LEADING OFF — Washburn will have little time to reflect on its series loss to Pittsburg State as it treks to Hays, Kan., to take on Fort Hays State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ... the remainder of the series will be played on Mar. 29 in Topeka before moving back to Hays for the series finale on Apr. 4.
FHSU SCOUTING REPORT — The Tigers enter the week carrying a seven-game losing streak as they stand at 7-17 overall with a 1-11 mark in the MIAA ... FHSU is a collective .275 at the platewith four batters entering the week averaging better than .300 ... in spite of their record FHSU ranks ahead of WU in several categories including batting average (11th), hits (8th/223), home runs (T-6th/19) and RBI (8th/114) amongst others ... Alex Ruxlow leads the pitching staff in wins (3) and innings pitched (39.1) ... collectively the Tigers mound crew has an 7.45 ERA with opposing teams hitting .322.
THE WEEK THAT WAS — WU claimed the series opener on Friday with 7-4 victory before dropping the remaining two contests to fall in the series.
SERIES HISTORY — The mid-week showdown will be the 173 meeting between two the teams in a series that dates back to 1966 ... Fort Hays leads the all-time series at 101-72 but has fallen to the Ichabods in three of its last four meetings.
'BODS & ENDS — As of the last rankings, Riley Krane is among the league leaders in RBI (1st, 31); triples (t-1st, 4); runs (t-8th, 22) and home runs (t-4th, 6) ... Krane also cracks the top 40 nationally in RBI (13th), RBI per game (t-28th, 1.55); triples (7th) and home runs (38th) ... Darian Abram's three triples have him listed fourth in the MIAA and 15th in Division II ... Josh Crosby's 11 doubles is fifth-best in the Division II ranks ... Marcus McKinney is also fifth in Division II with five saves ... Lance Barkley and Jacob Head are both among the nation's leaders in wins with Barkley at third (5) while Head checks in at 17th (4) ... with an combined ERA of 3.57, the WU pitching staff is ranked 29th in Division II.
FALLEY FIELD — The official home of Ichabod baseball since opening in 1990 ... Falley Field features a FieldTurf surface for the infield and grass for the outfield with dimensions of 330 feet to the left and right field and a distance of 400 feet to center ... in the previous 26 seasons, Washburn has put together an overall record of 363-251 including a 21-10 mark during the 2000 season ... with a listed capacity of 800, Falley Field has welcomed 20,771 cheering fans over the course of the last three seasons.
THE 'BODS ROADSHOW — The Ichabods closed their season opening 11-game road swing with a 8-3 record including a 4-1 tally in neutral venues ... this season WU is 8-3 when listed as the visiting team on the scoreboard ... as a result of their early travels WU has bussed approximately 2,854 miles and visited three states.
CAUTION MILESTONES AHEAD — Head coach Harley Douglas is 22 wins shy of No. 100 ... with six saves on the season Marcus McKinney is now four shy of the WU all-time record held by Don Huss ... Riley Krane is 12 hits shy seventh on the WU all-time career list and 11 RBI short of ninth in program-history.
WHERE THEY RANK — Behind one first-place vote, the Ichabods open the season ranked fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll ... WU placed eighth in the NCBWA's Division II Preseason Regional Rankings ... the only recognition the team earned nationally was from Collegiate Baseball News where they were listed in the receiving votes category.
BIG LEAGUE 'BODS — Washburn baseball has been home to many talented alumni with some being able to take their talents to the Majors ... to date, their have been six former Ichabods who have played a regular-season or playoff game for an MLB club including George Darrow, Rick DeHart, Jerad Head, Davey Lopes, Jerry Robertson and Steve Simpson and has had eight players chosen in the MLB Amateur Draft.
UPDATES & MORE — Fans can fellow every pitch of the 2017 season via live stats available by visiting wusports.com/live ... for in-game updates, news and more be sure to also follow Washburn athletics on Twitter (@wusports) and Facebook.
70TH ANNIVERSARY -- The 2017 campaign marks the 70th anniversary of the first season of Ichabod baseball ... the program however took a six-year hiatus from 1951-56 due to world events ... the program returned in 1957 under the leadership of Washburn's first baseball coach, Marion McDonald.
