TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball closes out its seven game homestand with three more games this weekend hosting Northeastern State starting on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
LEADING OFF
>> Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. and the finale will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.
>> Washburn (13-7, 6-0 MIAA) currently has the longest winning streak in Division II baseball with 12 wins in a row.
>> The Ichabods are the only team undefeated in MIAA play.
>> Northeastern State is 9-8 (3-3 MIAA). The RiverHawks went 1-2 against Central Missouri last weekend.
>> Last season, Washburn and Northeastern State faced each other a total of five times in three different locations.
>> The RiverHawks took two out of three on their home field in the regular season against WU and then the Ichabods came away with an 8-5 win in the MIAA Tournament semifinal in Edmond, Okla. NSU ended Washburn's season in 2022 with a 14-13 win in the NCAA Central Region tournament in Magnolia, Ark.
>> The Ichabods were picked fifth in the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll and the RiverHawks were selected third after going 38-18 (22-11 MIAA) last year.
>> In 2022, Washburn reached its first NCAA postseason and finished the season 33-22.
>> The 2023 season is the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
>> Falley Field has been the home of the Ichabods since 1990.
>> At home over the past 33 years, Washburn has a record of 412-282.
>> The Ichabods went 13-8 at home last year.
>> Washburn is an undefeated 8-0 at home this season.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
>> Junior shortstop Cal Watkins leads all of Division II in hits and has 39 going into this weekend.
>> Watkins is also 12th in DII in runs scored with 26, and is ranked 14th in stolen bases with 11.
>> Otto Jones is sixth nationally in sacrifice bunts with four.
>> Pitcher Casey Steward is ranked fifth with 43 strikeouts.
>> As a team, the Ichabods rank fourth in the nation with 222 hits so far this season.
>> The team also ranks third in DII in walks drawn with 112.
>> Defensively, the team has turned 16 double plays to rank seventh in Division II.
WINNING STREAK
>> Washburn begins the week with the longest winning streak in Division II baseball.
>> The team's current 12-game winning streak is the longest for the Ichabods since the 2015 season, when WU started the year 14-0.
>> In 69 years of Washburn baseball, the team has previously only had four winning streaks of 10 or more games (2015 - 14; 1994 - 13; 1973 - 10; 1948 -10).
STOLEN BASE RECORD
>> The Ichabods stole a program-record 11 total bases and were 11-for-12 overall on the basepaths in the 19-12 win over Newman on March 5.
>> The previous program record of nine stolen bases in a single game was set on March 10, 2016 against Northwest Missouri.
>> Against the Jets, Watkins swiped four bases and tied the individual program-record.
>> Three other Ichabods have stolen four bases in a game: Jason Meysenburg (2003), Kyle Peter (2007), and Javis Larson (2018).
QUICK HITS
>> In 20 games, Washburn is hitting .313 with 35 doubles and 18 homers.
>> The Ichabods lead all MIAA teams in triples with eight.
>> Watkins is first among MIAA players in hits, runs scored, and tied for first in stolen bases. He is hitting .443 (fourth in MIAA) with a .500 on base percentage and has a team-best six doubles.
>> Ike Book is batting .418 with 23 hits and is second on the team in RBI with 18.
>> Andrew Schmidtlein helped the Ichabods last weekend as he came through with a leadoff pinch hit triple in the bottom of the ninth in game one against Newman and then in game two, he hit a three-run home run, collected four RBI, and scored four times. In 19 at bats this season, he has seven hits, six RBI, eight runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and a home run.
>> Trevor McCollum went 3-5 with three runs scored in the series finale against Newman and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. For the season, he's hitting .357 with 15 hits, nine runs scored, and six RBI. He's also been walked 10 times.
>> Trey Adams has started 19 games at second base and has a .329 batting average and is second on the team in hits with 24 and has driven in 16 runs.
>> Cale Savage had a strong series against Newman, going 7-13 with two home runs, a double, seven RBI and four runs scored. In the final game, he was 3-4 with a home run and four RBI in the 6-5 victory.
>> For the season, Savage is hitting .311 and has driven in a team-high 20 runs with 23 hits and 13 walks.
