TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team picked up a split with Emporia State on Sunday afternoon at Gahnstrom Field as the fell 6-3 in the opener before taking the night cap 4-2. Washburn will be back in action on Tuesday at Missouri Western and return to Washburn facing Central Missouri on Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. The Ichabods will then wrap up the regular season at Northeastern State on April 30 and at Rogers State on May 1.
 
Game 1 – ESU 6, WU 3
The Hornets jumped on the board in the top of the third breaking a scoreless tie taking a 1-0 lead and the Ichabods knotted the score in the fifth after Brianna Fuchs singled and then after Marrit Mead reached on a fielder's choice and would score on Ashton Friend's double to right.
 
ESU added a solo run in the sixth and then added four more in the top of the seventh taking a 6-1 lead into Washburn's last at bat.
 
In the seventh, Autymn Schreiner led off the inning with a pinch hit single and after a Hadley Kerschen double, both would score on Friend's second double of the game cutting the Hornet lead to 6-3. A Washburn strikeout ended the threat as ESU won the opener.
 
Friend drove in all three of Washburn's runs and Kerschen and Friend each had two hits. Raegen Hamm struck out eight in the loss.
 
Game 2 – WU 4, ESU 2
The Ichabods (24-11, 10-8 MIAA) snapped a five-game losing streak with the win in the second game in the 4-2 win. Emporia State (19-19, 10-10 MIAA) scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but Washburn came back with two runs of its own in the third to go up 2-1 after Mead singled to the right side of the infield and moved to second on the error by the second basemen and then scored on Friend's third double of the day and scored on an ESU fielding error on Jaycee Ginter's bat.
 
The Ichabods added two more in the fifth inning after a walk drawn by Mead and a single by Kerschen, Ginter drove both runners in with a double to left center as Washburn went up 4-1.
 
In the seventh, the Hornets started the inning with a home run cutting the lead to 4-3 and after two singles and a walk to load the bases, a fielder's choice ended the game giving the Ichabods the split.
 
Mead had two of Washburn's five hits and scored two runs and Ginter drove in two while picking up the win in the circle improving to 12-4 on the season striking out three allowing one earned run.