Leading off . . .
•  The Washburn Ichabod softball team has added four games to its schedule with recent cancelations starting on Friday at 10 a.m. with a doubleheader with Missouri-St. Louis in Emporia.
•  The following day, the Ichabods will face McKendree in a doubleheader also scheduled for a 10 a.m. start. with in Emporia
•  The Ichabods are off to an 8-3 start this season which is their best start after 11 games since the 2005 season when Washburn started the year 8-3.
•  Washburn was picked 10th in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll which was released on Tuesday by the conference office.
•  The Ichabods return seven letterwinners off last season's squad which went 25-30 finishing ninth in the MIAA race. Of the seven returnees, two were honorable mention all-MIAA selections in junior third baseman Savannah Moore senior pitcher Kelsee Henry.
•  Washburn is 6-0 in games in which the Ichabods have hit a home run.
•  Emilee Baker leads the team with a .487 batting average with 19 hits scoring 10 runs which also leads the team … her seven multi hit games also lead the team.
•  Savannah Moore leads the team with four multi-RBI games.
•  Samantha Stallbaumer has reached base in nine-straight games.
•  Megan Deiter has a team-best 1.55 earned run average and has a 4 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio with 49 K's compared to 14 BB's and opponents are batting .168 against her.
•  Deiter's 13 strikeouts against Wayne State last time out were the most by any Ichabod pitcher since the 2011 season.
 
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.
 
This week's opponents . . .
Missouri-St. Louis
•  The Tritons are 3-5 this season and has dropped their last two games falling last time out 5-3 to Missouri Southern on Feb. 18.
•  Reagan Osborn leads the team with a .462 batting average and CoCo Caraway has a team-best 4.04 ERA going 0-2 in the circle.
•  As a team, the squad is batting .332.
 
McKendree
•  The Bearcats are 4-1 this season and have won their last four after dropping the season opener with Kentucky Wesleyan.
•  Caitlyn Lowry leads the team with a .647 batting average with 11 RBI and 11 hits.
•  As a team, the Bearcats are batting .317 and have a team ERA of 3.89.
 
 
Last time out . . .
(Feb. 17, 2018) -- HAYS, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod softball team went 1-1 on the first day of the rescheduled 9-State Classic as games were moved north to Hays. Washburn topped Wayne State 9-1 in six innings before falling to Rogers State 12-0 in five innings in the nightcap.
Game 1 - Washburn 9, Wayne State 1 (6 innings)
The Ichabods scored three runs in the bottom of the first capped with a three-run homer by Taylor Kirk scoring Samantha Stallbaumer who walked and Emilee Baker who singled in the frame.
After the Wildcats scored a run in the top of the fourth, Washburn came back with five runs in the fourth inning sending 12 batters to the plate. After Morgan Henry walked and Stallbaumer reached on a fielder's choice, back to back RBI singles by Baker and a 2 RBI single by Alyssa Carney followed by an RBI double by Moore staked the Ichabods to an 8-1 lead.
Washburn wrapped up the game in the sixth inning when Baker singled and then stole second base and a throwing error scored the final run of the game.
Megan Deiter allowed just one hit in the game striking out 13 with two walks.
Baker finished with three hits and Kirk drove in three.
Game 2 - Rogers State 12, Washburn 0
The Hillcats scored five in the first, three more in the second and four in the third cruising to the 12-0 win. Washburn's lone hit came in the fourth inning on a single by Stallbaumer.
 
Head coach Brenda Holaday
•  is 33-33 in her second 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 former Ichabod head softball coach Lisa Carey, the winningest coach by wins in program history.
 
Washburn Ichabod softball history . . .
• The Ichabods are 1104-860-1 in their 49th 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 open the home slate on Feb. 28 a doubleheader against Newman starting at 1 p.m. Washburn will then have a non-conference doubleheader on March 2 against Rockhurst and the Ichabods will open MIAA play on March 3 against Central Oklahoma.