TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball will travel to the Show Me State to play a three games at Missouri Western this weekend.
LEADING OFF
>> The start time for the series opener on Friday has been bumped up to 12 p.m. in an effort to avoid forecasted rain.
>> Game two will be Saturday at 2 p.m. and the final game will take place Sunday at noon.
>> The Ichabods (17-10, 10-3 MIAA) are coming off a 1-2 series against No. 11-ranked Missouri Southern.
>> The Griffons have lost four in a row and are now 5-18 (2-11 MIAA).
>> These two teams have already faced each other once in non-conference action last month when Washburn posted a 10-5 victory.
>> Last season, Washburn hosted Missouri Western and took two out of three games.
>> Washburn has played only nine true away games this season and has gone 4-5 ... the last away games Washburn played was at Fort Hays State on Feb. 25-26.
>> Missouri Western is 0-5 at home so far this spring.
>> The Ichabods were picked fifth in the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll and the Griffons were tabbed 11th after going 13-32 (9-24 MIAA) a season ago.
>> In 2022, Washburn reached its first NCAA postseason and finished the season 33-22 (19-14 MIAA).
>> The 2023 season is the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
>> Shortstop Cal Watkins heads into the weekend ranked fourth in all of Division II and first in the MIAA in hits with 48 on the year.
>> Watkins is also 23rd in DII in runs scored (34).
>> Pitcher Casey Steward is ranked sixth overall with 60 strikeouts.
>> As a team, the Ichabods rank eighth in the nation in hits with 296 so far this season.
>> Defensively, the squad has turned 21 double plays to rank 10th in Division II.
>> The team also ranks 11th in DII in walks drawn with 141.
>> On the base paths, the Ichabods have stolen 61 bases to rank 16th in the nation.
QUICK HITS
>> Through 27 games, Washburn is hitting .313 with 54 doubles, eight triples, and 21 homers.
>> Three Ichabods are hitting above .400 and rank in the top-10 in batting average in the MIAA
>> Watkins is first among MIAA players in hits and tied for second in runs scored. He is hitting .407 (seventh in MIAA), leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, and has reached base safely in nine-consecutive games.
>> Trevor McCollum leads the team with a .412 batting average (fourth in MIAA) and has 28 hits, 17 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases. In MIAA-only games so far this season, he is hitting .450
>> Ike Book is batting an even .400 on the season (eighth in the league) with 30 hits, 22 RBI, and 13 runs scored.
>> Trey Adams is second on the squad in hits with 35 and has a .347 batting average with 10 extra base hits, 24 runs scored, and 20 runs driven in.
>> Cale Savage has collected a team-best 31 RBI this year and leads the team with six homers and nine multi-RBI games. Overall, he has 33 hits, 21 runs scored, and seven doubles with a .327 batting average.
>> In the 10-5 victory over No. 11 Missouri Southern, Savage was a triple shy of the cycle going 3-5. He tied the game with a three-run home run and then drove in the go-ahead runs the following inning with a two-RBI single.
>> Easton Bruce is tied with Watkins for the team-lead in doubles with nine and has notched 30 hits, four home runs, 24 runs, and 22 RBI.
ON THE MOUND
>> The Ichabod pitching staff has a 5.14 ERA and currently ranks first among MIAA teams for the most strikeouts with 254.
>> Chase Torkelson leads the team in victories as he improved to 5-1 on the year after earning the win in the final game against Missouri Southern. In that outing, he pitched four scoreless innings and allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out four.
>> Overall this season, Torkelson has thrown 19 2/3 innings scattered across 10 relief appearances and holds a 4.58 ERA with 21 strikeouts.
>> Steward leads all MIAA pitchers in strikeouts with 60 and has logged a team-high 41 2/3 innings on the mound. He is 1-1 in seven starts and has a 3.89 ERA.
>> Although he was tabbed with the loss, he pitched his first career complete game against Missouri Southern and allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits and issued only one walk while recording nine strikeouts. He retired each of the final nine batters he faced.
>> Rane Pfeifer is second in the MIAA with 55 strikeouts and has held opponents to a league-low .164 batting average. This season he is 2-1 in seven starts and has a 3.13 ERA (fourth in MIAA) after 37 1/3 of work.
>> In game two against Missouri Southern, he threw a season-high eight innings and allowed three runs, only one was earned, on six hits and two walks to go with 12 strikeouts.
BODS AND ENDS
>> Washburn has out-hit opponents in 16 games and is 14-2 in those contests.
>> Bruce hit three doubles in the series finale against Missouri Southern, tying the program single-game record.
>> Bruce is now one of four Ichabods to do so and joins former teammate Brett Ingram, who accomplished the feat most recently on March 1, 2020, and current assistant coach Lane Harvey (March 9, 2019 - vs. MSSU). Richard Swan also hit three doubles in a game in 2013.
>> Watkins is 10 runs shy of having scored 100 runs since joining the Ichabods last season.
