• The Washburn Ichabods are back at home this weekend hosting the Hotel Topeka at City Center Invitational with five games starting Feb. 26.
• A total of 14 teams will come to Topeka for the Invitational with 34 games over three days at three locations are scheduled to be played.
• The original dates were moved back a day due to the projected weather outlook.
• After the Emporia State Classic was canceled due snow-covered ESU's fields, the Ichabods played host to two doubleheaders sweeping both Missouri-St. Louis on Feb. 20 and Quincy on Feb. 21 at Gahnstrom Field.
• Washburn is set to face Wayne State at 2:30 p.m. and Mary at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday before playing Sioux Falls at 1:30 p.m. and Minnesota-Crookston at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Ichabods will wrap up the event with Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
• The Ichabods have added a pair of games with Rockhurst on March 2 with the first game of the doubleheader scheduled for 3 p.m.
• Brenda Holaday is in her sixth season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 140-107 overall record going 67-41 in MIAA contests leading the Ichabods to their first MIAA Regular Season title in her second year in 2018 and an NCAA Central Regional berth, the fourth in school history.
  • The Ichabods were a perfect 4-0 in doubleheader sweeps over Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy.
• Ashton Friend led the offensive charge with a .583 batting average collecting seven hits with 9 RBI and three home runs scoring seven times.
• Marrit Mead hit .429 driving in five runs stealing three bases scoring five times.
• Jaycee Ginter picked up all four wins with two complete games and two in relief tossing 18 2/3 innings striking out 30 allowing five earned runs with a 1.88 ERA … Ginter also hit .300 with 3 RBI and three runs scored.
• The Ichabods hit seven home runs in the four games batting a collective .355 with a .636 slugging percentage outscoring their opponents 32 to 14.
  • Hadley Kerschen is ranked 43rd in the nation in hits with 20 and third in the conference.
• Jaycee Ginter is eighth in the nation in wins with six and 20th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings at 10.1/7IP which leads the MIAA.
• As a team the Ichabods are ranked eighth in fielding percentage at .984.
  • Hadley Kerschen leads the team with eight multi-hit games as well as multi-RBI games with four.
• Autymn Schreiner has the current longest hitting streak entering the weekend at seven games.
• Marrit Mead has reached base in 13-straight games and Hadley Kerschen has reached base in 10-straight contests.
• Mead has reached base in all nine games this season and Kerschen has reached base in the last six games while Jaden LaBarge has reached safely in the last five games.
• The Ichabods have outscored their opponents 68 to 67 this season and 24 to 13 in the fifth and sixth innings.
• Washburn is being outscored 6 to 0 in the seventh inning of games this season.
  The Washburn Ichabod softball team was tabbed sixth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll that was released prior to the start of the season by the league office. 
The Ichabods picked up 117 total points trailing Missouri Western in fifth with 118 and Missouri Southern in fourth with 124. Central Oklahoma was the preseason favorite with eight first-place votes and 162 total points and Central Missouri had 158 points with six first-place votes. Rogers State was third with 142 points.
  Feb. 21, 2022 - TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team swept its second-straight doubleheader picking up two wins over Quincy on Monday at Gahnstrom Field.
Game 1 – WU 7, Quincy 2
The Ichabods jumped to a 5-0 lead in their first at bat over the Hawks. After Marrit Mead led off the game with a walk, Autymn Schreiner singled to right and then Hadley Kerschen drove in Mead with a double to left. A double by Ashton Friend scored Schreiner and Kerschen. Jaden LaBarge then came to bat and hit a homer to left as Washburn took the 5-0 lead.
Quincy scored in the top of the fourth, but the Ichabods came back with two of their own taking advantage of a two Hawk miscues as Mead and Schreiner picked up RBI in the frame as Washburn went up 7-1.
Quincy added a solo run in the top of the seventh off an Ichabod error but were still shy in the run column as Washburn picked up the 7-2 win.
Jaycee Ginter struck out a career-high 12 batters allowing seven hits and one earned run. Offensively Friend led the seven-hit attack with two hits while driving in two. LaBarge also had two RBI as six of the nine batters in the line up had at least one hit.
Game 2 – Washburn 7, Quincy 6
After the Hawks (0-7) scored three runs in the top of the first inning, the Ichabods came back with five of their own to take a 5-3 lead after the first frame. Mead singled to lead the game off and then stole second base. Schreiner singled and Kerschen walked and Friend reached on a fielder's choice. After LaBarge walked, Ginter tripled down the first base line finishing up the scoring.
In the fourth, the Hawks tied the score with a pair of runs in the top inning, but the Ichabods took a 6-5 lead after five innings when Friend singled and then came around to score on a double by Jenna Moore.
Washburn (7-6) pushed its lead to 7-5 when Rylee Seymour had a pinch-hit home run leading off the sixth inning. In the seventh, the Hawks score one run on a pair of singles and a walk but Ginter, who also picked up the win in game two improving to 6-1 on the season in the circle, struck out the final three batters securing the win.
Ginter finished with four strikeouts in three innings of work in relief holding the Hawks to three hits and one earned run.
Mead and Schreiner each had two hits and Friend scored two runs while Ginter drove in three.
  WAYNE STATE
• The Wildcats are 2-5 this season after going 2-1 hosting a portion of the snowed-out Emporia State Classic.
• The Ichabods lead the series 22-12 over the Wildcats and have won the last three overall and five of the last six.
 
MARY
• The Marauders are 0-7 this season.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 5-0.
 
SIOUX FALLS
• The Cougars are 1-3 this season.
• Washburn leads the series 3-2.
 
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
• The Golden Eagles are 6-5 entering the weekend.
• The Ichabods lead the series 2-0 winning the last game played on Feb. 29, 2020 in a 7-0 win.
 
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
• The Mustangs are 3-3 this season.
• The Ichabods have won both meetings with the Mustangs outscoring them 21-0 including a 7-0 win the last meeting on Feb. 29, 2020 in Topeka.
 
HEAD COACH BRENDA HOLADAY
• is 140-107 in her sixth season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
• coached 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. • The Ichabods are 1213-929-1 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.