TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Ichabods close out the regular season at home this weekend taking on Pittsburg State for three games beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
LEADING OFF
>> Game one of the series has been moved up to 3 p.m. and Saturday's game is set for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
>> Fifteen minutes prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. game, Washburn's 13 seniors will be recognized on the field for their contributions to the program.
>> Washburn is 28-16 overall this season with an 18-12 record in MIAA play.
>> The Ichabods have collected their most wins since the 2016 season when they went 34-20.
>> The Gorillas (27-17, 20-10 MIAA) have won four in a row and defeated Missouri S&T 12-7 in a non-conference game on Wednesday evening.
>> These two teams played two series last year in Pittsburg with Washburn winning the regular season series before falling in the first round of the MIAA Tournament in three games.
>> Washburn is 12-6 when playing at the friendly confines of Falley Field while Pittsburg State is 7-10 in road contests.
>> The Ichabods were ranked seventh in the first edition of the NCAA regional rankings.
>> There will be two more rankings released on May 4 and May 11 before the eight teams advancing to the NCAA Central Region tournament are announced on May 15.
>> WU is also earning votes in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top-30 rankings.
>> This is the 70th season in Washburn baseball history.
WASHBURN'S LAST TIME OUT
>> The Ichabods played their final road games of the regular season at Rogers State last weekend and went 1-2.
>> After falling 7-2 in game one, Washburn came back with a 14-5 victory in the second game.
>> Quinn Waterbury broke the scoreless game in the fifth with a solo home run. He added to Washburn's lead with a two-RBI double the following inning.
>> The Ichabods extended their lead with eight runs in the seventh inning, which included a grand slam from Parker Dunn.
>> At the end of the 14-5 win, Waterbury was a triple shy of the cycle and drove in three runs and scored twice.
>> Brett Ingram went 3-6 with three runs and an RBI.
>> In the rubber match, Washburn trailed 6-3 heading to the ninth when WU got runners with back-to-back walks with one out.
>> Down to the last out, Cal Watkins hit a double to right field to score one and Ingram followed that with a two-RBI single through the left side to tie the game.
>> The comeback fell short, though, as the Hillcats got a pair of infield singles and then scored on a single to left center to walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6.
MIAA POSTSEASON PICTURE
>> The top-eight teams in the MIAA standings at the end of the regular season will compete in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal, which will be a best two-out-of-three game series played at
the campus sites of the top-four seeded teams May 6-8.
>> Central Missouri has already clinched the regular season title with a 27-3 mark in conference play. The Mules dropped two games at Central Oklahoma last weekend.
>> It's a neck-and-neck race for a spot in the top-four as Northeastern State and Pittsburg State are tied for second with a 20-10 MIAA record.
>> Washburn is tied for fourth with Central Oklahoma as both teams are 18-12 in league play.
>> Missouri Southern and Rogers State are 15-15 to tie for sixth.
>> Newman and Emporia State are battling it out for the final place in the tournament with a record of 12-18 heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
>> The four teams who win the quarterfinal round will advance to Edmond, Okla. for the double-elimination bracket on May 12-15.
THANK YOU, SENIORS!
>> Braden Babcock joined the Ichabods this season and has made five relief appearances on the mound. In the series opener at Rogers State, he threw two clean innings and struck out three.
>> Kros Bay is a three-year member of the Ichabods and he has started 98 of the 102 games he's played. He was an all-MIAA honorable mention last season after he led the team with a .355 batting average and with 15 doubles. He launched a grand slam at Northeastern State on March 13 in the Ichabods' 19-15 win.
>> Zion Bowlin also joined Washburn in 2020 and was an all-conference honorable mention last season when he led the squad in RBI (36), walks (18), and triples (three). Before suffering an injury this season, Bowlin was hitting .336 with 49 hits, 33 runs, eight homers, six doubles, three triples, and 36 RBI.
>> Britt Brown is in his second year with the Ichabods and has made 11 appearances out of the bullpen in his time at Washburn. He closed out game two against Missouri Western earlier this season and struck out two in the ninth.
>> Joel Casillas transferred to Washburn in the 2020-21 school year and has pitched in 28 games since then. He currently leads the team with four saves this season and has struck out 19 in 18.2 innings of work.
>> Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli is in his third season at Washburn and has started 90 of the 91 games he has competed in. An all-MIAA third team selection last season, this year he has started 41 games and has landed 48 hits, 12 doubles, and scored 36 times. He recorded the go-ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth at Emporia State to clinch the series win.
>> Cash Crane transferred to Washburn this year and has made 10 relief appearances. He worked a scoreless inning and struck out three against Oklahoma Baptist on Feb. 13.
>> Parker Dunn is a three-year member of WU baseball and leads the team with 14 home runs, 51 RBI, and 13 multi-RBI games this year. He received all-MIAA third team honors in 2021 and is tied for third for the most home runs hit in an Ichabod career with 28. On March 4 at Newman, Dunn hit three home runs to become the first Ichabod since 2006 to go yard three times in a game.
>> Dalton Huggins has pitched in 48 games since coming to Washburn in 2020 and is tied for first in WU's record book with 10 career saves. He has struck out exactly 100 batters in his time as an Ichabod with 73 of those happening this year to lead the team. This season, he is 4-1 with three saves in 22 appearances with a 3.35 ERA in 53.2 innings.
