TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball will head to Maryville, Mo. for a matinee game at Northwest Missouri on Wednesday.
LEADING OFF
>> First pitch against the Bearcats is set for 3 p.m.
>> The Ichabods (19-11, 12-4 MIAA) took two out of three at Missouri Western last weekend.
>> The Bearcats are coming off a run-rule victory at Northeastern State on Monday and are now 6-21 (4-12 MIAA).
>> These two teams faced each other two weeks ago at Falley Field when Washburn captured a 9-8 walk-off win.
>> The Ichabods were picked fifth in the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll and the Bearcats were selected eighth after going 19-27 (13-20 MIAA) last year.
>> 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 begins the week ranked eighth in all of Division II and tied for first in the MIAA in hits with 53 on the year.
>> Pitchers Casey Steward and Rane Pfeifer rank in the top-15 in the nation in strikeouts. Steward is second among MIAA pitchers and fifth in DII with 67 strikeouts and Pfeifer is third in the conference and 13th in the nation with 60 strikeouts.
>> As a team, the Ichabods rank 10th in the nation in hits with 329 so far this season.
QUICK HITS
>> Through 30 games, Washburn is hitting .312 with 57 doubles, 11 triples (tied for second in MIAA), and 21 homers.
>> Watkins has reached base in 12-straight games and leads the team in hits and has scored a team-best 35 runs (t-third in MIAA). For the season, he's batting .396 and is tied for the team-lead in doubles with 10.
>> Trevor McCollum's batting average bumped up to .430 after last weekend and now ranks second among MIAA players. He has landed 34 hits and is 12-of-13 in stolen bases to lead the team.
>> Ike Book is batting .364 with 32 hits, 26 RBI, and 14 runs scored.
>> Cale Savage is second on the squad in hits with 38 and leads the team with 33 RBI and six home runs. He has played in all 30 games with 29 starts and holds a .336 batting average.
>> Trey Adams has recorded 36 hits, six doubles, three homers, 26 runs scored, and 20 RBI to go with his .321 batting average.
>> Caden Bressler went 3-5 with two RBI and a run scored in the finale at Missouri Western. Overall, he's batting .286 with 28 hits, 18 runs scored, and 12 runs driven in.
>> Easton Bruce is tied with Watkins for the team-high in doubles and has 32 hits, four home runs, 26 runs scored, and 23 RBI.
ON THE MOUND
>> The Ichabod pitching staff has a 5.25 ERA and ranks second in the MIAA in strikeouts with 283.
>> Chase Torkelson is 5-1 on the season and earned the save at Missouri Western in game one after he retired all three batters he faced in the ninth frame.
>> Overall this season, Torkelson has thrown 20 2/3 innings scattered across 11 relief appearances and holds a 4.35 ERA with 22 strikeouts.
>> Washburn's game one pitcher, Steward, is 2-1 in eight starts with one complete game. He leads the team with 67 strikeouts, 47 2/3 innings pitched, and has a 3.59 ERA.
>> Pfeifer is 3-1 with a 3.40 ERA after throwing 42 1/3 frames in eight starts. He leads the league in opponent batting average at a low .167 and has allowed the fewest hits with 24.
>> In game two against Missouri Western, Mickey Coyne threw three scoreless innings and allowed only one hit and zero walks in the outing.
>> Similarly, Cal Leonard also tossed three scoreless frames the following day against the Griffons. He has not allowed a run and just four hits in seven innings of work across five appearances.
BODS AND ENDS
>> Washburn has out-hit opponents in 19 games and is 16-3 in those contests.
>> WU has had five walk-off victories this season.
>> The Ichabods are 12-5 when scoring first.
>> McCollum and Watkins both have an eight-game hitting streak.
>> The Ichabods are 4-3 against Missouri directional schools so far this season.
>> In the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Central Region poll, the Ichabods are currently No. 9.
MILESTONE WATCH
>> Watkins is nine runs shy of having scored 100 runs since joining the Ichabods last season.
>> Pfeifer needs 20 more strikeouts to eclipse 200 since joining the Ichabods in 2021.
>> Steward is 17 strikeouts away from tying his season-high 84 strikeouts from last season ... he made 16 starts last year and has made eight so far in 2023.
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 THE NORTHWEST MISSOURI BEARCATS
>> The Bearcats have lost six of their last eight games and are 6-21 (4-12 MIAA).
>> NWMSU's offense is batting a collective .254 with 36 doubles, one triple, and 20 home runs.
>> Cole Slibowski leads the team batting .386 with 32 hits. He has scored 17 times and driven in six runs.
>> Ryan Koski is right behind with 31 hits and has a team-high 32 RBI, eight home runs, eight doubles, and 21 runs scored.
>> On the mound, the team has a 5.77 ERA and 222 strikeouts.
>> Jacob Gajic is 2-3 with a save in 10 relief appearances. He's thrown 21 1/3 innings and struck out 29.
>> Max Spitzmiller leads the MIAA with 51 innings pitched and has recorded 44 strikeouts.
HEAD COACH DARIN LOE
>> Head Coach Darin Loe has been at Northwest Missouri since 2000 and has accumulated a career record of 558-586 in his time there.
>> Prior to leading the Bearcats, Loe served as the head coach at Baker for three seasons and began his coaching career at Missouri Valley College.
>> Combined between his time at Northwest Missouri, Baker, and Missouri Valley College, Loe has a 714-720
SERIES HISTORY WITH NORTHWEST MISSOURI
>> These two programs have played each other 139 times since 1971 and Washburn leads the all-time series, 74-65.
>> The Ichabods have won eight of the last nine games played against the Bearcats.
>> Coach Douglas is 16-9 against NWMSU.
LAST TIME AGAINST NORTHWEST MISSOURI (Washburn 9, Northwest Missouri 8 - March 14, 2023)
>> Washburn jumped out to an early 4-0 lead at the end of the first.
>> Northwest Missouri scored two runs in three consecutive innings and at the end of four, led 6-5.
>> The Ichabods reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning after a two-RBI single from Bruce.
>> In the seventh inning, WU added an insurance run on an RBI double by Savage to go up 8-6.
>> The Bearcats got that run back in the eighth and then leveled the score with two outs in the ninth.
>> Watkins led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and moved over to third on a flyout.
>> McCollum brought in the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field.
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 will stay in the Show Me State for three games at Central Missouri this weekend.
