TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball will close out the regular season on the road this weekend at Pittsburg State starting with a night game on Friday at 6 p.m.
LEADING OFF
>> The series opener against the Gorillas will be Friday at 6 p.m. with first pitch of game two occurring on Saturday at 2 p.m. and the finale will be Sunday at noon.
>> The Ichabods (27-19, 19-11 MIAA) claimed their eighth series win of the season last weekend, taking two out of three games against Rogers State.
>> The Gorillas are coming off a series loss against Newman and are now 30-15 (20-10 MIAA).
>> These two teams played each other in the final series of the 2022 regular season in Topeka and Pittsburg State won the series, 2-1.
>> Washburn was picked fifth in the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll and the Gorillas were selected second after going 31-21 (22-11 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.
MIAA POSTSEASON PICTURE
>> The Ichabods head into the final weekend of the regular season sitting in fourth in the MIAA rankings.
>> Central Missouri is atop the conference rankings with an MIAA mark of 24-6 and Missouri Southern is right behind in second at 23-7.
>> Pittsburg State is one game ahead of Washburn at 20-10 MIAA.
>> Central Oklahoma is fifth with a conference record of 16-14, Newman and Northeastern State are tied at 13-17, and Rogers State rounds out the top-eight with a 12-18 record.
>> The top-four teams at the end of the regular season will host a best-of-three series May 5-7. The four winning teams will advance to the double-elimination MIAA Championship Tournament hosted by Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. on May 11-14.
MIAA AND NCBWA REGIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
>> For the second time this season, junior right-hander Casey Steward was named the MIAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week after throwing a gem against Rogers State last weekend.
>> He was also recognized as the National College Baseball Writers Association Central Region Pitcher of the Week and became the first Ichabod to ever win the regional weekly award.
>> In game two against the Hillcats, Steward tossed six no-hit innings and recorded 10 strikeouts on the afternoon.
>> He received the win and went six innings and allowed zero runs, zero hits, and five walks to go with his 10 strikeouts.
>> Steward was named the conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 13 of this year after he carried a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings at Barry and finished his outing going 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one unearned run on two singles and two walks while striking out a career-high 12 batters.
QUICK HITS
>> The Ichabods have played 46 games and are hitting .302 with 85 doubles, 16 triples, and 34 homers.
>> Ike Book has played in 39 games with 37 starts and is leading the team with a .382 batting average. He's recorded 52 hits, eight doubles, two triples, three homers, 35 RBI, and 24 runs scored.
>> Cal Watkins is the only Ichabod to have started every game this season and is hitting .373. He leads the team in hits (72/third in MIAA), runs (47), and doubles (13). He has recorded a team-leading 22 multi-hit games this spring and had at least one hit in 39 of the 46 games.
>> Cale Savage has reached base in 15-straight games and leads the team with 10 home runs, 50 RBI, and tied for the team-lead in triples with two while ranking second on the squad in hits (55), runs scored (44), and tied in doubles (10) to go with his .320 batting average. He has knocked in a team-high 25 runs when there are two outs this season.
>> Last season in 42 games played, Savage recorded 33 hits that consisted of five home runs, zero triples, seven doubles and finished with 27 runs scored and 23 RBI with a .266 batting average.
>> Trey Adams has made 45 starts in his first season at Washburn and is batting .312 with 53 hits, nine doubles, four home runs, two triples, and has scored 40 times and driven in 35 runs.
>> Caden Bressler finished out the run-rule series-opening win over Rogers State last Friday with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh for his first homer as an Ichabod. Overall this season, he's landed 42 hits with 25 runs scored and 20 RBI.
>> Andrew Schmidtlein has moved into the leadoff spot for Washburn and has a seven-game hitting streak and a .293 batting average. In game two against the Hillcats, he reached base five times with three hit by pitches, a walk, and a three-run double.
>> Easton Bruce carries a six-game hitting streak into the weekend and had two multi-hit games against Rogers State. This spring, Bruce has 48 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs, 37 runs, and 36 RBI with 26 walks.
ON THE MOUND
>> The Ichabod pitchers hold a 5.92 ERA and have recorded 396 strikeouts.
>> Rane Pfeifer is 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA (fourth in MIAA) and 79 strikeouts after throwing 62 1/3 frames in 12 starts. He holds the lowest opponent batting average of any pitcher in the MIAA at .190 and also allowed the fewest hits with 41. His 5.92 hits per nine innings ranks 11th in Division II.
>> Steward has also made 12 starts and is 3-4 with one complete game. He has a 4.72 ERA after hurling a team-high 68 2/3 innings and leads the conference and ranks sixth in Division II with 95 strikeouts.