>> Easton Bruce is tied with Savage for the team-lead in home runs with four. He has a .284 batting average with 21 hits, 21 runs scored, 17 RBI, and a team-high 15 walks drawn.
ON THE MOUND
>> The Ichabod pitching staff has a 5.33 ERA and currently ranks first among MIAA teams for the most strikeouts with 187.
>> Steward leads the conference in strikeouts with 43 and has struck out nine in each of his last three starts. So far, he is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts and 25 2/3 innings pitched.
>> Rane Pfeifer has limited opponents to a .176 batting average (third in MIAA) and is second on the team in strikeouts with 30. After five starts, he is 2-0 with a 4.43 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work.
>> Chase Torkelson improved to 3-1 after earning the win in game two against Newman. He tossed 3 1/3 scoreless frames and allowed just three hits while striking out six. In his first year as an Ichabod, he has a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings with 17 strikeouts.
>> Jayden Payne earned his first win as an Ichabod in the series opener against Newman after he threw three scoreless innings in relief and allowed only three singles. Overall, he holds a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings in seven appearances with eight strikeouts.
BODS AND ENDS
>> Washburn recorded two walk-off wins in the series sweep over Newman and has captured four walk-off victories this year.
>> Adams has been responsible for driving in the winning run in two of the walk-off wins (vs. Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 19 and against Newman on March 4).
>> With two outs, the Ichabods are hitting .329.
>> Adams has reached base in 15-straight games...Bruce has reached in each of the last 14.
>> WU has outscored opponents in the fourth inning, 22-6.
>> The Ichabods have scored 10+ runs in five contests this year.
>> In all of 2022, the Ichabods stole 47 bases in 55 games...they have already surpassed that amount by three in 20 games.
>> The Ichabods returned to the NBCWA Central Region rankings and checked in at No. 7.
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 OPPOSITION
NORTHEASTERN STATE RIVERHAWKS
>> The RiverHawks went 38-18 (22-11 MIAA) in 2022 and reached their first-ever NCAA regional appearance.
>> Through 17 games, NSU is batting .281 with 35 doubles and 26 home runs.
>> Isaiah Keller has started all 17 games and has a team-high .349 batting average with a team-best 22 hits, 16 runs scored, seven doubles, five home runs, and is second on the squad in RBI with 20.
>> On the pitching side, the RiverHawks hold a 4.96 ERA and totaled 141 strikeouts.
>> Lee Callison has a 3-1 record in five starts scattered across a team-high 31 innings of work. He has a 3.77 ERA and has 26 strikeouts this season.
>> Seth Stacey is 2-2 after five starts and leads the team with 28 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched. He currently sits at a 4.97 ERA and had a complete game shutout against William Jewell earlier this season.
HEAD COACH JAMES CULLINANE
>> James Cullinane is in his first season as head coach for the RiverHawks after serving the previous two seasons as the team's hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.
>> Before coming to Northeastern State, Cullinane was on the coaching staff a Minnesota Crookston for two seasons.
>> As a student-athlete, Cullinane played his final two seasons at Minnesota Crookston and is ranked in the program's top-10 in four offensive categories.
SERIES HISTORY WITH NORTHEASTERN STATE
>> Washburn and Northeastern State have played each other 33 times since 1989 and the RiverHawks hold a 19-14 series advantage.
>> When playing NSU in Topeka, WU is 8-4.
>> Coach Douglas is 10-10 against Northeastern State.
>> In the regular season meeting between these two teams last year, several Washburn program records were set.
>> In game two on March 13, 2022, the Ichabods fell short in a back-and-forth extra inning 24-23 marathon that took nearly five hours and consisted of a combined 47 runs scored and 12 home runs hit.
>> In that game, Brett Ingram became the third Ichabod to ever have a three home run game. He finished the day 5-7 with three HRs, a double, six RBI, and four runs scored and became the program record holder for the most total bases in a game with 15.
>> The Ichabods finished out the series with a 19-15 win and hit seven home runs for the second-consecutive game, tying the program record for the most home runs in a single game (WU hit seven HRs on April 24, 2016).
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 1310-1252-3 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 take a quick midweek road trip to Northwest Missouri on March 14 before returning to Falley Field for three games against Missouri Southern, March 17-19.
