¦ The No. 23-ranked Washburn Ichabod softball team will be back on the road for a pair of doubleheaders in the Show-Me State as they will face Central Missouri on Friday at Lincoln on Saturday.
¦ Washburn enters the weekend with a 23-9 record after splitting its MIAA home stand last weekend at Gahnstrom Field after being swept by No. 3-ranked Rogers State and then turning around and sweeping Northeastern State the following day.
¦ The Ichabods will face the Jennies starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.
¦ The Jennies are 12-13 this season and 3-3 in the MIAA.
¦ The Ichabods will making their final trip to Jefferson City, Mo. to face the Blue Tigers in an MIAA match up as Lincoln is leaving the MIAA to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
¦ The Blue Tigers are 8-16 overall and 0-6 in the MIAA and will face Emporia State before hosting the Ichabods.
¦ The Ichabods finished the 2023 season with a 37-16 record going 15-11 in MIAA play.
¦ Washburn was picked in the No. 4 spot in the MIAA preseason coaches poll trailing Central Oklahoma, Rogers State and Missouri Southern.
¦ The 2024 Washburn schedule features seven teams who reached their NCAA Regional, two more NCAA Super Regional teams, and two teams who reached the NCAA D2 Softball World Series … Ichabods open their home slate on Feb. 23 with the Washburn Invitational.
¦ Brenda Holaday is in her eighth season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 238-141 overall record going 110-58 in MIAA contests leading the Ichabods to two MIAA Regular Season titles (2018, 2022) and NCAA Central Regional berths in those years as well, the fourth and fifth in school history. Holaday trails Lisa Carey as the all-time winningest coach by victories at 256. ¦ The Ichabods are ranked second in the nation with 72 doubles hitting a total of five last weekend … Washburn is also ranked fourth in the nation in doubles per game (2.25), 12th in hits (276), 10th in earned runs average (1.58), eighth in shutouts (9) and eighth in shutouts.
¦ Individually, Sadie Walker is third in the nation in games started (17) and is second in appearances (23), fifth in wins (13) and 16th in complete games (10) … Jaycee Ginter is 26th in the nation in hits (42) and she is 21st in the circle in pitching wins with 10 … Autymn Schreiner is eighth in the nation in sac flies with four and Marrit Mead is 16th in the nation in stolen bases (20).
¦ #1 Marrit Mead - Became Washburn's all-time leader in hits in her final bat of the weekend recording her 259th of her career breaking a 23-year old Ichabod record.
¦ #2 Autymn Schreiner - Second on the team with 12 walks drawn.
¦ #3 Hailey Neira - Batting .369 with 24 hits and 19 runs scored.
¦ #4 Molly Gilbert - Has gone 4 for 5 in five games this season.
¦ #5 Ashlynn Wolff - Has three runs scored in 14 games making two starts this season.
¦ #7 Riley Stephens - Has scored three runs adding four hits in 15 games played.
¦ #8 Sheyenne Cheek - Has been part of three combined shutouts this season.
¦ #10 Zoe Quinn - Has four runs scored in 12 games this season.
¦ #11 Rylee Moore - Has appeared in one game this season.
¦ #12 Jaycee Ginter - Leads the Ichabods with 13, two-out RBI this season.
¦ #14 Danielle Schlader - Has 10 hits and 6 RBI in 24 games this season.
¦ #15 Ellington Hogle - Batting .307 tied for the team lead with nine doubles.
¦ #16 Erin Boles - Has four doubles and 12 RBI tis season in 26 games played.
¦ #17 Kaylee Wagner - is batting .370 with runners on base this season going 17 of 46.
¦ #18 Jaden LaBarge - Tied for the team lead with four home runs.
¦ #19 Allie Stipsits - Has scored a run in seven games played this season.
¦ #20 Gracie Gallagher - Has six runs scored in 23 games going 4 for 5 in stolen bases.
¦ #21 Sadie Walker - Leads the team with 13 wins and 96 strikeouts with a 0.96 ERA.
¦ #22 Madi Moore - Has 11 hits and four doubles this season batting .229.
¦ #23 Mariah Wheeler - Batted .400 last week with a double and a runs scored.
¦ #24 Alexis Tanguma - Leads tam in MIAA play batting .500 going 11 for 22 with a .682 slugging percentage.
¦ #25 Kinlei Boley - Has appeared in give games adding two hits and three runs scored.
  ¦ Marrit Mead, who broke the Ichabod program stolen bases record last week of 87 (raising her career total of 91 entering the weekend) is on the cusp of several other school records … her career batting average of .402 is the second-best mark in school history trailing Torrie Beauchamp's .405 average … she needs one run scored to break the career record of 188 and needs one double to break the school record of 56.
