TOPEKA, Kan. -- After a brief stop at Falley Field this week, the Washburn baseball hits the road again for three games at Missouri Southern starting Saturday.
LEADING OFF
>> The series start was pushed back due to forecasted rain.
>> Washburn will now play Saturday-Monday with each game set for a 1 p.m. start.
>> Washburn (17-6, 8-2 MIAA) is coming off a 10-1 home victory over Northwest Missouri on Tuesday.
>> Missouri Southern holds a record of 15-9 (6-4 MIAA) and lost its last outing 9-7 in 10 innings at Rogers State.
>> The Lions won the series against the Ichabods last season, taking two out of three in Topeka on March 5-6, 2021.
>> All three game were decided by two or fewer runs with the finale going 11 innings.
>> The Ichabods are currently third in the MIAA standings while the Lions are right behind in fourth.
>> In the most recent NCBWA Regional Poll that was released on Monday, Washburn is eighth.
>> This is the 70th season in Washburn baseball history.
WASHBURN'S LAST TIME OUT
>> The Ichabods defeated Northwest Missouri, 10-1, at home on Tuesday evening.
>> Eight different Ichabods contributed towards Washburn's 14 hit total.
>> Washburn's pitching staff held NWMSU to just one run on four hits.
>> Last weekend, WU went 1-2 at Northeastern State.
>> The Ichabods were shut out for the first time this season in the series opener, 4-0.
>> The offense caught up in game two with the wind blowing out as the RiverHawks won a back-and-forth slugfest 24-23 in 10 innings.
>> After trailing 8-1 at the end of four, Washburn came back to win the final game, 19-15.
>> In those three games, the Ichabods hit .311 with a .705 slugging percentage.
>> WU also had 20 extra base hits, including 14 home runs.
BOMBS AWAY
>> The Ichabods hit 43 home runs at the end of a 42 game season last year.
>> Through 24 games so far in 2022, WU has recorded 37 homers which ranks third in the MIAA.
>> Washburn has had six games with three or more home runs, including back-to-back games with seven homers against the RiverHawks.
>> Twelve different Ichabods have hit at least one bomb this year.
>> Prior to this season, there had been only one other Washburn player since 1999 to hit three home runs in a game as Luke Manners did so on April 14, 2006 at Southwest Baptist.
>> Already this season, Parker Dunn and Brett Ingram have accomplished that feat.
>> Dunn hit a trio of homers on March 4 at Newman and Ingram hit his three home runs nine days later at Northeastern State and was a grand slam shy of hitting for the home run cycle.
BY THE NUMBERS
>> The Ichabods have scored in the first inning in 14 contests this year and are 12-2 in those games.
>> In the fourth and fifth innings, Washburn has outscored its opponents a combined 46-18.
>> Combined in the seventh and eighth innings, Washburn has put up 68 runs.
>> When scoring six or more runs, Washburn is 14-1.
>> The Ichabods have had 10 double-figure run games this season.
QUICK HITS
>> Washburn's offense ranks in the top-10 in the nation in five categories: 59 doubles (fourth in DII/third in MIAA), 264 hits (sixth in DII/first in MIAA), 37 home runs (seventh in DII/third in MIAA), 212 runs (seventh in DII/first in MIAA), and 16 sacrifice flies (eighth in DII/first in MIAA).
>> Trevor McCollum has started all five games he's played this season and is hitting .625 with 10 hits, two doubles, a homer, seven runs scored and nine runs driven in.
>> He's had four multi-hit games and has landed two hits and had at least two RBI in each of the last three games.
>> Zion Bowlin holds a .356 average with 31 hits, 22 runs scored, and 21 RBI. He is also on a 10 game hitting streak.
>> He was 3-5 with two homers, a double, three runs scored, and five RBI in the final game at NSU.
>> The Ichabods hold a record of 6-2 when Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli is the leadoff man. He has a .329 batting average and a .430 on base percentage. He leads the squad with nine stolen bases and has 25 hits, nine extra base hits, and 23 runs scored.
>> Ingram is tied with Bowlin for the team-lead in hits and he is second in runs scored (24), RBI (26), and home runs (eight).
>> Dunn has the same batting average as Ingram at .326. Dunn has cranked out a team-high 30 RBI, nine home runs, and has 63 total bases.
FOR STARTERS
>> The Washburn pitching staff leads the league in strikeouts with 262 and are also second with a 5.30 ERA.
>> Rane Pfeifer has a 2-2 record in six starts and is tied for a team-high in strikeouts with 38 in 25.0 innings. He has struck out six or more batters in each of his last five starts.
>> Casey Steward has also worked 25.0 innings on the mound and has struck out 33. He is 1-0 in six starts.
