Washburn baseball closes its four-game home stand this weekend with a visit from Emporia State. The opener of the three-game set is slated for Thursday at 5 pm with the remainder of the series scheduled for Friday at 5 pm and 1 pm on Saturday.

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
» Washburn is on a six-game win streak and has won seven of the last eight.
» At 11-13, the Ichabods are ninth in the MIAA standings with six through eight all tied at 13-11 heading into the this weekend.
» Prior to Thursday's first pitch, the Ichabods have faced Emporia State 233 times dating back to 1949, per Washburn archives, and trails the all-time series 158-75.
» Washburn is 4-6 in the last 10 meetings and won the 2018 season series (2-1).
» Washburn is led by Harley Douglas, who is in his fifth season with the program.

A LOOK AT EMPORIA STATE
The Hornets enter the weekend at 22-15 on the year and third in the MIAA at 15-9 and are coming of a 9-3 non-conference road win on Tuesday at Missouri Southern. Emporia State bats are hitting .262 on the year with 321 hits and are second in the MIAA in home runs (43). Connor Hurst's 11 home runs and 37 RBI are team-bests, while Aaron Dees is hitting .314 (37-118) with 10 home runs. The Hornet pitching staff has a combined 4.66 ERA in 322.1 innings and 278 strikeouts. Tanner Cairns and Jake Barton each have four wins in 10 starts and are third (2.36) and eighth (2.82) ERA among league leaders.

DOUBLE PLAY BALL
The Ichabod defense has turned 26 double plays on the year and began the week listed sixth in the conference and 78th on the NCAA Division II leaderboard. Washburn is averaging just under one (0.71) 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. 

THIEVES!
Washburn began the weekend topping the MIAA chart with 78 steals after climbing to 29th on the NCAA Division II chart after converting 14-for-15 attempts against Fort Hays State last weekend. The Ichabods have converted .788 (78-of-99) steal attempts. Javis Larson has a team-best 15 steals. Xavier De Leon and Wyatt Featherston follow with 10 steals each while Steven Jacobson and Rorey Combs have nine. 

ON THE MOUND
The Ichabod pitching staff has a combined 4.86 ERA with 274 strikeouts in 304.0 innings of work. The staff averages 8.2 strikeouts per nine, which is seventh-best among the MIAA.
» Josh Ramirez is 4-3 in 11 starts with a 3.72 ERA in 65.1 innings and among the NCAA Top 100 in strikeouts (60th, 65).
» Jacob Head is 2-3 in 10 starts, while posting a 5.84 ERA in 49.1 innings of work with 36 strikeouts. On March 1, Head lead the charge in a combined shutout effort at Pittsburg State in a two-hit, 6.0-inning outing.  
» Nathan Lorenzen is 2-1 with two saves in 14 appearances with a 4.91 ERA in 25.2 innings.
» Bailey Jenkins is 1-1 in six appearances. Since making the transition from the infield to the bullpen, Jenkins has collected eight strikeouts in 8.1 innings.

LARSON-Y
» On April 16 , Javis Larson tied Don Simoneau for 25th in program-history with 33 career steals. He is now three stolen bases shy of Bowe Behymer for 22nd all-time. 
» At the plate, Larson has been on tear successfully reaching base in 12 consecutive games while registering multi-hit performances in six of the last 10 games played.
» Larson is hitting a team-best .347 (43-124) on the year. 

BUILT RAM TOUGH
» Ramirez's 211.2 career innings pitched is fourth-best all-time and is 3.1 innings shy of tying Mike Lineback (1982-85) for third in the Washburn record. 
» His 13 career wins tied for 14th all-time and two wins shy of cracking the career Top 10.
» The righty has racked up 173 career strikeouts and fourth-best in Washburn lore and as a result is 15 short of tying Mike Lineback for third with 188 total punch outs.

YARD WORK
» Washburn's 25 home runs is listed ninth among the MIAA leaderboard.
» 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. 
» 32 percentage (8-25) of Washburn home runs have come from the lead off spot. 
» In the last four seasons, Washburn has homered a combined 93 times including 69 in 2016.
» Brady Hoover is fourth among league leaders with nine home runs.
» Washburn homered six times in its series against Fort Hays State with two runs apiece from Wyatt Featherston and Rorey Combs.

OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTIONS
The Ichabods have received offensive support form their entire lineup:
» 17 different players have scored at least one run, with 11 scoring at least 10 times.
» 13 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 (39), while being third on the team in hitting .306 (44-144).
» De Leon is hitting .347 (41-131) with five doubles and a team-high 32 runs scored.

IN APRIL...
» Washburn is 7-3 overall and 5-3 against the conference.
» Washburn has out scored opponents, 95-52 and average 12.5 hits per games.
» Washburn is hitting .347 (125-360) and has raised its season average (.281) by 28 points. 
» Washburn pitchers have a combined 4.60 ERA, surrendering 89 hits in 86.0 innings.

ICHABODS AT HOME
» The 2019 campaign marks the 30th season Washburn Baseball has called Falley Field home, since opening prior to the 1990 season. 
» Washburn are 4-1 at Falley Field this season have won three straight. 
» The home opener against Baker on March 26 was the latest recorded home opener since 1991. 
» The Ichabods are 45-38 at Falley Field, dating back to 2015.

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 with last season league champions, Joliet Slammers. In 123 professional games, Krane is hitting a .248 for his career with eight dingers and 52 RBI. The Slammers are scheduled to open their season at home on Thursday, May 9 when they host Krane's former club, Windy City Thunder Bolts.

'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 do the Oklahoma two-step next week as its slated to close out its road schedule with non-conference tilt against Oklahoma Christian before returning to MIAA action against Central Oklahoma.