Washburn baseball looks to continue its run of good form and fortune this weekend as it visits western Kansas with a three-game series against Fort Hays State. The weekend set will open on Friday at 5 pm with the remainder of the series to be played Saturday at 1 pm and 12 pm on Sunday.

Live stats for each game will be available online at wusports.com/live or on the team's schedule page with additional links to radio and video made available on a game-by-game basis. 

LEADING OFF
» Per Washburn's archives, the Ichabods have faced Fort Hays State 179 times with Washburn trailing the all-time series 77-102.
» Washburn has won its last three series against Fort Hays State, dating back to 2016.
» The Ichabods have won three of its last four outings including a series win over Southwest Baptist and a non-conference tally against nationally-ranked Missouri Southern.
» Washburn is led by Harley Douglas, who is in his fifth season with the program.

A LOOK AT FORT HAYS STATE
The Tigers look to snap a seven-game skid as they open the weekend 3-28 overall with a  2-18 mark in league play. The Fort Hays State is hitting a combined .245 on the year with 118 runs and six home runs. Landon Erway is hitting .367 (36-98) on the year with 17 runs, both team-highs, while Ryan Grasser leads the way with 20 RBI. The Tiger pitching staff has a combined 9.28 ERA in 248.1 innings with 154 strikeouts. Ethan Booe has a staff-best in ERA (4.47), innings pitched (44.1) and strikeouts (26). 

DOUBLE PLAY BALL
The Ichabod defense has turned 25 double plays on the year and began the week listed fifth in the conference and 51st on the NCAA Division II leaderboard. Washburn is averaging just under one (0.81) double play a game and has twice turned a season-high three double plays, first at Southeastern Oklahoma (2/9) then versus Rockhurst (2/13). Prior to the season, the Washburn defense has turned 164 double plays dating back to the 2015 season including a program-best 57 during the 2016 campaign. 

ON THE MOUND
The Ichabod pitching staff has a combined 4.90 ERA with 251 strikeouts in 268.0 innings of work. The staff averages 8.4 strikeouts per nine, which is seventh-best among the MIAA.
» Josh Ramirez is 3-3 in 10 starts with a 3.61 ERA in 57.1 innings. 
» Jacob Head is 2-3 in nine starts, while posting a 5.08 ERA in 44.1 innings of work with 26 strikeouts. On March 1, Head lead the charge in a combined shutout effort at Pittsburg State in a two-hit, 6.0-inning outing.  
» Brandon Gabler is 3-1 on the year in 11 appearances with a 5.48 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 23 innings, while opponents are .209 hitting.
» Nathan Lorenzen has two saves in 12 appearances with a 4.98 ERA in 21.2 innings. On Tuesday with the win over Missouri Southern, Lorenzen recorded his first career win.

MILESTONE WATCH
» After pacing the team with 18 stolen bases in 2018, Larson's 31 career steals has him now two shy of tying Dane Simoneau for 25th on the all-time list.
» Washburn's .962 fielding percentage to begin the week is fifth-overall in the Washburn single-season record book.
» Ramirez's 203.2 career innings pitched is sixth-best all-time and is 1.1 innings shy of passing Brad Foster's 205 innings for fifth and trails Dustin Osterhaus by 4.2 innings for fourth on the all-time list.

YARD WORK
» The Ichabods began the season with a home run in four consecutive games en route to tallying 10 during their opening seven games of the season. 
» Seven of the 17 Washburn home runs have come from the lead off spot. 
» In the last four seasons, Washburn has homered 193 times including 69 in 2016.
» Brady Hoover is third among league leaders with nine home runs.
» Chance Ragsdale raked his first career blast in the series finale against Southwest Baptist.

OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTIONS
The Ichabods have received offensive support form their entire lineup:
» 17 different players have scored at least one run, with nine scoring at least seven times.
» 12 players have at least five RBI, with nine Ichabods registering 10 or more.
» 15 players have doubles with Hoover leading the way with 12. Hoover also has team-bests in home runs (9) and RBI (33), while being second on the team in hitting .331 (42-127).
» De Leon is hitting .328 (39-119) with two triples and a team-high 28 runs scored.
» Larson is hitting a team-best .339 (37-109) on the year. In the last 10 games, Larson is hitting at a .529-clip (18-34) and has scored 15 of his 26 runs this season. 

ICHABODS ON THE ROAD
» Washburn opened the 2019 campaign with 24 consecutive games played either on the road or at a neutral venue. During that stretch, the Ichabods went 11-13.
» Since 2015, the Ichabods are 58-60 when playing either on the road or at a neutral site.

UNDER DOUGLAS
Fifth-year head coach Harley Douglas is the fifth head coach in the program's 67 seasons. Douglas is 105-98 in his last four seasons which includes back-to-back seasons with over 30-plus wins. The first former player to take the helm, Douglas played four seasons (1997-2000) for predecessor Steve Anson before a stint with the New York Mets system and a three-year term as Anson's top assistant. 

#PROBODS UPDATE
Former Ichabod slugger Riley Krane (2014-17) is set for his second full season in the Frontier League in 2019 when he suits for the Joliet Slammers. Krane is hitting a .248 for his career with eight dingers, 52 RBI in 123 games played. 

'BODS IN THE BIGS
Washburn baseball has been home to many talented alumni with some being able to take their talents to Major League Baseball. 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. Additionally, six Ichabods have been chosen in the MLB Amateur Draft with catcher David Gauntt being selected most recently by the Miami Marlins in 2016 (Round 18). 

UP NEXT
Washburn will return home to Falley Field for another four-game homestand next week when it faces Northwest Missouri on Tuesday, April 16 in non-conference play before hosting Emporia State in a three-game series scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 18.