•    The No. 23-ranked Washburn Ichabods will return to action on Friday hosting No. 9-ranked Pittsburg State at 4 p.m. and then wrap up the home slate on Saturday facing Missouri Southern at Gahnstrom Field.
•    Between games on Saturday, the Ichabods will honor five Ichabod seniors, Marrit Mead, Autymn Schreiner, Hailey Neira, Sheyenne Cheek and Jaycee Ginter who will be playing their final games at Gahnstrom Field this weekend.
•    Washburn enters the weekend with a 34-10 overall and 15-5 in the MIAA after going 4-0 last weekend after sweeping Nebraska-Kearney and Fort hays State.
•    The No. 9-ranked Gorillas are 38-4 this season and 12-2 in the MIAA and have won their last six games and have gone a perfect 20-0 in home games this season while going 5-2 on the road and 13-2 in neutral site games.
•    The Lions are 29-12 and 9-5 in the MIAA this season and just outside of the top 25 rankings entering the weekend.
•    The Washburn Ichabods have already secured their 19th season with at least 30 wins and their fourth under head coach Brenda Holaday.
•    Brenda Holaday won her 600th career game as a head coach against Fort Hays State in the second game of the doubleheader … she had 351 career high school coaching wins and has 249 entering the weekend at Washburn.
•    Hitting the 30-win mark for the third-straight season is the longest streak since the Ichabods won at least 30 games in six-straight seasons from 2002-07.
•    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 249-142 overall record going 113-59 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. •    Washburn has the third-toughest remaining schedule in the country with opponents having a combined winning percentage of .738 (186-66).
•    The Ichabods have the seventh-longest winning streak in the nation at 11 games.
•    The Ichabods are ranked third in the nation with 89 doubles hitting a total of seven last weekend … Washburn is also ranked 10th in the nation in doubles per game (2.02), 12th in hits (376), fifth in earned run average (1.49) and second in shutouts (16).
•    The Ichabods need 10 more doubles to tie the Washburn single season record of 99 set in 2022.
•    Individually, Sadie Walker is third in the nation in wins (19) and first in games started (24) as well as fourth in shutouts with 17th in ERA at 1.09 … Jaycee Ginter is 19th in the nation in wins (14) and offensively she is 54th in hits (51) … Autymn Schreiner is 24th in the nation in sac flies with four.
•    #1 Marrit Mead - Broke the Ichabod career record for doubles with her 57th last weekend.
•    #2 Autymn Schreiner - Will start her 182nd career game this weekend.
•    #3 Hailey Neira - Will play in her 100th career game this weekend.
•    #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 four runs adding four hits in 17 games played.
•    #8 Sheyenne Cheek - Has a 1.31 ERA in 10 appearances.
•    #10 Zoe Quinn - Has six runs scored in 14 games this season.
•    #11 Rylee Moore - Has appeared in one game this season.
•    #12 Jaycee Ginter - Will go over the 700 innings pitched mark this weekend.
•    #14 Danielle Schlader - Has 11 hits and 7 RBI in 29 games this season.
•    #15 Ellington Hogle - Leads the team with 10 doubles this season.
•    #16 Erin Boles - Batting .425 in MIAA play with a team-high 12 runs scored.
•    #17 Kaylee Wagner - Leads team with 176 putouts.
•    #18 Jaden LaBarge - Second on the team with four home runs.
•    #19 Allie Stipsits - Has scored a run in eight games played this season.
•    #20 Gracie Gallagher - Has 10 runs scored in 31 games going 4 for 5 in stolen bases.
•    #21 Sadie Walker - Leads team with a 1.10 ERA and 19 wins as well as 140 innings pitched.
•    #22 Madi Moore - Second on the team with 175 putouts.
•    #23 Mariah Wheeler - Third on the team in batting averaged at .370 and second in slugging percentage at .589.
•    #24 Alexis Tanguma - Leads the tam in MIAA play with a .459 batting average, 28 hits and six doubles.
•    #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 earlier this year of 87 (raising her career total of 94 entering the weekend) and her 264 career hits is also tops in school history … earlier this season she broke the program record of 188 runs scored (now has 194)… she is also first in career doubles with 57.
•    Jaycee Ginter is three RBI from tying the school's all-time record of 167 entering the weekend with 164 … her 83 career wins is the most all-time at Washburn … Ginter also needs two saves to break the career mark and her 140 career appearances are now tops at Washburn breaking the record against Missouri Western … Ginter already holds the Ichabods record for career strikeouts with 770, which sits 320 more than the second-place holder. Game 1 – WU 13, FHSU 6
The Ichabods recorded a season-high 16 hits in the opener scoring in six of seven innings in a 13-6 win against the Tigers in the first game of the doubleheader.
