•The Washburn Ichabod softball team will trade a dome in Minnesota for a forecast in the upper 70's in Tucson, Ariz. when the Ichabods will take part in the 2022 Desert Stinger Classic hosted by Montana State-Billings Feb. 11-13.
•The Ichabods are coming off a 1-3 weekend with a pair of loses to host school Minnesota State at the MSU Sport Dome Classic.
•Washburn's win came in its season opener with Concordia St. Paul in a 5-4 win.
•The Ichabods will face five opponents they have not faced in their program's history this weekend.
•Washburn will open play in Arizona against the host of the event, Montana State-Billings at 1 pm CST on Friday and then take on Saint Martin's (Wash.) at 3:30 p.m. CST.
•Washburn will open play in Arizona against the host of the event, Montana State-Billings at 1 pm CST on Friday and then take on Saint Martin's (Wash.) at 1 p.m. CST (12 pm in Tucson, Ariz.).
•On Saturday, the ichabods will face Western Washington on 3:30 p.m. CST and then CSU-Dominguez Hills at 6 p.m. CST
•On Sunday, Washburn will wrap up the weekend with Academy of Art at 10:30 a.m. CST.
•Brenda Holaday is in her sixth season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 134-104 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 1-3 last weekend at the MSU Dome Classic.
•Hadley Kerschen led the Ichabods with a .571 batting average going 8 for 14 with 5 RBI and a double.
•Marrit Mead was 6 for 13 batting .462 scoring four runs and walking twice.
•Kimi Patterson collected four hits driving in one and Hailey Neira drove in two runs for the Ichabods.
  •Sophomore Marrit Mead was a D2CCA Third Team All-American and first team D2CCA all-region selection as well as a second team NFCA all-region selection and was voted as the top freshman in the MIAA and a first-team all-MIAA selection at third base after leading the league in total hits (73) and was second overall in batting average (.453) and runs scored (45) and third in on-base percentage (.480) and stolen bases (22)
•Senior Ashton Friend was named first team all-MIAA and a second team all-region selection as a designated player leading the Ichabods in home runs with 12 while driving in a team-high 47 … finished second on the team with 46 hits and had 11 doubles starting 44 of 45 games this season … her six sac flies broke a single-season school record which had stood since 1999
•Sophomore Jaycee Ginter was a second team all-region pick and a first-team all-MIAA selection as a pitcher/utility player … tossed a seven-inning no-hitter in a 2-0 over Fort Hays State on March 26 … in the circle she was 14-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 19 starts with 10 complete games and three shutouts striking out 100 batters … at the plate, she was second on the team with 30 RBI recording six home runs and scoring 22 times with 35 hits and a .434 slugging percentage
•Sopphomore Hadley Kerschen was an honorable mention all-MIAA choice at shortstop after batting .309 with 42 hits, 11 doubles 24 RBI and 24 runs scored starting all 46 games … led the Ichabods in sacrifice hits with 13 and stole three bases … was also hit by pitch nine times which led the team
•Senior pitcher Reagen Hamm returns after leading the Ichabod pitching staff with 30 appearances going 14-12 with a 3.54 ERA tossing 132 1/3 innings.
  •Marrit Mead led the team with 29 multi-hit games.
•Ashton Friend has a team-high 14 multi-RBI games.
•The Ichabods were 15-2 this season when scoring in the first inning and 25-5 when scoring first.
•The Ichabods are 22-1 when leading after four innings this season.
•The Ichabods 23-4 when out hitting their opponents this season.
•Washburn has outscored its opponents 226 to 153 including a 30 to 12 advantage in the first inning, 36 to 18 in the second and 47 to 15 in the third inning … the only innings the Ichabods were outscored was the fifth (33 to 24), sixth (32-30) and seventh (22 to 18).
  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. 22, 2022 - MANKATO, Minn. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team wrapped up the MSU Dome Classic on Sunday afternoon with a 15-3 loss to No. 11-ranked Minnesota State.
The Ichabods jumped on the board in the first inning when Hadley Kerschen doubled with two outs and then came around to score on a single by Kimi Patterson putting the Ichabods (1-3) up 1-0. However, in the bottom of the second, the Mavericks took advantage of an Ichabod miscue leading to three unearned runs.
The Mavericks (3-1) added eight runs in the third and four more in the fourth going up 15-1.
Washburn came back with two runs in the fifth after Kaylee Wagner led off the inning with a single and after a Marrit Mead single and a single by Paige Robbins, Kerschen drove in both runners with a single to center before the Ichabods were retired in order in the loss.
Jaden LaBarge took the loss in the circle.
For the four games over the weekend, Kerschen batted a team-high .857 going 6 for 7 at the plate driving in three runs. Hailey Neira was 3 for 6 with two runs scored and Mead scored three runs collecting two hits driving in one.
  MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
•The Yellowjackets are 2-3 this season and will face Concordia-Irvine in a doubleheader on Feb. 8.
•Last season, the 'Jackets finished a shortened season with a 10-26 record, including a 6-14 mark in GNAC play. This year, the 'Jackets will be led by all-conference first baseman Brittanee Fisher and leftfielder Allie Hughes, plus the 'Jackets return 15 players – including five all-conference selections.
 
SAINT MARTIN
•The Saints were tabbed fourth in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll and will be opening their season against the Ichabods on Friday.
•The Saints will be led by sophomore standout Patrick, who was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year last season, along with a second team All-Region selection. The third basemen led the team with a .328 batting average, along with 31 runs scored with five home runs, and 25 RBIs. She was also perfect on the basepaths, swiping nine bags on nine attempts.
•All-Conference honorable mention shortstop Destiny Conerly returns to the field after hitting .235 with three home runs and 19 RBIs. Along with Conerly, the Saints bring back outfielder Olivia Schmidt, .315 with one home run, and 14 RBIs, and Kylee Vanderbout, .281 with three home runs, and a team-leading 29 RBIs. Other notable returners include outfielders Megan Convery and Jaeden Ells, infielder Malia Pinder, catcher Devyn Connolly, and utilities Vanessa Smoke and Lexi Carlos.
•Inside the circle, the Saints feature two of the best young pitchers in all the GNAC in sophomores Abby Runyon, and Tia Ridings. Runyon, a second team All-Conference selection last season, led the Saints with a 4.05 ERA, 11-8 W/L, and 15 complete games. Over 124.1 innings, Runyon struck out 68 batters, and tossed three shutouts.
•The Ichabods have never faced Montana State-Billings.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON
•WWU enters the weekend 2-3 winning its last two games at the CUI Kickoff Classic in Irvine, Calif.
•The Vikings are the preseason favorites to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in a vote of the league's head coaches and are the top team outside of the national top 25 receiving votes.
•Western is coming off a 23-14 campaign in 2021, capped by winning the GNAC Championships title to earn a spot in the NCAA Division II Championships for the second time in the last four full seasons.
•The Ichabods have never faced Western Washington.
 
CSU-DOMINGUEZ HILLS
•The Toros are 5-1 winning their last four games at the Concordia Kickoff Classic in Irvine.
•The Torors were picked third in the CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
•CSU-DH eturns eight players from the 2020 season that saw them at 16-8 overall and 9-5 in the CCAA before the campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic returning all three pitchers including Alyssa Olague, who ranked third in the CCAA in wins (9) and first in saves (4) that season.
•The Ichabods have never played CSU-Dominguez Hills.
  
ACADEMY OF ART
•Located in San Francisco, the Urban Knights are 0-5 this season after being outscored 53 to 4 in their five opening games.
•The Ichabods have never played the Academy of Art.
  •is 134-104 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 1207-926-1 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.