•  The No. 21-ranked Washburn Ichabods will make their Gahnstrom Field debut a little sooner as planned as Washburn will host 11 games from the ESU Classic due to unplayable fields in Emporia starting on Saturday.
•  The Ichabods moved up one spot in the NFCA Top 25 poll from preseason ranking of No. 22 to No. 21 this week.
•  Washburn will face four regional opponents in five games including three from the Northern Sun Conference (Minnesota state, Concordia-St. Paul and Winona State) and one from the Great American Conference (Oklahoma Baptist). Washburn's final game will be against Great Lake Valley foe Quincy on Monday.
•  The Ichabods will carry into the weekend a 26-game winning streak at Gahnstrom Field. The streak is the second-longest in the nation behind Roger State's 31-game home field winning streak.
•  Washburn (7-2) is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Ark.
•  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.
•  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.
  •  The Ichabods were 3-1 last weekend with wins over Illinois-Springfield, Henderson State and Southern Nazarene before falling in eight innings 1-0 to Arkansas Tech.
•  Jaycee Ginter, Hadley Kerschen and Marrit Mead each had three hits with Ginter and Kerschen recording two doubles.
•  In the circle, Sheyenne Cheek was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA throwing six innings in relief for a win against Henderson State.
•  As a team, the Ichabods had a .943 fielding percentage and had 29 hits batting .261 while Ichabod pitchers held opponents to a .144 batting average.
  •  Jaycee Ginter leads the nation in appearances (9), and she is second in strikeouts (62), seventh in shutouts, fifth in wins,  and second in complete games. Offensively, Ginter is second in the nation being hit by pitch.
•  Marrit Mead is ranked 32nd in hits and 61st in doubles per game. She is also ranked 12th in stolen bases and 54th in total bases.
  •  Marrit Mead has four multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games to lead the team.
•  Jaycee Ginter and Paige Robbins have reached base in seven-straight games.
•  Jaycee Ginter needs six RBI to reach 100 for her career … in 110 career games she has 108 hits and 94 RBI.
•  The Ichabods have outscored their opponents 36-16 this season including 7-1 in the first inning.
•  Washburn is 6-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 6-0 when scoring first and 4-1 when scoring in the first inning.
•  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.
  OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
•  The Bison are led by pitcher Kayleigh Jones has been named the Great American Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week for a second consecutive week. Jones made four appearances to help Oklahoma Baptist to a 3-1 record at the MSU Round-Up last weekend. In 18.1 innings of action, Jones struck out 34 batters without allowing a single earned run (0.00 era). She surrendered just eight hits to capture three wins, improving her season record to 6-0. This season, Jones has an 0.19 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched. She has allowed one earned run and totals 64 strikeouts, the most in Division II. Furthermore, Jones is tied with four others in the country for the most wins this season.
•  OBU is 8-1 this season with their only loss coming in a 7-6 loss to Fort Hays State.
•  The Ichabods are 3-0 against OBU last meeting with a 11-3 win by the Ichabods on Feb. 3, 2018.
 
MINNESOTA STATE
•  Minnesota State enters the weekend the owner of a 3-1 record. Previously the Mavericks bested Northwest Missouri State twice (11-0 & 3-2) and Missouri Western (7-6)
•  Junior Ellie Tallman paced the Mavericks with eight hits, seven RBI and a .667 batting average as she was named the NSIC Player of the Week. Sophomore Cheyenne Behrends batted. 500 with five hits and four RBI also, while juniors Madi Newman and Sydney Nelson each drove in three runs of their own.
Junior McKayla Armbruster paced the Mavericks in the circle with a 3-0 record, to go along with  a 2.33 ERA and 13 strikeouts. Sophomore Sophia Del Vecchio boasts a 2.55 ERA and has held opposing batters to a .225 batting average.
•  Washburn is 11-14 all-time against Minnesota State and the Ichabods will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak to the Mavericks. Washburn's last win over MSU was in a 6-3 win on Feb. 16, 2019.
 
CONCORDIA-St. PAUL
•  The Golden Bears are 1-3 this season after winning their season opener against Missouri Western 2-1.
•  The Golden Bears competed at the 2023 Portolite & Field Turf MSU Invitational Softball Tournament the first week of February going 1-3. The season started on a high note as Concordia defeated Missouri Western State 2-1 for Head Coach Bob Bartel's 500th career win. Bryanna Olson was the star of the game, giving up just one run in seven innings while striking out 11.
•  The Ichabods lead the series 8-5 and have won the last three meetings with the Golden Bears' last win coming on March 18, 2018 in a 4-3 win.
 
WINONA STATE
•  Winona State is playing its first games of the season on Feb. 15 against Grand View before heading south to Kansas.
•  This weekend Arkansas Tech is also scheduled to face Rogers State and Missouri Western from the MIAA.
•  The Ichabods trail the all-time series 4-1. Washburn's lone win came on March 20, 2015 in a 5-0 win in St. Joseph, Mo.
 
QUINCY
•  The Hawks will play their first games of the season this weekend.
•  The Hawks were tabbed to finish 10th in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll after finishing 18-27 overall and 12-16 in conference play. QU missed out on qualifying for the conference tournament on a tiebreaker as they were one of four teams vying for the 8th and final spot.
  •  is 185-118 in her seventh season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
•  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 1258-940-1 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.