The Ichabods (34-10, 15-5 MIAA) got on the board in their first at bat when Erin Boles led off the game with a single and then after a sacrifice bunt from Marrit Mead and a walk drawn by Jaycee Ginter, Kaylee Wagner sent Boles home with a single to left as the Ichabods took the early 1-0 lead.
In the second frame, Mariah Wheeler started things off with a single and then Gracie Gallagher entered as a pinch runner moving to second on a sac bunt by Autymn Schreiner. A single from Ellington Hogle followed by a stolen base from Hogle put runners and second and third. Boles collected a sac fly scoring Gallagher as the Ichabod lead went to 2-0.
The third inning saw the Ichabods score two runs capped by a two-runner homer by Wagner, her second of the season scoring Alexis Tanguma who singled as Washburn led 4-0. The Tigers scored three runs in the third inning on three hits, but Washburn came back with two more of its own in the fourth inning when Hogle led off the inning by getting hit and then moved to second when Boles picked up a hit to center. A sac bunt from Mead moved the runners up 60 feet and then Ginter's second walk of the game loaded the bases. Tanguma drove in two more runs with a single.
Washburn scored two more in the fifth on Mead's program-best 57th career double setting a school record scoring Bole and Wheeler as the Ichabods increased their lead to 8-3. After the Tigers (17-19, 3-11 MIAA) scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth, Washburn put the game away scoring five runs on six hits with Madi Moore, Schreiner, Hogle, Ginter, and Tanguma all collecting RBI as Washburn lead 13-5. The Tigers scored one in the bottom of the sixth to avoid the run-rule but it was not enough as the Ichabods took the opener 13-6.
Sadie Walker improved to 19-5 in the circle throwing 116 pitches. Boles, Tanguma and Wagner all had three hits to lead Washburn and Tanguma and Wagner each drove three runs as well.
Game 2 – WU 2, FHSU 0
The Ichabods broke open a scoreless tie in the second inning after Fort Hays State had two errors in the frame. The first put Madi Moore on at first and then she scored when Schreiner reached on a fielding error by the Tigers as the Ichabods went up 1-0.
The Ichabods pushed the lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Boles led off the inning with a single and then moved to second on a sac bunt from Mead. After Ginter's single, Tanguma singled to right field scoring Boles as the Ichabods doubled their lead.
Neither team would score the rest of the game as the Ichabods picked up the sweep.
Ginter struck out six while walking only one improving to 15-5 on the season.. PITTSBURG STATE GORILLAS
•    The No. 9-ranked Gorillas are 38-4 this season and 12-2 in the MIAA and have won their last six games and have gone a perfect 20-0 in home games this season while going 5-2 on the road and 13-2 in neutral site games.
•    Offensively, Pitt State is hitting .366 as a team and scoring 7.0 runs per game. In the circle, the Gorillas sport a 2.21 ERA as a staff, while averaging 6.9 strikeouts per game and limiting opponents to a .256 batting average.
•    Heather Arnett leads the team with a .481 average, 56 runs scored, 76 hits, seven triples and 42 stolen bases. She leads Division II in hits and stolen bases, ranks third in the country in runs scored and triples and ranks 16th nationally in batting average. Graduate infielder Hannah Burnett is hitting .442 with 52 runs scored, 57 hits, five home runs, 35 RBI, 24 walks drawn and 26 stolen bases. She ranks eighth in runs scored and 22nd in stolen bases among Division II rankings.
•    The Ichabods lead the series with the Gorillas 75-58 winning the last six in a row.
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN LIONS
•    The Lions are 29-12 and 9-5 in the MIAA this season and just outside of the top 25 rankings entering the weekend.
•    The Lions have dropped their last two games after being swept by Pittsburg State.
•    Taylor Nuckolls leads the team with a .398 batting average and has gone 15 for 16 in stolen bases.
•    Kiki Pickens is 10-6 in the circle with a 2.07 ERA.
•    As a team the pitching staff has a 3.09 ERA and .307 batting average and have stolen 114 bases on 127 attempts.
•    The Lions lead the all-time series with the Ichabods 49-47 and have won the last three in the series. The Ichabods have won the last three played at Gahnstrom Field.
  •    is 249-142 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 1325-965-1 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.