•  The 2022 MIAA regular season champion will open the 2023 season at the Lubbock Christian Invitational on Feb. 3 playing five games over a three-day period.
•  Washburn is scheduled to play its first 17 games on the road before opening up Gahnstrom Field on Feb. 24 with Rockhurst at the Washburn Invitational.
•  Washburn enters the season ranked No. 22nd in the NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
•  The Ichabods finished the 2022 season with a 45-15 mark going 24-2 in the MIAA winning their fourth MIAA regular season title while earning an at-large bid for their fifth NCAA postseason tournament with a runner-up finish at the MIAA Championship Tournament.
•  Washburn was tabbed second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches poll behind the defending NCAA Division II Champion Rogers State, who finished second in the MIAA regular season standings and topped the Ichabods in the MIAA Tournament Championship game.
•  Entering the season, the Ichabods will carry a 26-game winning streak at Gahnstrom Field. The streak is second in the nation behind Roger State's 28-game homefield winning streak.
•  In 2022, the Ichabods recorded their first 40-win season since 2002 when the Ichabods went 48-11 giving the Ichabods four seasons with at least 40 wins - 41 (1999), 48 (2002) and 50 (1986) and 2022's 45 wins.
•  Washburn was picked 22nd in the NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll released on Jan. 24.
  •  Jaycee Ginter finished the 2022 season tied for second in the NCAA Division II ranks with 30 wins season … she also finished seventh in the nation in complete games (26), ninth in games started (32), fourth in appearances (45), ninth in strikeouts (290) in the circle and she was 22nd in RBI (57) … she was an All-America selection by both the NFCA and the D2CCA.
•  Marrit Mead, a D2CCA All-America selection in 2022, finished last year ranked second in the nation in doubles (23), eighth in hits (84), 16th in doubles per game (0.38), and 52nd in runs per game (1.02).
•  Paige Robbins was 37th in the nation last season in batting average (.427) and was ranked 16th in toughest to strikeout going down on strikes four times in 131 at bats.
•  The Ichabods as a team were third in the nation in being hit by a pitch (60) and was ranked 11th in hits (532), sixth in fielding percentage (.978), and 25th in batting average (.325) … the Ichabods were also 14th in total runs (365), 11th in doubles (99) and 33rd in doubles per game (1.65).
  •  Marrit Mead lead the Ichabods with 26 multi-hit games while Jaycee Ginter had 18 and Hadley Kerschen had 16 with Paige Robbins.
•  Jaycee Ginter lead the team with 18 multi RBI games.
•  The Ichabods outscored their opponents 365 to 184 last season and 67 to 38 in the first inning, 59 to 19 in the fifth inning and 20 to 11 in the seventh inning.
•  Washburn was 22-3 when scoring in the first inning and 38-2 when leading after the fourth inning, 34-1 when leading after the fifth inning and 29-2 when leading after six innings.
•  The Ichabods were 45-0 when outscoring their opponents.
•  The Ichabods were 26-0 at home in 2022 carrying the second-longest home field winning streak into the 2023 season.
  The defending MIAA regular season champion Washburn Ichabod softball team was tabbed No. 2 in the 2023 5conference coaches preseason poll released last week by the league office.
The Ichabods were picked second behind Rogers State in the preseason ranking. The Hillcats won the 2022 NCAA National Championship and tallied 161 points with seven first-place votes. The Ichabods were three points behind Rogers State with 158 points receiving five first-place votes. Central Oklahoma, who received two first-place votes was third with 151 points. Missouri Western had 125 points to finish fourth followed by Missouri Southern (114), Central Missouri (102), Northeastern State (101) and Nebraska-Kearney in eighth with 86 points. The remainder of the poll was Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Northwest Missouri, Newman and Lincoln.
  SOUTHERN NAZARENE
•  Southern Nazarene was 25-25 last season going 20-12 in the GAC and were picked fifth in the preseason coaches poll earning one first-place vote.
•  SNU reached the semifinals of the GAC Tournament last season.
•  The series is tied 3-3 in six all-time meetings.
 
LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
•  Last season, LCU tied for second place in the LSC standings with a 23-7 conference mark. They made their third NCAA Division II postseason appearance in program history and had their longest NCAA postseason venture, as they were the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Finalist.
•  LCU leads the all-time series 1-0 winning the only meeting on Feb. 5, 2021 7-0 in Texas.
 
COLORADO-COLORADO SPRINGS
•  The University of Colorado-Colorado Springs softball team has been selected to finish fifth in the 2023 RMAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•  The UCCS softball team finished the 2022 season fifth in the RMAC standings with a 27-24 overall record and a 24-16 record in conference play. The Mountain Lions earned the No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament, marking their first postseason appearance since the 2019 season.
•  Their 27 wins overall were their most wins in a single season since 2019 and the team's .529 overall winning percentage was the highest since the 2014 season. Inside the circle, the UCCS pitching staff tossed a combined 338.1 innings on the season and managed to record the fourth lowest ERA in the conference at 4.14 while also notching the fourth most strikeouts with 288.
•  On the offensive side, the Mountain Lions ranked among the top half of the RMAC in nearly every major offensive category, including the fifth-ranked team batting average (.305), fourth-ranked on base percentage (.378), fourth-ranked slugging percentage (.495) and the fifth most total runs scored with 268.
•  Washburn leads the all-time series 4-0 and the two teams have not met since March 16, 2002 when the Ichabods won 6-1.
•  In four meetings, the Ichabods have outscored UCCS 39-2 including a 22-0 win in 1993.
 
EASTERN NEW MEXICO
•  The Greyhounds were picked 12th among 15 programs in the LSC just one year from tying for tenth with Texas A&M International and St. Edward's. ENMU brings back its ace from 2022 in Brook Leger. The senior finished second in the LSC with 169 strikeouts over 32 appearances. The Hounds top bat will also be back as Azalea Martinez hit .315 adding eleven doubles and three home runs on the season.
•  The Ichabods lead the all-time series 11-2 with ENMU winning the last meeting on Feb. 8, 2015 in a 14-9 win.
 
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
•  The SWOSU softball team has been slated to finish 11th in the Great American Conference. GAC offices announced the preseason poll, voted on by the 12 conference head coaches.
•  SWOSU is coming off of a year that saw them go 12-30 overall and 11-22 in conference. They did go 9-9 at the SWOSU Athletic Complex in 18 games there.
•  SWOSU softball is entering a new era. Jessica Boone comes into 2023 as a first-year head coach. With some key contributors graduated and 13 new faces on the roster, she will look to mold the program into her own in year one. She will attempt to lead the Bulldogs back to the GAC Tournament for the first time since 2019.
•  The Ichabods lead the all-time series 11-1 winning the last two both played on March 16, 2021 in a 10-5 and an 8-4 wins over the Bulldogs in a doubleheader in Weatherford.
  •  is 178-116 in her seventh season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
u in six seasons under Holaday, Washburn has had 29 all-MIAA picks, one MIAA player of the year, one MIAA Pitcher of the Year, two MIAA Freshmen of the year and 14 all-region selections and five All-American picks.
•  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 1251-938-1 in their 53rd year of softball.
•  The Ichabods have made five NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2022).
•  Washburn won the 2002, 2018 and 2022 regular season MIAA titles.