¦ Jaycee Ginter is 12 RBI from tying the school's all-time record of 167 … her 78 career wins is the most all-time at Washburn … Ginter also needs two saves to break the career mark and four more appearances will break Washburn's all-time record of 137 … with 72 innings pitched, Ginter will have thrown the most innings in a Washburn career … Ginter already holds the Ichabods record for career strikeouts with 723, which sits 274 more than the second-place holder. TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods bounced back on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep over Northeastern State winning 2-1 and 3-0 over the RiverHawks. 
Game 1 – WU 2, NSU 1
The Ichabods was scoreless until the fifth inning when the RiverHawks (5-18, 0-6 MIAA) scored the first run of the game on a double to left center by Emily Sampson that scored Allison Zanca who doubled earlier in the inning. Washburn (23-9, 4-4 MIAA) came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score when Ellington Hogle sent a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence knotting the score at 1-1.
In the top of the sixth, Sadie Walker struck out the side and in bottom of the inning, Washburn took the 2-1 lead when Alexis Tanguma singled through the left side with two outs and Autymn Schreiner doubled down the left field line scoring Tanguma from first.
Walker then shutdown the RiverHawks in the top of the seventh to pick up the win improving to 12-5 in the circle striking out six relieving starter Jaycee Ginter who pitched the first 3 2/3 innings allowing one hit striking out six as well.
Washburn outhit the RiverHawks 7 to 4 in the game with Tanguma recording three of those and Ellington Hogle recording two.
Game 2 – WU 3, NSU 0
The pitching duo of Ginter and Walker limited the RiverHawks to three hits in the nightcap and Marrit Mead became Washburn's all-time leader in base hits with the 259th of her career in the 3-0 win.
The Ichabods scored two runs in the fifth after Hogle started the inning with a walk and then Mead's record-breaking single sent Hogle all the way around the bases as Mead would beat the throw and advance to third on the throwing error by Northeastern. Jaden LaBarge's ground out scored Mead as Washburn went up 2-0.
The Ichabods added another run in the sixth when Mariah Wheeler collected her second home run of the season pushing the lead to 3-0.
Walker moved to 13-5 on the season with four strikeouts gaining the win. Wheeler had two of Washburn's four hits in the win..
  CENTRAL MISSOURI JENNIES
¦ The Jennies are 12-13 and 3-3 in the MIAA after sweeping Lincoln on March 19 winning 8-0 and 2-0.
¦ UCM is batting .236 this season and has a team ERA of 2.67.
¦ Rogers State softball holds tight at No. 3 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches Poll, the organization announced on Tuesday for the second week in a row.
¦ The Ichabods trail the all-time series 50-54 but have won four of the last five.
 
LINCOLN BLUE TIGERS
¦ The Blue Tigers are 8-16 overall and 0-6 in MIAA play after being swept by Central Missouri on Tuesday night.
¦ Lincoln has a team batting average of .245 while opponents are batting .305.
¦ Lincoln has a team ERA of 4.80 and have been outscored 138 to 105 this season.
¦ Washburn leads the all-time series 39-6 and have won the last 16 in the series … the Blue Tigers' last win over Washburn was on April 25, 2014 in a doubleheader sweep.
  ¦ is 238-141 in her eighth season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
¦ in seven seasons, Washburn has had 34 all-MIAA picks, one MIAA Player of the Year, one MIAA Pitcher of the Year, two MIAA Freshmen of the year and 17 all-region selections and six All-American picks and three members of the MIAA Gold Glove team.
¦ coached 19 seasons at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka compiling a 351-93 record.
¦ led the Junior Blues to three 6A state championships as well as winning 14 league championships earning 16 6A state tournament berths, five second-place state finishes and three third-place state finishes and was inducted into the Washburn Rural High School Hall of Fame in 2018.
¦ was named the Centennial League Coach of the Year and City Coach of the Year nine different times earning the Midwest Sectional Coach of the Year in 2011 and the 6A Kansas Coach of the year two times in 2008 and 2011 and was named the overall Kansas Coach of the Year in 2011.
¦ while at Washburn Rural, she coached more than 40 players who have gone on to play college softball including three at the NCAA Division I level including former Ichabod head softball coach Lisa Carey, the winningest coach by wins in program history. ¦ The Ichabods are 1311-963-1 in their 54th year of softball.
¦ The Ichabods have made five NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2022).
¦ Washburn won the 2002, 2018 and 2022 regular season MIAA titles.