TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 20-ranked Washburn Ichabods will play their second tournament in a row at home, this time hosting the Washburn Invite starting Feb. 24 and going through Feb. 26.

BLUE NOTES

• The Ichabods moved up one spot in the NFCA Top 25 poll for the second-consecutive week and are now ranked No. 20.
• This weekend, Washburn will face five regional opponents all from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
• The Ichabods (11-3) are coming off a 4-1 weekend on its home field last week at the ESU Classic hosted by Washburn.
• 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.

WASHBURN INVITE INFORMATION

• The Washburn Invite will consist of 16-teams from the MIAA, NSIC, and GLVC Feb. 24-26 with games being played at Gahnstrom Field and on two fields at Lake Shawenee.
• Washburn will play all of its games at Gahnstrom Field and begin the tournament against Sioux Falls on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
• WU will play two games on Saturday, first against University of Mary at 1:30 p.m. and then Minnesota Crookston at 3:30 p.m.
• The Ichabods will cap off the tourney with two more games against Southwest Minnesota (3:30 p.m.) and Wayne State (5:30 p.m.).
• There will be a charged admission of $10 (cash only) per day at both locations.
• Fans not able to attend in-person can watch the game on the MIAA Network (pay-per-view).

THE WEEK THAT WAS

• The Ichabods opened their home schedule winning four out of five games at the ESU Classic hosted 1/3 by Washburn last week.
• The victories included one walk-off win against Oklahoma Baptist and a pair of run-rule games over Winona State and Quincy.
• As a team, the Ichabods hit .320 in those four games with eight doubles, a triple and two home runs.
• The Washburn pitchers also recorded 38 strikeouts while the Ichabod hitters were only struck out 15 times.
• Marrit Mead hit a blazing .588 batting average (10-17) with four runs scored and stole four bases.
• Jaycee Ginter had four hits and drove in six runs and scored twice... in the circle, Ginter was 4-0 in four starts and tossed three complete games and struck out 30.
• Hailey Neira was 5-6 scattered across three games.

ICHABOD BITS

• After 14 games, the Washburn offense is batting .265 with 23 doubles and five home runs.
• Mead is leading the charge with a .460 batting average and 23 hits and 14 runs scored.
• She also has eight multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games to lead the team.
• At the plate, Ginter is hitting .324 with 12 hits, four doubles, and a team-high 13 runs driven in.
• Paige Robbins has landed 11 hits and scored nine times.
• Hadley Kerschen rounds out the Ichabod batters with double-figure hits with 10 on the year and has five runs scored.
• Washburn is first among MIAA teams and 13th in the nation for the lowest ERA at 1.38 in 96 2/3 innings.
• In the circle, Ginter is second in the nation in strikeouts (92), wins (nine), and complete games (seven).
• She has a minuscule 0.71 ERA across 68 2/3 innings of work.

MIAA PRESEASON POLL

• 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.

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT

SIOUX FALLS

• The Sioux Falls Cougars went 27-25 (11-14 NSIC) last season and were picked eighth in this year's conference preseason poll.
• The Cougars have played only four games so far, dropping four contests in Emporia last weekend.
• Through four games, the Cougars are batting .260 with 10 doubles and are led by Kylie Madrid's six hits, four doubles, three runs scored and six RBI.
• The pitching staff has a collective 5.11 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
• Shannon Pivovar is in her fifth season leading Sioux Falls and has a career record of 85-91.
• The Ichabods are 4-2 against the Cougars and last defeated USF 8-0 on Feb. 27, 2022.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY

• The Marauders went 7-37 (5-19 NSIC) a year ago and landed in a tie for 15th in the league's 2023 preseason poll.
• They are 2-5 so far this season batting .320 with a 12.72 ERA.
• Devyn Ritz has played in six games and is hitting .533 (8-15).
• Pitcher Nicole Eckhardt is 1-1 with a save in 22.0 innings of work...she also leads the team with 18 strikeouts.
• Dre Frantz is in second season at Mary and has a record of 5-41.
• The Ichabods are a perfect 6-0 against the Marauders and last picked up a 1-0 win against them on Feb. 26, 2022.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON

• Minnesota State-Crookston completed the 2022 season with a record of 15-40 (6-24 NSIC) and were voted 14th in this year's preseason coaches poll.
• The Eagles are 2-4 so far after competing at the D2 Cactus Classic in Arizona last week.
• Offensively, the team holds a .302 batting average with 13 extra base hits. Alina Avalos leads the squad batting .522 with 12 hits and 10 RBI.
• In the circle, they have an 8.72 ERA with 29 strikeouts. Charlotte Dombrowski is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
• Nick Weinmeister is in his second season at Minnesota State-Crookston and has a record of 17-44.
• The Ichabods have played the Eagles three times and won all three games, most recently picking up an 8-2 win on Feb. 27, 2022.

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

• The Mustangs went 21-31 (12-14 NSIC) in 2022 and were voted seventh in this year's preseason poll.
• Southwest Minnesota has not yet played a game this season.
• Bailey Bouman is in her fifth season at the helm of the Mustangs and has a career record of 76-84.
• The Ichabods are 5-1 against SMSU and have won the last two...the most recent victory was an 11-2 decision on Feb.. 28, 2022.

WAYNE STATE

• Wayne State was picked tied for 10th in the 2023 NSIC coaches poll after going 15-38 (12-18 NSIC) last year .
• The Wildcats are 0-4 after playing at the Pittsburg State Triangular last week.
• Through four games, WSC is batting .200 with a 9.82 ERA.
• Christy Warnock is in her first season at Wayne State.
• These two programs have played a combined 35 games against each other with Washburn leading the series, 23-12. WU won 13-1 in the last matchup on Feb. 26, 2022.

HEAD COACH BRENDA HOLADAY

• is 189-119 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.

WASHBURN ICHABOD SOFTBALL 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.

UP NEXT

• Washburn will travel to warmer weather for six games in Florida, March 2-4.