>> Brett Ingram started at Washburn as a freshman in 2018. He has turned in a career season as he has surpassed all of his stats combined between the past two seasons. He has started all 44 games and leads the team with 67 hits, 45 runs, 16 doubles, and 22 multi-hit games while being second with a .628 slugging percentage, 42 RBI, and 10 home runs.
>> On March 13 at Northeastern State, Ingram was a grand slam shy of hitting for the home run cycle as he finished the game 5-7 with three homers, four runs, and six RBI.
>> Trevor Marreel is a six-year member of Washburn baseball and is tied for sixth in Washburn's records for the most career appearances with 51. This season he is 1-0 with a save and a 6.75 ERA. He earned the save at Newman on March 5 as he got the final two outs of the game on four pitches.
>> Zach Philbin is in his second season with the Ichabods and earned all-league honorable mention status last year after he went 3-0 in 17 appearances and 19 innings and finished with a miniscule 0.95 ERA. In game one of a DH against Northern State on Feb. 20, Philbin threw two scoreless innings and allowed only one hit while striking out three.
>> Quinn Waterbury has been with the Ichabods for two seasons and has played in 22 games with eight starts. At Newman on March 4, he launched his first home run in a Washburn uniform and was 3-4 with two runs scored. He hit a huge three-run home run in the top of the 10th at NSU on March 13 to give the Ichabods the lead.
>> Washburn has won its last three senior weekend series, including a walk-off 11 inning win in the series-deciding game against Newman last season.
OFFENSIVE LEADERS
>> Washburn is second among MIAA teams in doubles with 105 and have had landed at least one double in 38 of the 44 games.
>> The Ichabods have had 30 multi-double games, including six with five or more doubles.
>> Freshman Easton Bruce is batting .375 and has 30 hits with 19 runs scored.
>> In addition to Ingram and Dunn's numbers, Cal Watkins is second in runs (44), hits (52), triples (two) and walks (19). He leads the squad with six sacrifice bunts.
>> Otto Jones started the last two games at Rogers State and holds a .350 average with 21 hits, 15 runs scored, and 10 RBI.
PITCHING LEADERS
>> The Ichabods are third in the MIAA with a 5.10 ERA and second in total strikeouts with 437.
>> John Cross has a 1.71 earned run average and 40 strikeouts after 26.1 innings of work. He is 1-1 in 11 appearances and two starts.
>> Julian Zamora has also made 11 appearances and is 2-0 in 13.1 innings with 14 strikeouts.
>> Casey Steward is 5-1 in 12 starts and has thrown a team-high 58 innings. He has a 5.12 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
>> Jack Brimacombe received a no-decision in his most recent start, but is 2-3 in 11 starts with a 5.40 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 48.1 innings.
HEAD COACH HARLEY DOUGLAS
>> Former Washburn All-MIAA outfielder Harley Douglas is in 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 THE OPPOSITION
PITTSBURG STATE GORILLAS
>> The Gorillas went 30-16 (21-12 MIAA) last season and advanced to the MIAA Championship Tournament, going 2-2 with a pair of losses to the eventual winner, Central Missouri.
>> PSU's offense is third in the league with a .320 batting average and second with 85 home runs to go with 89 doubles.
>> Garrett McGowan leads the way hitting .409 with a .778 slugging percentage, ranking third in the MIAA in both categories. He is also in the top-10 in RBI (70/second), hits (72/third), doubles (17/fourth), home runs (16/fourth), and runs (53/fifth).
>> The Gorillas' pitchers hold a collective 6.33 ERA and have struck out 318.
>> Peyton Ingalls is 6-1 in 12 starts and holds a 5.51 ERA and has logged a team-high 63.2 innings. He has recorded 47 strikeouts on the year.
>> Paul Panduro was named the most recent MIAA Pitcher of the Week after he tossed a no-hitter against Newman, allowing just three base runners on walks while setting a program single game record with 16 strikeouts. For the season, he is 1-4 in 13 appearances with a 6.68 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched and 38 strikeouts.
HEAD COACH BOB FORNELLI
>> Bob Fornelli is in his fourth season as the head coach at Pittsburg State and is one of the winningest baseball coaches in DII history as he eclipsed 1,000 career wins this season.
>> He is the fastest to do so as it took just 26 seasons to compile a record of 1,006-441.
>> Fornelli is no stranger to the MIAA as he spent 15 seasons coaching at his alma mater Emporia State where he amassed a record of 599-266 and captured five MIAA regular season titles to go with two MIAA tournament championships.
>> Prior to ESU, Fornelli led the baseball team at Fort Hays State and finished with a record of 306-113 after seven seasons.
>> Fornelli started his collegiate coaching career at Butler Community College and served as their pitching coach from 1992-96.
SERIES HISTORY WITH PITTSBURG STATE
>> These two teams played their first game against each other in 1963.
>> The Ichabods hold a slight edge in the all-time series, 63-60.
>> Washburn hosted Pittsburg State for a single non-conference game last season and fell, 11-1.
>> Prior to that game, WU has not hosted PSU for a series since 2017.
>> Coach Douglas is 13-10 against Pittsburg State.
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 will find out where they land in the MIAA Tournament on Sunday evening when the bracket is announced.