>> Jack Brimacombe leads the team in innings pitched at 26.1 and has struck out 28 batters. After six starts, he is 1-1 with a 5.47 ERA.
>> Charlie Kiefer has won all three of his starts and is 3-1 with a save in seven appearances on the bump. He has 17 strikeouts scattered across 18.1 innings.
WHAT A RELIEF
>> Dalton Huggins is 2-0 with two saves in nine appearances. He ranks in the top-five in the MIAA in 10 categories and is No. 1 in the fewest runs allowed (seven), hits (16), walks (three), and doubles (one).
>> He is also second in the league with a 2.46 ERA and is tied with Pfeifer in strikeouts.
>> Jake Schroeder earned his first collegiate win after working 3.1 innings in relief at NSU and allowing four runs on five hits while ringing up two strikeouts.
>> He has recorded 14 strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work.
>> In the win against NWMSU, the bullpen turned in five scoreless innings between Wyatt Hardy, Cole Warner, and Britt Brown.
>> Aside from a pair of walks, Hardy worked three clean innings.
>> Warner pitched a scoreless eighth and surrendered just two singles.
>> Brown closed out the game and needed only nine pitches to retire the side in order.
HEAD COACH HARLEY DOUGLAS
>> Former Washburn All-MIAA outfielder Harley Douglas enters his eighth season at the helm of the Washburn baseball program in 2022.
>> In seven seasons, Douglas carries an all-time record of 161-152 with three appearances in the MIAA Tournament.
>> He has also coached a total of 39 all-MIAA selections, including one MIAA Player and Pitcher of the Year.
SCOUTING MISSOURI SOUTHERN
>> The Lions finished the 2021 season with a record of 30-13 (22-11 MIAA).
>> Through 24 games, Missouri Southern is batting .311 and leads the league with 47 home runs hit, which also ranks second in DII.
>> MSSU is also second in the nation in triples with 16 on the year. Eight different players have legged out at least one triple, with three players recording three.
>> Tommy Stevenson leads the offense and ranks in the top-three in the MIAA in 11 statistical categories, including first in slugging percentage (.968/fifth in DII), hits (42/fourth in DII), home runs (12/third in DII), and second in batting average (.452), runs scored (33/fifth in DII), and RBI (33/eighth in DII).
>> Stevenson also leads the nation in total bases with 90.
>> Jordan Fitzpatrick is second on the team with 32 hits and is batting .330 with 10 doubles, five home runs, a triple, and 25 RBI. He has also scored 22 times.
>> He leads the MIAA and is second in Division II with five sacrifice flies.
>> Although the Lions' pitching staff suffered a loss after All-American Zach Parrish graduated at the end of last season, Missouri Southern holds a 5.84 ERA and is second in the league with 229 strikeouts.
>> Jacob Davis is 3-0 in four starts and seven total appearances. He has a 4.82 ERA in 28 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts.
>> Logan VanWey is second in the MIAA with 43 strikeouts and is 2-2 in six starts and holds a 6.07 ERA after logging a team-high 29.2 innings.
HEAD COACH BRYCE DARNELL
>> Bryce Darnell is in his 15th season as the head coach at his alma mater.
>> He holds a career record of 405-294 and has coached 17 All-Region honorees and 10 All-America selections.
>> Darnell played three seasons for the Lions after a year at the University of Minnesota.
>> He was drafted after his junior season by the St. Louis Cardinals and then the Arizona Diamondbacks after his senior year.
SERIES HISTORY WITH MISSOURI SOUTHERN
>> Missouri Southern holds a 64-38 series advantage and has won six of the last seven meetings.
>> MSSU was ranked No. 5 in the nation when it played at WU last season and finished 2-1 in the series.
>> After falling in the first game, 3-1, the Ichabods bounced back for a 5-3 victory to hand the Lions their first loss of the season.
>> Missouri Southern rallied from a 3-1 deficit starting in the eighth and went on to win 4-3 in 11 innings.
MIAA PRESEASON POLL
>> For the second-consecutive season, the Ichabods were picked sixth in the MIAA Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll.
>> Central Missouri was voted the favorite earning 10 first-place votes and totalling 120 points.
>> Pittsburg State racked up 103 points and one first-place votes and Northeastern State received the final first-place vote and was tabbed third with 94 points.
>> Central Oklahoma (92 points) and Missouri Southern (86 points) rounded out the top-five.
PRO BOD
>> There have been five Washburn players since 1965 that played for a Major League Baseball team and eight total players have signed a professional contract.
>> At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Brock Gilliam was signed by the Kansas City Monarchs on July 23, 2021.
>> He appeared in 13 games making one start and finished with a 3-1 record in 22.2 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts.
>> He helped the Monarchs to the American Association championship title.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD
>> The Ichabods return home for three games against Missouri Western, March 25-27.
