs.
•    McKenna Larsen is 7-1 in the circle with an ERA of 1.31.
•    Washburn trails in the all-time series 2-1 after falling last season in St. Joseph 8-6.
 
Augustana
•    The Vikings are 5-6 this season and have six games scheduled in Florida before traveling to St. Joseph before playing six more.
•    Maggie Kadrilik has a .520 batting average for a team who has a .308 overall average.
•    In the circle, the Vikings have a 3.30 team ERA.
•    The Vikings lead the Ichabods in the all-time series 12-6 and have won the last two meetings.
 
St. Cloud State
•    The Huskies are 16-4 this season entering the weekend crossover.
•    Alyssa Coletto has a team-high .464 batting average with 26 hits.
•    Megan Hedstrom is 6-3 with a 1.91 ERA.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 5-4 after the Huskies won the last meeting on Feb. 24, 2013 in a 2-1 game.
 
Upper Iowa
•    The Peacocks are 4-10 this season with one of the losses coming to the Ichabods on Feb. 17 in their season opener in an 8-4 loss.
•    Washburn leads the series 7-1.
 
Last time out . . .
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team split an MIAA doubleheader with Missouri Southern on Friday at the Washburn Softball Complex dropping the first game 3-2 in 11 innings before coming back to take the nightcap 8-6. Washburn will return to action next weekend at the Missouri Western Regional Crossover.
 
Game 1 – MSSU 3, WU 2 (11 innings)
Neither team scored until the bottom of the fourth when Jordan Erickson's double down the left field line scored Lexie Myers who reached after being hit by a pitch as Washburn went up 1-0. In the seventh, the Lions took advantage of an Ichabod fielding error and tied the game with an unearned run sending the game to extra innings.
After the eighth and ninth innings, the score remained tied a 2-2. Missouri Southern scored a solo run in the 10th as the teams switched to international tiebreaker rules. Megan Stegman tied the game with a single to center scoring Chantal Prester.
In the 11th, a sac fly by the Lions put Missouri Southern up 3-2. Washburn had a player reach third following a sac bunt, but a ground out and a fly out ending the threat for the Ichabods.
Kelsee Henry tossed 147 pitches and all 11 innings without allowing an earned run in the 3-2 loss. Henry scattered six hits. Dakota Sanders led the Ichabod eight-hit attack with two hits.
The teams stranded 25 runners with the Ichabods leaving 14 on the bases.
 
Game 2 - WU 8, MSSU 6
After falling behind 4-1 after 3 ½ innings, Washburn erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning leading to an 8-6 win.
The Lions scored two unearned runs in the first inning going up 3-0 after their first at bat. Washburn picked up one in the second inning after back to back doubles by Lexie Myers, followed by an RBI double by Dakota Sanders trimming the lead to 3-1.
After the Lions added a run in the fourth, Washburn (12-18, 1-7 MIAA) scored seven times in the fourth sending 13 to the plate taking an 8-4 lead. Savannah Moore led off the inning with a walk and then after a single by Erica Harper she scored on a sac fly by Lexie Myers. A single by Sanders followed by back to back walks by Ashley Ruder and Maddie Anderson pushed Washburn to a 5-4 lead. A single by Lacie Myers scored Anderson and then Moore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring another run for the Ichabods. Lexie Myers was also hit with the bases loaded scoring Moore.
The Lions (9-16, 1-3 MIAA) added solo runs in the sixth and seventh. Samantha Carson came in the game to get the final two outs relieving Ashley Wills who went 6 1/3 innings to pick up her fifth career save as Wills improved to 6-2 on the season. Wills struck out three allowing four earned runs.
Jordan Erickson had two hits as did Sanders.
Sanders had four hits in the doubleheader and Erickson finished with three.
 
Head coach Brenda Holaday
•    is 11-18 in her first season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
•    coached the previous 19 seasons at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka compiling a 351-93 record.
•    led the Junior Blues to three 6A state championships as well as winning 14 league championships earning 16 6A state tournament berths, five second-place state finishes and three third-place state finishes.
•    was been named the Centennial League Coach of the Year and City Coach of the Year nine different times earning the Midwest Sectional Coach of the Year in 2011 and the 6A Kansas Coach of the year two times in 2008 and 2011 and was named the overall Kansas Coach of the Year in 2011.
•    while at Washburn Rural, she coached more than 40 players who have gone on to play college softball including three at the NCAA Division I level including for Ichabod head softball coach Lisa Carey, the winningest coach by wins in program history.
 
Washburn Ichabod softball history . . .
•    The Ichabods are 1124-855-1 in their 48th year of softball.
•    The Ichabods have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008).
•    Washburn won the 2002 regular season MIAA title.
 
Up Next . . .
• Washburn will return to MIAA play on March 24 when they will open a six-game homestand starting with Lincoln followed by Lindenwood the following day.