>> The Ichabods have played their last four games against a Missouri directional school and will play their next seven games at a Missouri directional school.
>> In the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Central Region poll, the Ichabods are currently No. 8.
MIAA PRESEASON POLL
>> In the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll, the Ichabods were picked exactly where they finished a season prior in fifth place.
>> Central Missouri repeated as the conference favorite, earning 11 first-place votes.
>> Pittsburg State checked in at No. 2, Northeastern State was No. 3 and earned the final first-place vote.
>> Central Oklahoma and Washburn rounded out the top-five.
HEAD COACH HARLEY DOUGLAS
>> Former Washburn All-MIAA outfielder Harley Douglas enters his ninth season at the helm of the Washburn baseball program in 2023.
>> In eight seasons, Douglas carries an all-time record of 161-152 with four appearances in the MIAA Tournament and led the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2022.
>> He has also coached a total of 47 all-MIAA selections, including the MIAA Player and Pitcher of the Year in 2016.
SCOUTING MISSOURI WESTERN GRIFFONS
>> After starting the season 3-2, the Griffons have lost 16 of their last 18 games.
>> Missouri Western's offense is batting .272 with 36 doubles and 12 homers.
>> Travis Wiese has started all 23 games and leads the team with 30 hits, 19 runs scored, and is tied for the team-lead in RBI with 15.
>> Brenden Andersen is batting a team-best .346 and has 28 hits, six doubles, and 13 RBI.
>> The Griffons' pitching staff holds a 7.34 ERA and has recorded 156 strikeouts.
>> Zack Cushing is 2-1 in 11 relief appearances and has thrown 21 1/3 innings. He has a 6.75 ERA and 19 strikeouts.
>> Jacob Weirich leads the team with 23 strikeouts and is 1-2 in five starts and has also gone 21 1/3 innings on the mound.
HEAD COACH BUZZ VERDUZCO
>> Buzz Verduzco is in his 24th season at Missouri Western and started the year with a career record of 617-520.
>> He has led the Griffons to an MIAA regular season championship (2013) and four NCAA postseason appearances.
>> Verduzco served as an assistant coach at Washington State for 10 years before coming to Missouri Western.
SERIES HISTORY
>> Washburn holds a 76-72 advantage against Missouri Western in the all-time series.
>> The Ichabods have won nine of the last 11 games against the Griffons.
>> WU last played in St. Joe in 2021 and claimed the series with an 8-0 and 8-1 victories in games two and three.
LAST TIME AGAINST MISSOURI WESTERN (Feb. 28, 2023)
>> Washburn scored five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth and won the non-conference matchup against Missouri Western, 10-5.
>> Adams broke open the scoreless game with a two-out solo home run to left field in the bottom of the third.
>> The Griffons tied up the game in the fifth inning after an unearned run came in to score.
>> The score didn't stay knotted up for long as the Ichabods jumped ahead with two runs on three hits in the home half of the fifth.
>> Washburn added two more runs the following inning to go up, 5-1.
>> Missouri Western cut the deficit to one in the seventh after a three-run home run.
>> The Ichabods created some two out magic in the bottom of the eighth to cushion their lead at 10-4.
>> In the ninth, Missouri Western had runners on the corners and scored its final run of the afternoon on a fielder's choice.
>> Both teams recorded double-digit hits on the day and Missouri Western held a 12-10 advantage.
>> Adams was 2-2 with two walks, a home run, and two runs scored.
>> Griffin Huiatt earned his first collegiate win going six innings and surrendering only one run on five hits and zero walks while striking out three.
PRO BODS
>> At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Gilliam was signed by the Kansas City Monarchs on July 23, 2021 and has been with them since.
>> After a season and a half as a Monarch, he has appeared in 40 games and has a 9-5 record with 88 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched.
>> In the 2022-23 offseason, Gilliam joined the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League ... he made 10 starts and had a 5-1 record, a 3.04 ERA, and 36 strikeouts.
>> Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli, who graduated from Washburn in 2022, spent the summer playing for the Trois-Rivières Aigles, an independent professional baseball team located in Quebec, Canada and in the Frontier League.
>> Clark-Chiapparelli resigned to play with Trois-Rivières in the 2023 season.
>> Joel Casillas, also a graduate of the 2022 Washburn baseball team, signed to play the 2023 season with the Sultanes de Monterrey in the Mexican Baseball League in Monterrey, Mexico.
WASHBURN BASEBALL HISTORY
>> The 2023 season will be the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
>> The Ichabods have gone 1313-1255-3 in that time.
>> There has been 31 seasons with 20+ wins; 21 seasons with 25+ wins; and 11 seasons with 30+ wins.
>> Washburn has earned 24 All-Region selections and nine All-America awards.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD
>> The Ichabods are set to play a midweek game at Northwest Missouri on March 28. First pitch in Maryville is slated for 3 p.m.
