•  The No. 22-ranked Washburn Ichabods return to action this weekend at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Arkansas with four games over three days.
•  Because of expected weather this week, the schedule has been changed and the Ichabods will open up with Illinois-Springfield on Friday with a single game then face Henderson State at 11 a.m. and Southern Nazarene in the second game of the day. The event will wrap with Arkansas Tech on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
•  Southern Nazarene handed the Ichabods their first loss of the season in 2023 opener in a 6-4 loss.
•  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 home field 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.
  •  The Ichabods opened the 2023 season going 4-1 winning their last four games at the LCU Invitational.
•  Marrit Mead batted .400 with eight hits in 20 at bats and was 4 for 4 in stolen bases scoring a team-high seven runs.
•  Jaycee Ginter was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 with a 0.61 earned run average striking out 33 in 23 innings pitched holding opponents to a .165 batting average. She also drove in a team-high five during the week batting .273.
•  Jaden LaBarge hit .333 with a home run and 3 RBI.
•  As a team, the Ichabods had a .979 fielding percentage committing three errors in 146 chances.
•  Washburn was 7 for 7 in stolen base attempts and drew 15 walks.
  •  Jaycee Ginter leads the nation so far in strikeouts with 33 while also being ranked fifth in the nation in shutouts and 20th in strikeouts per seven innings.
•  Marrit Mead is ranked 11th in the nation in doubles with three, and 27th in hits and 37th in doubles per game. She is also ranked 12th in stolen bases and 54th in total bases.
•  The Ichabods as a team are 15th in the nation in double plays and 13th in being hit by pitches.
  •  Jaden LaBarge and Marrit Mead each have two multi-hit games and Mead and Jaycee Ginter each have two multi-RBI games.
•  The Ichabods have outscored their opponents 24-12 this season and 5-1 in the first inning. The only innings the Ichabods are being outscored thus far is the third (8-5) and the seventh (2-1).
•  Washburn is 4-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 4-0 when scoring first.
•  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.
  ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD
•  UIS softball was voted No. 4 among the 13 GLVC teams in the league's preseason poll. UIS, the No. 6 seed in the 2022 championship, earned 108 total points in the poll.
•  The Prairie Stars look to build off their 2022 records of 31-19 overall and 15-13 in the GLVC. UIS ended their 2022 season with a loss to Drury in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC Championships.
•  UIS returns Second Team All-GLVC selections Danielle Dennis and Jillian Mathis to the roster in 2023.
•  The series is tied 1-1 with the two teams splitting a doubleheader in Hays, Kansas on Feb. 28, 2014.
 
HENDERSON STATE
•  Henderson State is 2-2 this season after its first weekend of action at the Hawkins-McGhee Memorial Tournament in Arkadelphia, Ark.
•  The Reddies were 2-1 against MIAA foes splitting a pair of games against Missouri Southern and then topping Northeastern State.
•  Washburn is 2-2 all-time against Henderson State and this weekend's meeting will be the first since Feb. 3, 2013.
 
SOUTHERN NAZARENE
•  Southern Nazarene was 2-2 at the Lubbock Christian Invitational including a 6-4 win over Washburn in the season opener.
•  The Crimson Storm then fell 6-5 to Newman in their second game on Friday after topping the Ichabods.
•  Washburn trails the all-time series 3-4 after falling last week in Texas.
 
ARKANSAS TECH
•  The Golden Suns are 3-3 after splitting six games at the UT-Tyler Winter Classic to open the season.
•  This weekend Arkansas Tech is also scheduled to face Rogers State and Missouri Western from the MIAA.
•  The series is tied 2-2 with the Ichabods winning the last meeting on Feb. 16, 2020 in a 6-4 win.
  •  is 182-117 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 1255-939-1 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.