• The Washburn Ichabods continue MIAA Tournament action on Friday at 2 p.m. when they will take on the top-seeded Rogers State Hillcats in Edmond, Okla. following the conclusion of the Pittsburg State/Fort Hays State quarterfinals game that was postponed until Friday with lightning and heavy rains in the area.
• Washburn is 37-14 overall after knocking out Northwest Missouri on Thursday in the quarterfinals in a 1-0 win going eight innings.
• The winner of the Washburn/Rogers State game will move on to the MIAA Championship game on Saturday at 12 p.m.
• In the other tournament semifinals, the host Central Oklahoma Bronchos squad will face the winner of the Gorillas/Tiger game on Friday morning. That game is scheduled to follow the Ichabods and Hillcats contest.
• The Ichabods and Hillcats last faced each other in the MIAA Tournament in 2022 in Edmond. The Ichabods lost the first match-up 2-1 and then fell to Rogers State 4-2 in nine innings in the championship game. The Ichabods would have needed to top the Hillcats twice to win the tournament title coming back through the loser's bracket.
• Rogers State swept the Ichabods earlier in the season on March 15 winning 7-1 and 2-0 in a pair of games played in Topeka.
• Washburn is looking for their first win over the Hillcats since splitting a doubleheader against the Hillcats on April 22, 2023 in Claremore winning the second game of the doubleheader 4-1 after falling 7-1 in the opener.
• Overall, the Hillcats lead the all-time series 9-5 over the Ichabods that started in 2017 prior to the Hillcats joining the MIAA.
•  The Ichabods have never won the MIAA Tournament.
• The Washburn Ichabods have already secured their 19th season with at least 30 wins and their fourth under head coach Brenda Holaday.
• 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 252-146 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. • The Ichabods are ranked 12th in the nation with 95 doubles … Washburn is also ranked 10th in the nation in doubles per game (1.90), 41st in hits (397), 11th in earned run average (1.78) and third in shutouts (17).
• The Ichabods need four more doubles to tie the Washburn single season record of 99 set in 2022.
• Individually, Sadie Walker is 18th in the nation in wins and leading the MIAA with 20 wins … she is  12th in games started (27) and 18th in shutouts (7) and 38th in ERA at 1.44 … Alexis Tanguma is 13th in the nation in sac flies with five.
  • Marrit Mead, who broke the Ichabod program stolen bases record earlier this year of 87 (raising her career total of 95 entering the weekend) and her 271 career hits are also tops in school history … earlier this season she broke the program record of 188 runs scored (now has 198)… she is also first in career doubles with 59 … needs six career at bats for the school record of 706.
• Jaycee Ginter is one RBI from tying the school's all-time record of 167 entering the weekend with 166 … her 84 career wins are the most all-time at Washburn … Ginter also needs two saves to break the career mark and her 144 career pitching appearances are tops at Washburn breaking the record against Missouri Western earlier this season … Ginter already holds the Ichabods record for career strikeouts with 791, which sits 341 more than the second-place holder.
• With one more sac fly, Alexis Tanguma will tie the Washburn single season record with six in a year breaking Ashton Friend's season record set in 2021 … Autymn Schreiner has four sac flies this season.
• The Ichabods' .390 batting average this season is the second-best on the Ichabod single-season chart trailing the 2022's team batting average of .394.
• The Ichabods' 95 doubles this season is second on the Ichabod team charts trailing the 2022's team total of 99.
• Washburn has drawn 149 walks this season, which is second on the single-season chart behind the 2022 team total of 153.
• The 18 sac flies by the Ichabods this season is tied for the most in a season by an Ichabod team with the 2021 squad. Washburn is … 14-3 in neutral site games …6-5 in one-run games and 5-2 in two-run games and 20-2 in games decided by more than five runs … 20-2 when scoring in the first inning and 31-4 when scoring first in games … 28-3 when leading after four innings, 18-1 when leading after five innings and 21-0 when leading after six innings and undefeated when outscoring its opponents … is 32-4 when outhitting its opponent … 23-0 when scoring at least five runs … outscoring its opponents 58-12 in the first inning, 49-17 in the third inning, 56-7 in the fourth inning and 1-0 in the ninth inning … 17-4 in games that have a shutout.

  • The Ichabods are making their 28th MIAA Tournament appearance and have compiled a 39-54 record in the MIAA Tournament dating back to the 1991 season when Washburn was first eligible for the event.
Against the remaining MIAA Schools in the postseason tournament.
Central Oklahoma • The Ichabods are 0-1 against the Bronchos losing the last meeting on April 30, 2015 in Overland Park.
Fort Hays State • The Ichabods are 1-1 winning 3-1 in the 2024 match up …the only other meeting was a 5-3 loss on May 7, 2011.
Pittsburg State • The Ichabods have played the Gorillas the most in the tournament, 10 times with the series tied 5-5. The Ichabods last played the Gorillas in the opening round of the 2015 tournament.
Rogers State • The Ichabods are 0-2 against Rogers State falling on May 7, 2022 in a 2-1 loss and the following day in the MIAA Championship game in a 4-2 loss in nine innings. (May 2, 2024) - EDMOND, Okla. – A stellar pitching performance from Jaycee Ginter and a one-out walk-off single from Alexis Tanguma moved the Ichabods into the MIAA Tournament semifinals with a 1-0, 8-inning win over Northwest Missouri at Pinkston Stadium on Thursday. The Ichabods will now face the top-seeded Rogers State Hillcats at 2 p.m. on Friday in the single elimination format.
 In the bottom of the eighth, Marrit Mead reached on a single on a hot-shot down the third base line and then moved to third after Ginter's sac bunt was mishandled by the first baseman sending Mead to third with one out. Tanguma then took a full-count pitch to left field for the game-winning run.
 In the circle, Ginter improved to 17-7 striking out six with no walks scattering five hits in the win. She threw 121 pitching in the game outdueling the Bearcats' Jadyn Streigle who took the loss.
Tanguma finished with two hits in the game with Mead, Jaden LaBarge, and Hailey Neira collecting the others.
Washburn improves to 37-14 on the season while the Bearcats end the year at 28-25.

OPPONENT QUICK SCOUT
ROGERS STATE
• No. 12 Rogers State softball (41-10) only needed three runs in the bottom of the first inning to defeat Missouri Southern (33-22) 3-1 as the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament on Thursday.
•  Seven members of the Rogers State softball team earned All-MIAA honors, the league announced on Tuesday.
•  For the second year in a row, Sara Llamas-Howell was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-MIAA.
•  The top-seeded Hillcats are 41-10 this season going 23-3 in the MIAA this season.
  • is 252-146 in her eighth season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
• in seven seasons, Washburn has had 39 all-MIAA picks, one MIAA Player of the Year, one MIAA Pitcher of the Year, two MIAA Freshmen of the Year, 17 all-region selections, six All-American picks and five  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 1328-969-1 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.