• The Washburn Ichabods open MIAA play this weekend on March 12 and 13 when they will take on Newman and Central Oklahoma.
• The games were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, but pushed back a day because of expected winter weather this weekend.
• The Ichabods (17-6) take on Newman on Saturday and No. 10-ranked Central Oklahoma on Sunday.
• The Ichabods have won 15 games in a row, which is the longest streak for Washburn since winning 15 in a row from April 7 through April 23 in 2002.
• Brenda Holaday is in her sixth season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 150-107 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 6-0 during the week winning all of them at Gahnstrom Field as they topped Southwest Minnesota State, swept doubleheaders from Rockhurst and Missouri S&T and won a game with Truman before the second game was canceled due to sleet with the Ichabods leading 8-0.
• The Ichabods swept the MIAA Player of the Week honors as Jaycee Ginter and Hadley Kerschen picked up the award.
• Jaycee Ginter was a perfect 3-0 with a 0.39 earned run average with three starts, two complete games a shutuout and a combined shutout last week for the Ichabods while batting .579 with 11 hits and five doubles adding three home runs and 9 RBI with a 1.316 slugging percentage scoring a team-high eight runs as the Ichabods were 6-0 last week. Ginter struck out seven batters against Minnesota Crookston and then against Rockhurst on March 2, she struck out a career-high 14. In 18 innings of pitching this past week she allowed only one earned run holding opponents to a .190 batting average.
• Hadley Kerschen batted .500 with 7 hits scoring seven runs with three doubles and drove in a team-high 10 during the week as Washburn was 6-0. She raised her batting average 18 points during the week recording at least one RBI in each of the games. In the opening game against Missouri S&T, Kerschen drove in three runs tying a career high adding two doubles while scoring twice.
• As a team the Ichabods hit .445 while holding opponents to .237 and outscored their opponents 55 to 8 in the six games.
• Washburn also had 31 extra base hits compared to nine for their opponents.

 

• Jaycee Ginter is tied for the national lead with 12 wins this season entering the weekend and ranked eighth in strikeouts.
• As a team the Ichabods lead the nation in being hit by a pitch … Washburn has had 29 batters reach base after getting plunked.
• Washburn is also third in fielding percentage, sixth in the nation in hits, seventh in on base percentage and 10th in home runs.
• Autymn Schreiner leads the MIAA and is fourth in the nation in getting hit by a pitch and Maddie Stipsits is 10th.
• Ashton Friend is ranked third in the nation in home runs with nine and leads the MIAA in the category … she is also ranked 12th in RBI

 

• Hadley Kerschen leads the team with 10 multi-hit games … Marrit Mead has nine and Ashton Friend and has eight multi-hit games.
• Ashton Friend has eight multi-RBI games which leads the team.
• Hadley Kerschen has reached base in each of the last 20 games while Autymn Schreiner has reached base in 17-straight.
• The Ichabods have outscored their opponents 153 to 78 this season and 41 to 16 in the first inning, 27 to 9 in the fourth inning and 24 to 9 in the fifth inning.
• The Ichabods are 14-0 at home 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.
  TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn softball team extended its winning streak to 15 after defeating Truman State by the score of 16-2 in five innings on Sunday afternoon. The Ichabods held an 8-0 lead after the third inning in game two of the doubleheader, but lightning and inclement weather rolled in which resulted in the game being canceled at the top of the fourth.
Washburn (17-6) wasted little time getting on the board as the Ichabods made 11 trips to the dish in the first inning and jumped out to a 6-0 lead. With runners on second and third, Ashton Friend crushed a three-run bomb over the fence in left field to score the first runs of the contest. With two outs, Kimi Patterson hit a solo shot to deep center field to make it 4-0 in favor of Washburn. A single, hit by pitch, and walk loaded the bases up for Marrit Mead, who drove in a run after she legged out an infield single. With the bases still juiced, Autymn Schreiner was hit for the second time in the frame which brought in the sixth run of the inning.
After Jaycee Ginter struck out the side in the top of the second, the Ichabod offense started rolling again as they scored five runs on six hits. Friend and Ginter hit back-to-back doubles to begin the inning and Patterson brought them both in with a single up the middle. Mead came through again with two outs as she singled through the left side to bring in a run. Hadley Kerschen collected two RBI with a single to stretch Washburn's lead to 11-0.
In the home half of the third, Moore landed a single and Maddie Stipsits followed that with a double down the left field line. On the first pitch, pinch hitter Kaylee Wagner doubled to right center to bring in two runs.
The Bulldogs (5-10) put up their first run of the game in the top of the fourth with a solo home run.
Truman State's pitchers struggled with command in the bottom of the fourth as Washburn scored three runs on one hit. After Schriener roped a leadoff double, Kerschen walked and then back-to-back wild pitches scored a run. Three-consecutive walks were issued and a wild pitch after the second walk scored the Ichabods' 15th run. A bases loaded walk was drawn by Kayla Locke to push the lead to 16-1.
Truman State added one final run in the top of the fifth after three hits in a row before ending the game on a groundout.
The Ichabods finished the game with 14 hits, including five doubles all from different players. Moore went 3-4 at the plate and scored twice. Patterson was 2-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Mead and Friend both landed two hits and drove in a combined five runs.
Ginter (12-1) received the win after tossing four innings and allowing one run on two hits and three walks while striking out six.
  NEWMAN

• The Jets are 5-7 this season coming off a doubleheader split with Northwestern Oklahoma State in their last action on March 2.
• The Ichabods are 14-2 against Newman and have won the last five in the series.

 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

• UCO is 17-3 this season and 9-0 at home after sweeping Southwest Baptist and splitting a doubleheader with Drury at the Drury Classic last weekend.
• UCO leads the series with the Ichabods 24-17.
• UCO has won the last three in the series.

 

• is 150-107 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 1223-929-1 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.