>> Steward has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in three games and has limited opponents to three or fewer hits in four starts after going at least 5 2/3 innings.
>> Jack Brimacombe has earned a win in his last two starts with both of those games being seven inning run-rule victories for Washburn. Against Rogers State, he pitched all seven innings and allowed one run on five hits, three walks, and struck out four. For the season, he is 4-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 51 innings of work.
>> Chase Torkelson is 7-3 with a save on the season in 15 overall appearances and three starts and has a 5.48 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings.
>> His win total is the most for an Ichabod pitcher since Brock Gilliam in 2021...the Washburn single-season win record for a pitcher is 10, set by Dennis Banks in 2000.
BODS AND ENDS
>> When there are two outs, the Ichabods are batting .314 while holding their opponents to a .256 batting average.
>> Book has gone 5-7 (.714) when the bases are loaded.
>> When leading after six innings, Washburn is 22-4.
>> The Ichabods have outscored opponents 40-27 in the seventh inning this year.
>> Pfeifer has limited to a .179 batting average (12-67) when there are two outs.
MILESTONE WATCH
>> Pfeifer needs just one more strikeout to eclipse 200 since joining the Ichabods in 2021. The Washburn career strikeout record is 221 set in 2021 by Gilliam.
>> Steward is 15 strikeouts away from tying the program's single-season strikeout record set by Gilliam also during the 2021 campaign. Steward needs six more to move into second place and pass Rick DeHart's 100 strikeouts in the 1991 season.
>> Brimacombe is 12 strikeouts shy from eclipsing 100 in his career at Washburn.
>> Bruce is 10 hits away from reaching 100 in his career since joining the Ichabods as a freshman last year.
MIAA PRESEASON POLL
>> In the 2023 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll, the Ichabods were picked exactly where they finished a season ago 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 PITTSBURG STATE GORILLAS
>> The Gorillas have gone 2-4 in their last two series against Newman and Central Missouri and are 30-15 (20-10 MIAA) heading into the final weekend.
>> PSU's offense is batting .315 and rank second in the nation in doubles (120) and eighth in home runs (73).
>> Nixon Brannan ranks in the top-five among MIAA players in seven categories, including batting average (.412), slugging percentage (.771), RBI (64), hits (70), and doubles (19). He has also hit 14 home runs (seventh in MIAA).
>> Karson Coffee leads the league and is eighth in DII for doubles hit with 20. Overall, he's batting .367 with 51 hits, nine home runs, two triples, 41 runs scored and 41 RBI with 12 stolen bases out of 14 attempts.
>> Pittsburg State's pitching staff has a collective 6.25 ERA and 412 strikeouts on the year.
>> Zac Shoemaker has been an ace for the Gorillas this season as he holds an 8-1 record in 12 starts with an MIAA-low 3.14 ERA and 88 strikeouts in a 63 innings pitched. He leads the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.80) and has walked only 10 batters.
>> Ben Des Rosiers has also made 12 starts and is 7-0 with a 4.34 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 58 innings of work.
HEAD COACH BOB FORNELLI
>> Bob Fornelli is in his fifth season as the head coach at Pittsburg State and is one of the winningest baseball coaches in DII history with a 27-year career record of 1,041-460.
>> Fornelli is no stranger to the MIAA as he spent 15 seasons coaching at his alma mater Emporia State where he amassed a record of 599-266 and captured five MIAA regular season titles to go with two MIAA tournament championships.
>> Prior to ESU, Fornelli led the baseball team at Fort Hays State and finished with a record of 306-113 after seven seasons.
>> Fornelli started his collegiate coaching career at Butler Community College and served as their pitching coach from 1992-96.
SERIES HISTORY WITH PITTSBURG STATE
>> These two teams played their first game against each other in 1963 and Washburn holds a 64-62 all-time series lead.
>> The Ichabods last had a series win over the Gorillas in 2021, winning two out of three games in Pittsburg.
>> Washburn has played 12 of the last 16 games against the Gorillas at Pittsburg State...WU has gone 6-6 in those road contests.
>> The last time Washburn played down in Pittsburg State it was for the first round of the 2021 MIAA Tournament. The Ichabods won game one before dropping the next two.
>> Coach Douglas is 14-12 against Pittsburg State.
WASHBURN BASEBALL HISTORY
>> The 2023 season will be the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
>> The Ichabods have gone 1320-1263-3 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 MIAA Tournament bracket will be released on Sunday after the final games are played and the Ichabods will learn who their opponent will be for the first round series to be played on May 5-7.
