TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball will host Northeastern State this weekend in the MIAA Tournament first round best-of-three series starting Friday.
LEADING OFF
>> The series opener is set for Friday at 5 p.m. with game two scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.
>> If necessary, the third game will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
>> The Ichabods are the tournament's three-seed and finished out the regular season with a series win at Pittsburg State for an overall record of 29-20 and 21-12 in MIAA play.
>> Washburn's 21 MIAA victories is the most conference wins since the 2016 season.
>> The RiverHawks (21-25, 15-18 MIAA) are the six-seed and closed out the regular season winning four of their last five games.
>> These two teams have already played a series in Topeka this season back on March 10-12 with the Ichabods winning the series, 2-1.
>> Washburn was 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 (19-14 MIAA).
>> The 2023 season is the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
MIAA POSTSEASON PICTURE
>> The Ichabods is the No. 3 seed in the MIAA tournament after claiming the tiebreaker over Pittsburg State.
>> Central Missouri (36-13, 27-6 MIAA) is the top seed and will host No. 8 seed Rogers State (26-20, 14-19 MIAA).
>> Missouri Southern (38-12, 25-8 MIAA) finished two games behind UCM and was tabbed the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 seed Newman (22-28, 14-19 MIAA).
>> No. 4 seed Pittsburg State (31-17, 21-12 MIAA) will play host to No. 5 seed Central Oklahoma (31-17, 18-15 MIAA).
>> The four winning teams will advance to the double-elimination MIAA Championship Tournament hosted by Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. on May 11-14.
WASHBURN IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT
>> Washburn has now made the conference tournament 17 times since its first year of eligibility in the 1991 season after joining the NCAA and MIAA in 1989-90.
>> The Ichabods are 25-31 overall in MIAA postseason play.
>> This will be the fifth squad Washburn head coach Harley Douglas has led to the MIAA Tournament.
>> The No. 3 seed is Washburn's highest seeding in the MIAA tournament since 2016, when the Ichabods went 3-2 and lost
>> The last time Washburn hosted the MIAA Tournament was 1997.
>> Last season, the Ichabods were the No. 5 seed and won the first two games at No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma in the tournament first round.
>> The following weekend, Washburn claimed a 15-13 victory over the top-seeded and No. 3 nationally-ranked Central Missouri and an 8-5 win over Northeastern State advanced the Ichabods to championship Saturday to face the Mules again.
>> UCM came back to win a 10-inning, nearly five hour game to force the if-necessary game, which it claimed with a 10-5 championship victory.
ALL-MIAA ICHABODS
>> Washburn placed seven on the 2023 All-MIAA teams that were announced this week.
>> Rane Pfeifer, Casey Steward, and Ike Book were named to the second team. It was Steward's second-straight season earning second team honors.
>> Cal Watkins, who was an honorable mention last year, earned a third team selection this year.
>> Trevor McCollum, Trey Adams, and Chase Torkelson all earned an honorable mention nod.
THIRTY AND OVER
>> The Ichabods are one win away from becoming the 12th team in program history to eclipse 30 wins in a season.
>> Coach Douglas recorded back-to-back 30+ wins in his first two seasons as head coach (2015 & 2016) and finished with 33 victories a season ago.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
>> Falley Field has been the home of the Ichabods since 1990 and they have compiled a home record of 419-287 in those 33 seasons.
>> The Ichabods went 13-8 at home last year and have gone 16-5 at Falley Field this season.
>> This spring, the Ichabods are batting .341 at home while limiting opponents to a .242 average. Additionally, WU has outhit opponents 242-172, led in doubles 46-30, and in triples 7-2.
>> On the mound, the Ichabods have a 5.35 ERA at home and the opposition has totaled an 8.14 ERA at Falley Field. The Ichabods have led in strikeouts, 196-128.
QUICK HITS
>> The Ichabods have played 49 games and are hitting .299 with 89 doubles, 16 triples, and 37 homers.
>> Book ended the regular season ranked third in the league in batting average (.396) and fifth in on base percentage (.483). Overall, he has 59 hits with 14 that have gone for extra bases and is tied for second on the squad in RBI (38), second in slugging percentage (.557), and has scored 27 runs. When there are runners in scoring position, he has a .481 batting average.
>> Watkins is the only Ichabod to have started every game this season and ranks in the top-three on the team in 10 stat categories, including hits (73/first), doubles (14/first), runs scored (48/t-first), stolen bases (12/second), and batting average (.353/third). He has recorded a team-high 22 multi-hit games this year.
>> Cale Savage has reached base in 18-straight games and leads the team with 11 home runs, 52 RBI, is tied for the team-lead in triples and in runs scored with 48 with two while ranking second on the squad in hits (60) and doubles (13) to go with his .323 batting average.
>> Adams is batting .297 with 54 hits, is tied for second on the team for the most runs scored at 40, has driven in 35 runs, and has drawn a team-high 29 walks.
>> Andrew Schmidtlein has played in 39 games with 25 starts and moved into the leadoff spot for the past seven games. He is hitting .287 with 27 hits, 25 RBI, and 23 runs scored.
