Washburn baseball wrap up the road portion of its 2019 schedule this weekend with a three-game series against Central Oklahoma. The Ichabods are still in the hunt for a postseason bid as they began the week ninth in MIAA standings and two games behind Northwest Missouri for the eighth and final spot in the tournament.

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 has won nine of its last 12 games.
» Javis Larson is hitting an impressive .442 in April with 15 runs and five doubles.
» The Ichabods trail the all-time series, 29-20 and have dropped eight straight at UCO's Wendell Simmons Field. Washburn's last series win against the Bronchos was in 2016.
» Washburn is led by Harley Douglas, who is in his fifth season with the program.

A LOOK AT CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
The Bronchos begin at 28-15 overall and 17-10 in MIAA play, while putting together a 10-5 mark during the month of April. Central Oklahoma bats are hitting .251 with 116 extra base knocks including 33 home runs. The Broncho pitching staff tops the MIAA in ERA (3.83) and innings pitched (381.0), while their 439 strikeouts is second-overall.

DOUBLE PLAY BALL
The Ichabod defense has turned 30 double plays on the year and began the week listed sixth in the conference and 63rd 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 84 steals and were listed 28th on the NCAA Division II chart. The Ichabods have converted .788 (84-of-104) steal attempts. Javis Larson has a team-best 17 steals. Xavier De Leon, Wyatt Featherston, Steven Jacobson and Rorey Combs follow with 10 steals each. 

ON THE MOUND
The Ichabod pitching staff has a combined 4.90 ERA with 307 strikeouts in 340.0 innings of work. The staff averages 8.2 strikeouts per nine, which is seventh-best among the MIAA.
» Josh Ramirez is 4-4 in 12 starts with a 4.63 ERA in 70.0 innings and among the NCAA Top 100 in strikeouts (60th, 70).
» Jacob Head is 2-4 in 11 starts, while posting a 5.79 ERA in 56.0 innings of work with 42 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 15 appearances with a 4.55 ERA in 27.2 innings.
» Bailey Jenkins is 1-1 in eight appearances. Since making the transition from the infield to the bullpen, Jenkins has collected 10 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.

LARSON-Y
» Javis Larson's 35 career stolen bases is tied with Tom Burgess for 23rd in program-history.  If Larson can reach 40 career steals, he would be the second Ichabod to do so in the last 10  seasons (Parker Gibson, 2013-16) and pass Washburn assistant coach Connor Crimmins (38) in the process. 
» At the plate, Larson has been on tear, successfully reaching base in 15 of the last 16 games while registering eight multi-hit performances in the last 14 games played, including a 4-for-4 day against Oklahoma Christian (4/25).
» Larson is hitting a team-best .348 (49-141) 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 178 career strikeouts and fourth-best in Washburn lore and as a result is 10 short of tying Mike Lineback for third with 188 total punch outs.

YARD WORK
» Washburn's 27 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. 
» Eight of the 27 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 second among league leaders with 11 home runs.

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.
» 12 players have at least five RBI, with nine Ichabods registering 10 or more.
» 15 players have doubles with Lane Harvey and Brady Hoover leading the way with 12 apiece. Hoover also has a team-best 46 RBI, while Harvey is second overall in drawn walks (25).
» De Leon is hitting .307 (46-150) with six doubles and a team-high 36 runs scored.
» Hoover recorded his 50th hit of the season on Wednesday, marking the eighth consecutive season and 19th time in 20 years an Ichabod batter has recorded 50 or more. Larson (49), De Leon (46) and Harvey (41) are also within reach of the 50 hit plateau — if each can reach 50 hits, it would be the eighth time since 2000 that four Ichabods reached the 50 hits in the season and first time since the 2016 campaign which yielded six. 

IN APRIL...
» Washburn is 9-5 overall and 6-5 against the conference.
» Washburn has out scored opponents, 116-75 on an average of 11.8 hits per games.
» Washburn is hitting .331 (165-499) a 68-point rise for its .263 (123-467) average in March.
» Washburn pitchers have a combined 4.80 ERA, surrendering 130 hits in 122.0 innings.

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.
» Washburn is 3-1 this season when playing in Oklahoma. 
» On the road this season, Washburn is hitting .252 (237-939) with Larson and Hoover each hitting .300 or better. 

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
The Ichabods will close the 2019 regular season next week when they return to the friendly confines of Falley Field for a mini home stand that includes a non-conference visit from Missouri Southern on Tuesday and a three-game MIAA finale with Northeastern State beginning Friday.