Leading off . . .
? The Washburn Ichabods softball team will wrap up the regular season with eight games on the road starting with a pair of doubleheaders at Northeastern State on Friday and at No. 2 Central Oklahoma on Saturday.
? The Ichabods are 13-5 in MIAA play entering the weekend setting in third place overall trailing Central Oklahoma at 17-1 and Missouri Western at 17-5. Northeastern State is in fifth at 11-7 in conference play.
? Thanks to Mother Nature, the Ichabods have had 25 games canceled this season.
? The Ichabods played only four games on their home field this season because of construction of new dugouts and weather.
? Washburn finished the 2018 season with a 39-14 record going 23-3 in MIAA play winning its first conference title since the 2002 season.
? The Ichabods also made their first NCAA postseason appearance since the 2008 season last year.
 
 Weekend recap . . .
? The Ichabods were 2-2 last weekend splitting doubleheaders with Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State.
? Ashley Ruder hit .625 with five hits and five runs scored in four games.
? Winter Henry had six hits and drove in four and Savannah Moore hit .385 with 8 RBI and two home runs with six runs scored.
? Bailey Zuniga and Raegen Hamm were both 1-1.
 
 Stat Watch . . .
? The five triples this season by Brianna Fuchs is tied for seventh all-time on the single season chart … the school record is eight.
? Savannah Moore has 108 runs scored which is 10th all-time at Washburn.
? Moore's 40 doubles is 10th all-time at Washburn.
? Moore's 27 home runs is seventh all-time at Washburn.
? Moore's 150 RBI is fourth all-time at Washburn.
? Samantha Stallbaumer's 53 stolen bases are fourth all-time at Washburn.
? Samantha Stallbaumer's current .405 career batting average ranks first on the all-time Ichabod chart head of Tish Williams who had a .399 career average.
? Taylor Kirk's .727 season slugging percentage is seventh on the all-time list and the best since Tish Williams recorded a .889 percentage in 2007.
? Taylor Kirk's career .631 slugging percentage is third on the all-time list and the best since Tish Williams recorded a .792 percentage from 2006-10.
? Savannah Moore has a .559 slugging percentage which is eighth on the career chart.
? Savannah Moore needs 11 more hits to reach 200 for her career becoming the 11th Ichabod in program history to reach that mark.
 
 On Deck . . .
Northeastern State
? The RiverHawks are 23-20 and 11-7 in the MIAA this season.
? The RiverHawks won a March 1 meeting in Joplin between the two teams 12-9.
? NSU leads the all-time series 15-14.
 
Last Meeting with NSU - March 1, 2019
Northeastern State 12, Washburn 9
The Ichabods jumped out to a 6-0 scoring three runs in each of the first and second inning. The Ichabods' Samantha Stallbaumer, Brianna Fuchs and Savannah Moore each scored two runs in the first two innings while Fuchs drove in a run and Moore plated two in the first two innings.
The Ichabods added a solo run in the fifth inning with a solo home run by Taylor Kirk, but the RiverHawks scored 12 unanswered runs building a 12-7 lead. The Ichabods added two more in the seventh on Kirk's second home run of the night with a 2-run shot, but it wasn't enough as the Ichabods rally came up short.
Kirk had three hits with 2 RBI and Moore and Kissinger also drove in two runs.
 
Central Oklahoma
? The Bronchos are 35-3 this season and 17-1 in the MIAA winning their last six games entering this weekend.
? UCO leads the series 21-16 winning the last meeting played on March 2 in a 4-0 win.
Last Meeting with Central Oklahoma - March 2, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn softball team moved to 13-6 on the season after splitting a doubleheader with Central Oklahoma Saturday. The Ichabods are also 1-1 in MIAA action after today's doubleheader, being the first two games of conference play.
Game one:
The Ichabods handed the Bronchos their first MIAA loss of the season in a comeback, walk-off 4-3 victory.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bronchos took a 2-0 lead after scoring one run each in the second and third. The Ichabods responded with their first run of the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI double from Savannah Moore. Moore was a catalyst for the offense, going 3-4 with three RBI.
After the Bronchos scored for the third consecutive inning, the Ichabods found themselves down 3-1 after four. Moore's single scored Samantha Stallbaumer to bring the game back to a one-run deficit.
Lexi Crabtree provided 3.2 solid innings in relief for starting pitcher Megan Deiter. She gave up just one hit in the fifth inning, and did not let a runner on base in the sixth and seventh. 
In the bottom of the seventh, with the Ichabods down 3-2, Moore tied the game with an RBI single down the left field line. With Emilee Baker and Stallbaumer at second and third, respectively, that left the bases loaded for Taylor Kirk. She drew a walk on a full count that sent Stallbaumer in for the winning run.
Game two:
The Ichabods ran into a buzzsaw in Bronchos' pitcher Lauren Gibson in the latter half of the doubleheader. While walking four, she gave up just three hits in a complete-game shutout.
The Bronchos did most of their damage early on, scoring three runs in the second and another in the third. Starting pitcher Kelsee Henry gave up a two-run homer in the second to Tori Ritz, who ended up with three RBI in total for game two. 
After the four earned runs given up in those two innings, Henry powered through the rest of the game, giving up just two more hits and no more runs. The Ichabods offense, however, never had enough momentum to send a runner in to score. Their best chance to put a run on board came in the sixth inning, when Kirk doubled to center and advanced Baker to third. But Alysaa Carney grounded out to end the inning directly afterwards, stranding both runners in scoring position. 
The 4-0 loss ended the Ichabods five-game winning streak, and brought their MIAA record to 1-1 while improving the Bronchos' record to 13-5, 3-1 in the MIAA.
 
 Head coach Brenda Holaday . . .
? is 86-64 in her third 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 and was inducted into the Washburn Rural High School Hall of Fame in 2018.
? 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 1150-896-1 in their 50th year of softball.
? The Ichabods have made four NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008, 2018).
? Washburn won the 2002 and 2018 regular season MIAA titles.
 
 Up Next . . .
The Ichabods will have their final four games on the road with MIAA twin bills at Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri next weekend. The MIAA Tournament starts on May 2 in Edmond, Oklahoma at Central Oklahoma's softball complex.