>> Easton Bruce has landed 51 hits and driven, scored 40 times, and driven in 38 runs.
ON THE MOUND
>> The Ichabod pitchers hold a 5.92 ERA and have recorded 425 strikeouts, ranking second among MIAA teams.
>> Pfeifer improved to 4-2 after his last start at Pittsburg State, going 6 2/3 frames allowing three runs, four hits, and four walks while striking out eight.
>> Pfeifer has turned in a career-season in his senior campaign as he holds a 4.30 ERA (fifth in MIAA) and 87 strikeouts (fourth) after throwing 69.0 frames (eighth) in 13 starts. He holds the lowest opponent batting average of any pitcher in the MIAA at .188 and also allowed the fewest hits with 45. His 5.87 hits per nine innings ranks 10th in Division II.
>> Steward has also made 13 starts and is 4-4 with one complete game. He has a 4.64 ERA after hurling a team-high 73 2/3 innings (sixth in MIAA) and leads the conference and ranks sixth in Division II with 100 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 is 4-3 in 14 appearances and 13 starts with a 5.30 ERA in 56 innings pitched.
>> Torkelson picked up two saves in two trips out of the bullpen last weekend at Pittsburg State. Between the two appearances, he threw three scoreless and hitless innings and struck out three.
>> In his first season at Washburn, Torkelson is 7-3 with three saves and a 5.12 ERA in 45 2/3 innings scattered across 18 games.
>> 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.
WASHBURN STRIKEOUT RECORDS
>> Pfeifer and Steward are nearing program strikeout records.
>> Pfeifer heads into the series with 207 career strikeouts since joining the Ichabods in 2021 and is 15 away from setting the school's career record.
>> Steward is currently tied for second on Washburn's single-season strikeout list alongside Rick DeHart (1990-91) with an even 100 K's this year and needs 11 to set the program record for the most strikeouts in one season.
>> Steward is also close behind Pfeifer in career strikeouts with 201.
>> Both of the career and single-season strikeout records are held by Brock Gilliam (2017-21). He achieved both milestones in the 2021 MIAA Tournament first round series at Pittsburg State on May 14 after throwing a complete game victory while striking out 10 in the process.
MILESTONE WATCH
>> Brimacombe is seven strikeouts shy from eclipsing 100 in his career at Washburn.
>> Bruce and Savage are both seven hits away from reaching 100 hits since joining the Ichabods last season.
>> Watkins needs 10 more hits to reach 150 in his Ichabod career.
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 NORTHEASTERN STATE RIVERHAWKS
>> The RiverHawks went 38-18 (22-11 MIAA) in 2022 and reached their first-ever NCAA regional appearance.
>> NSU heads into the conference post season with a record of 22-25 (15-18 MIAA).
>> The RiverHawk offense has a .295 batting average with 68 home runs, nine triples, and 102 doubles.
>> Coby Tweten leads the team hitting .367 with a .706 slugging percentage (seventh in the MIAA). He has totaled 40 hits which includes eight homers and 11 doubles in addition to 36 RBI and 27 runs scored.
>> Isaiah Keller has started all 47 games and has recorded a team-high 13 home runs, 54 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. Overall he has 59 hits, 15 doubles, two triples, and 45 runs scored
>> On the pitching side, the RiverHawks have a 6.23 ERA and 354 strikeouts.
>> Lee Callison is 5-4 in 13 starts and ranks in the top-10 in the MIAA in five stat categories, including a 4.50 ERA (eighth in MIAA), a .225 batting average (fourth), 74.0 innings pitched (fifth), 67 strikeouts (eighth), and 21 strikeouts looking (fifth).
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 36 times since 1989 and the RiverHawks hold a 20-16 series advantage.
>> When playing NSU in Topeka, WU is 10-5.
>> Coach Douglas is 12-11 against Northeastern State.
LAST TIME AGAINST NORTHEASTERN STATE (March 10-12, 2023)
>> The Ichabods rallied to take the series opener, 12-9, after scoring nine runs in the bottom of the eighth. In that eighth inning, Washburn sent 10 batters up to the plate before NSU recorded an out.
>> The RiverHawks ended the Ichabods' 13-game winning streak the next day with a 4-2 (10 inning) decision. The Ichabods scored a pair of runs in the first inning and then were unable to score again as Northeastern State tied the game in the top of the eighth before going ahead in the 10th.
>> In that game, Pfeifer went seven innings allowing only one run on two hits and three walks while striking out a career-high 13 and held the RiverHawks to a .087 batting average.
>> In the rubber match, Washburn scored in the first inning and never trailed in the 12-6 victory.
>> Combined between the three games, the Ichabods had a .305 batting average and limited the RiverHawks to hitting .250.
>> The WU pitching staff struck out 31 batters while NSU struck out 17.
WASHBURN BASEBALL HISTORY
>> The 2023 season will be the 71st year of Washburn Baseball.
>> The Ichabods have gone 1322-1264-3 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
>> A series win would send the Ichabods to Warrensburg, Mo. to compete for the MIAA Tournament title. Four teams advance to the double-elimination tournament, hosted by Central Missouri, May 11-14 with the tournament winner earning an automatic berth in the NCAA postseason.
