•The Washburn Ichabod softball team will finish the regular season this weekend with two games in Oklahoma and a rescheduled game on Monday at Gahnstrom Field at 2 p.m.
•Washburn will finish off the road portion of the schedule on April 30 at Northeastern State and at Rogers State on May 1 and then return home to face Central Missouri on May 3 in a make up game from April 28.
•Washburn enters the games this week with a 25-12 overall record and a 11-9 MIAA mark.
•Heading into the final weekend of the season, the Ichabods currently sit in seventh in the conference standings. Rogers State is tied for fifth and Northeastern State is eighth in the MIAA race. Central Missouri is in second overall in the MIAA standings.
•The MIAA has made a change to the 2021 Championship Softball Tournament after a unanimous vote from the conference's athletic directors and SWAs. This year's format will include a best-of-three game quarterfinal series starting the weekend of May 7-8. The advancing four teams will play in a double-elimination tournament at the University of Central Oklahoma the following week, beginning on Thursday, May 13. The quarterfinal round weekend will feature games at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds from the regular season. Those teams will host seeds No. 5-8, with the winners advancing to the semifinal round in Edmond, Okla., the following weekend.
 
 Last time out
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team picked up a doubleheader split on Tuesday afternoon at Missouri Western falling in the opener 8-3 before holding the Griffons scoreless in the nightcap in a 3-0 win.
Game 1 – MWSU 8, WU 3
Neither team would score until the fourth inning when starting pitcher Sydney Radar connected on a 2-run homer breaking the scoreless tie putting the Griffons up 2-0 and eventually 3-0 as Missouri Western added another on an RBI single by Sierra Culver. The Griffons tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth when Rader drove in her third run of the game as Missouri Western stretched the lead to 4-0.
Washburn broke through with a run in the sixth when the Ichabods cut the lead in half with a 1-out double by Bri Francis scoring Kimi Patterson who walked and Ashton Friend who singled. After Francis advanced to third on a wild pitch, Maddie Stipsits singled send Francis home cutting the lead to 4-3. With the bases loaded, the Ichabods it into a double play ending the inning.
The Griffons came back with four runs in the sixth taking an 8-3 lead as the Ichabods were held scoreless in the seventh.
Francis, Friend and Stipsits each had two hits and Francis drove in two in the game.
Game 2 – WU 3, MWSU 0
All three runs Washburn would need in gaining the split of the twin bill would come in its first at bat as Hadley Kerschen drove in Mead who led off the game with walk on a double to center. Washburn's next batter, Friend homered to right field with her eighth home run of the season scoring Kerschen as the Ichabods went up 3-0.
Both the Ichabods and the Griffons were scoreless in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth and seventh inning as all of the runs came in Washburn's first at bat.
Jaycee Ginter tossed her third complete game shutout and her ninth complete game overall needing 84 pitches scattering seven and striking out six in the win improving to 13-4 on the season.
Kerschen had two hits in the game and Friend drove in two in the second game. Mead walked twice.
 
 Bods and Ends
•Ashton Friend has hit the last three home runs for the Ichabods in games this season including one against Missouri Western on Tuesday.
•Brianna Fuchs has started all 112 games of her career as an Ichabod.
•Marrit Mead has 26 multi-hit games and has reached base in 13-straight games.
•Ashton Friend has a team-high 14 multi-RBI games.
•The Ichabods are 14-1 this season when scoring in the first inning and 23-4 when scoring first.
•The Ichabods are 21-1 when leading after four innings this season.
•The Ichabods 21-3 when out hitting their opponents this season.
•Washburn has outscored its opponents 208 to 129 this season including a 27 to 7 advantage in the first inning, 35 to 11 in the second and 45 to 12 in the third inning … the only innings the Ichabods are being outscored in this season is the fifth (24 to 19) and the seventh (20 to 12).
•Washburn is fourth in the nation in total sacrifice flies and Ashton Friend is third in the nation in sacrifice flies.
•Marrit Mead is 16th in the nation and second in the MIAA in batting average and ranked sixth in the nation in hits.
 
 Season stat record outlook. . .
•Marrit Mead's 41 runs scored is 19th on the Ichabod single season chart.
•Ashton Friend's 42 RBI is 17th on the Ichabod single season chart.
•Ashton Friend's five sac flies is tied for first on the Ichabod single season chart.
•Marrit Mead's 19 stolen bases is 14th on the Ichabod single season chart.
•Washburn's current batting average of .328 is second on the Ichabod single season chart trailing the 1996 team and its .333 batting average.
 
 Opponent quick scout . . .
NORTHEASTERN STATE
•The RiverHawks are 21-18-1 this season and 9-12-1 and have lost their last four games entering the doubleheader with the Ichabods.
•Chloe Bohuslavicky leads the team with a .347 batting average with 34 RBI which also lead the team.
•Gail Young has a 13-9 pitching record with a 3.31 ERA.
•The RiverHawks lead the series 15-12 winning three of the last four.
 
ROGERS STATE
•The Hillcats are 26-13-1 this season and 14-8 in the MIAA.
•Danielle Day leads the team with a .358 batting average and Makayla Bowman has a team-high 45 hits with 34 RBI … Elexis Watson has a team-best 37 RBI and nine home runs.
•Andrea Morales is 18-5 with a 1.58 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP and M'Kayla Hillman is 6-4 with a 6-4 record … as a team Rogers State has a 2.17 ERA.
•The series is tied 2-2 in the four meetings with Hillcats winning the last two meetings … the teams have only met at neutral sites and never faced each other as MIAA teams.

CENTRAL MISSOURI
•The Jennies are 28-10 this season and 17-5 in the MIAA and have won their last three games.
•Ashlyn Cook leads the team with a .396 batting average.
•As a team the Jennies are batting .325 and have stolen 64 bases in 78 attempts.
•Paige Petefish is 12-3 in the circle with a 2.00 ERA and Sadie Parks is 8-2 with a 2.18 ERA … as a team UCM has a 2.44 ERA.
•Washburn leads the series 38-36 winning the last meeting.
 
 Head Coach Brenda Holaday . . .
•is 134-96 in her fifth 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 1193-921-1 in their 52nd 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.
 
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