Leading off . . .
•     The Washburn Ichabod softball team returns home for six-straight scheduled MIAA games starting Friday when the Ichabods will play host to Nebraska-Kearney at 2 p.m. at the Washburn Softball Complex.
•     Washburn will then face Fort Hays State on Saturday and will honor seven Ichabods (Megan Stegman, Samantha Carson, Erica Harper, Nayna Fields, Jordan Erickson, Taylor Kemp and Chantal Prester) who will be ending their careers at the end of the season.
•     Washburn split a non-conference doubleheader last time out on April 1 with Emporia State falling 7-1 in the opener before winning the second game 3-0.
•     The Ichabods MIAA doubleheader with Emporia State has been rescheduled for April 11 in Topeka.
•     Overall the Ichabods are 18-23 and 5-7 in the MIAA currently sitting in 10th in the conference standings. The top eight teams will earn postseason tournament berths.
•     The Lopers are 6-34 this season and 3-11 in the MIAA and have dropped their last five games.
•     Fort Hays State is 9-29 this season and 2-10 in the MIAA and have conference doubleheaders scheduled for Lincoln on April 5 and Emporia State on April 7 before facing the Ichabods the following day.
•     Erica Harper leads the team with a .365 batting average with a team-high 46 hits and seven home runs and is tied for the team lead with 23 RBI.
•     Savannah Moore is batting .331 with 39 hits and 10 doubles with 23 RBI and she is second on the team with six home runs … she leads the team in MIAA play with a .412 batting average.
•     Dakota Sanders is batting .291 with 25 hits and Jordan Erickson is batting .280 with a team-high 11 doubles.
•     Erica Harper has 14 multi-hit games to lead the team and Jordan Erickson has 12. Savannah Moore leads the Ichabods with four three-hit games. Taylor Kemp has seven multi-hit games and Ashley Ruder and Dakota Sanders each have six multi-hit games.
•     Savannah Moore leads the Ichabods with seven multi-RBI games and Jordan Erickson has six. Erica Harper has a 5-RBI game earlier this season.
•     Savannah Moore is riding a nine-game hitting streak … the longest hitting streak by any Ichabod this season has been 11 by Erica Harper.
•     Jordan Erickson has reached base in 14-straight games which is the longest by an Ichabod this season.
•     The four 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 six in her career which is a school record breaking the three Mohler had.
•     Washburn has outscored its opponents 36 to 29 in the first inning, but have been outscored 24 to 5 in the second inning … from the second to the fifth innings, the Ichabods have been outscored 117 to 67.
•     Megan Stegman has started 12 games at second base, seven in center field and 18 in right field this season.
•     Savannah Moore has batted everywhere in the Ichabod lineup except leadoff, eighth and ninth this season.
 
The Week that was . . .
•     Washburn was 1-1 sweeping splitting a non-conference doubleheader with Emporia State last weekend.
•     Erica Harper had three hits in seven at bats and Taylor Kemp and Savannah Moore each had two hits.
•     Ashley Ruder scored two of the Ichabods four runs last weekend.
•     Washburn outhit the Hornets .222 to .184 in the two games.
•     Lexi Crabtree picked up her first win of the season with a complete-game shutout allowing only three hits in Washburn's 3-0 win in the second game.
 
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 . . .
Nebraska-Kearney
•     The Lopers are 6-34 this season and 3-11 in the MIAA.
•     UNK has lost its last five games and are 1-9 in games away from Kearney.
•     Nicole Spykstra leads the team with a .350 batting average with 42 hits and 12 doubles.
•     Molly Stern has a team-high 24 RBI and seven home runs.
•     The team has an ERA of 6.48 with Meg Housholder and Sara Sempek each recording three wins.
•     The Lopers lead the all-time series 29-17 and have won the last two in the series.
 
Fort Hays State
•     Fort Hays State is 9-29 this season and 2-10 in the MIAA and have conference doubleheaders scheduled for Lincoln on April 5 and Emporia State on April 7 before facing the Ichabods the following day.
•     Entering this week the Tigers have lost their last 16 games with their last win coming in a 1-0 win over Mary on March 17.
•     Veronica Knittig leads the team with a .327 batting average with 36 hits and nine doubles.
•     Hailey Chapman has five of the team's nine wins in the circle.
•     Washburn leads the all-time series 38-34 with the Tigers winning the last two games.
 
Last time out . . .
EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods split a non-conference doubleheader with Emporia State on Saturday afternoon in Emporia falling 7-1 before coming back to win the second game 3-0. The Ichabods' MIAA twinbill with Emporia State originally scheduled for Friday will be rescheduled to April 11th in Topeka.
Game 1 - Emporia State 7, Washburn 1
The Ichabods fell behind 2-0 after the second inning and gave up four in the third including two unearned runs as the Hornets took a 6-0 lead after three innings.
In the sixth, Washburn got on the board when Jordan Erickson reached on a single to left and then moved to second on a passed ball and then would come around to score on a double to right center by Savannah Moore for the Ichabods' lone run of the game.
The Hornets added another in the bottom of the sixth to push their lead to 7-1 wrapping up the win.
Washburn tallied with four hits in the game with Erickson, Erica Harper, Dakota Sanders and Moore all recording hits.
Kelsee Henry took the loss allowing four earned runs and Ashley Wills pitched the final three giving up two hits and one earned run.
Game 2 - Washburn 3, Emporia State 0
Lexi Crabtree picked up her first collegiate win in a three-hit complete-game shutout leading the Ichabods to a split in the doubleheader.
Washburn (18-23) struck first in the top of the first when Ashley Ruder scored on a single up the middle by Erica Harper reaching base after being hit by a pitch.
The Ichabods added a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning when Ruder and Britnee Douglas both scored in the inning. Ruder singled to lead off the inning and Douglas pinch ran for Harper who singled. After Douglas swiped second, she scored on an RBI single by Taylor Kemp pushing Washburn up 3-0.
Crabtree (1-3) retired the final five Hornet (23-17) batters for the win striking out three with a pair of walks.
Harper and Kemp each had two hits as the Ichabods outhit the Hornets 8 to 3. Ruder scored twice for the Ichabods.
In the doubleheader, Harper had three hits and Kemp and Moore each had two.
 
Head coach Brenda Holaday
•     is 18-23 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 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 1131-860-1 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 . . .
•     The Ichabods will face Emporia State on April 11 in a rescheduled doubleheader from March 30 and then finish the regular season with eight games on the road. The MIAA Tournament starts April 27 in Oklahoma City.