• The Washburn Ichabods softball team will open its 55th season of action on Jan. 31 playing five games over three days at the Mardi Gras Classic.
• Washburn is coming off their sixth NCAA appearance in program history last season finishing the year with a 37-17 record placing fourth in the MIAA standings with a 17-9 record.
• The January 31 start date is the earliest the Ichabods have started the season since Feb. 1, 2019.
• The Washburn Ichabods secured their 19th season with at least 30 wins last season 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 MIAA preseason coaches poll will be released next week.
• Brenda Holaday is in her ninth season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 252-149 overall record going 113-59 in MIAA contests leading the Ichabods to two MIAA Regular Season titles (2018, 2022) and three NCAA Central Regional (2018, 2022, 2024). Holaday trails Lisa Carey as the all-time winningest coach by victories at 256. • The Ichabods finished 13th in the nation with 96 doubles in 2024 while also ranking 14th in the nation in doubles per game (1.85), 70th in hits (421), 10th in earned run average (1.79) and third in shutouts (18).
• Individually, Sadie Walker was 28th in the nation in wins and leading the MIAA with 20 last season … she was 20th in games started (29) and 19th in shutouts (7) and 43rd in ERA at 1.66.
• #1 Makenzie Sais - As a senior she was a first-team all-state selection earning the high school player of the year after batting .600 leading the state of Colorado in stolen bases with 64 in 29 games.
• #2 Kate Dolan - As a senior she earned district player of the year honors and team MVP honors after batting .467 with an .860 slugging percentage collecting 50 hits with 15 doubles.
• #3 McKinley Kruger - A three-sport standout for the Eagles earning all-state honors in basketball helping the Eagles to the state championship adding all-league and all-county accolades as a senior while also adding all-state awards in volleyball with all-league and all-county honors and picking up second-team all-Shawnee County and all-league honorable mention honors.
• #6 Karlyn Bowman - A two-time second-team all-league selection earning outfield honors as a sophomore and infield honors as a junior.
• #7 Dalaney Anderson - As a senior she was announced as a first-team all-conference selection after recording a school-record .531 batting average with 51 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 45 RBI, 32 runs scored, 25 stolen bases and 13 walks.
• #8 Maddie McGee - A transfer from South Dakota State where she sat out her freshman season as a redshirt … a three-year starter and letterwinner for Millard North High School.
• #9 Ashlyn Gaughan - A second-team all-state selection helping Olathe Northwest to the state 6A title while earning second-team all-league honors.
• #12 Jenna Sprague - Finished the season 10-3 overall going 6-1 in conference play with a 1.64 ERA with a .99 WHIP striking out 7.42 per 7 innings pitched as a sophomore earning first-team all-region honors for the Eagles as well as winning the NJCAA Pitcher of the Week, a two-time conference pitcher of the week and an academic first-team selection.
• #13 Avery Wende - A all-county honorable mention selection as a senior.
• #14 Danielle Schlader - Has made 37 starts playing in 72 games scoring seven runs with 36 hits and nine doubles while driving in 26 as an Ichabod.
• #15 Ellington Hogle - Has made 82 starts playing in 127 career games as an Ichabod … has 70 hits with 42 runs scored … a career .285 hitter.
• #16 Erin Boles - Has made 59  appearing in 85 games collecting 51 hits with 26 runs scored and a .288 batting average.
• #17 Kaylee Wagner - Has made 85 starts playing in 125 games collecting 60 hits, scoring 29 runs with four home runs and 48 RBI.
• #18 Jaden LaBarge - Has appeared in 154 making 132 starts recording 112 hits with 27 doubles and 14 home runs … has driven in 86 runs while scoring 69 runs.
• #19 Ava Bloyd - A first-team all-league pitcher as a senior.
• #20 Gracie Gallagher - Has played in 62 games as an Ichabod scoring 19 runs with seven stolen bases.
• #21 Sadie Walker - Has had 60 appearances making 51 starts going 28-13 in the circle with a 2.18 earned run average in 263 innings pitched … seventh on the Ichabod career strikeout chart with 248 and tied for fifth in saves with three.
• #22 Madi Moore  - An MIAA Gold Glover winner as a catcher as a freshman playing 43 games with 36 starts.
• #23 Mariah Wheeler - Started 37 of 44 games played recording a .323 batting average collecting 30 hits with eight doubles and 17 RBI hitting a pair of home runs last season.
• #24 Alexis Tanguma - An honorable mention all-MIAA selection at second base after batting .361 with 44 hits, seven doubles and 22 RBI starting 38 of 44 games … during MIAA play she batted .400 with 32 hits driving in 16 in 25 games last season as a junior.
• #25 Kate Ediger - As a sophomore at Johnson County, she earned KJCCC honorable mention all-conference honors was the team's second-leading hitter with a .417 average (73-for-175) with 23 doubles and 17 home runs which both were second-best on the team, and her 50 RBI ranked third.
  In 2024, Washburn was 14-4 in neutral site games … 6-6 in one-run games and 5-2 in two-run games and 19-2 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 … was 32-4 when outhitting its opponent … outscored its opponents 58-17 in the first inning, 49-19 in the third inning, 56-8 in the fourth inning and 1-0 in the ninth inning … 18-6 in games that have a shutout. (May 10, 2024) - CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabod softball season ended with a 2-1 loss to Southern Nazerene on Friday afternoon in Claremore, Okla. Washburn ends its season with a 37-17 record.
The Crimson Storm (39-16) broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third scoring twice putting two runs up on the board on a double by Hailey Evans and a single from Emma Swearin.
Washburn got on the board in the top of the seventh inning when Ellington Hogle had a double to right center and would come around to score on a Madi Moore single winning an 11-pitch at bat. However for the Ichabods a ground out ended the game for Washburn.
Washburn was limited to three hits overall with singles from Moore and Hailey Neira and the double by Hogle in the game by Crimson Storm pitcher Janie Worthi who improved to 24-4 in the circle striking out 10 Ichabods. Jaycee Ginter dropped to 17-8 in the circle scattering five hits in her final appearance for the Ichabods. TEXAS A&M - KINGSViLLE
• Texas A&M - Kingsville softball team was picked to finish eighth in the Lone Star Conference this year.
• Kingsville finished eighth in the conference last season, going 30-22 overall with a 22-20 record in conference play.
• Head Coach Orlando Salinas will pilot a squad stock-full of new faces, including 13 incoming freshmen. One such newcomer, freshman Arianna Alaniz, was named an LSC pitcher to watch this year. Meanwhile, it was one of TAMUK's veteran returners, graduate student OF Alina Jasso, who was named a preseason player to watch in the conference. They will look to build on a team that finished sixth in the conference in batting average and runs, and fifth in hits last year.
• The Ichabods trail the all-time series 1-2 and have not played since a 7-2 Ichabod win on Feb. 14, 2015.
 
ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
• The UAH softball team was voted first in the 2025 Gulf South Conference Softball Preseason Poll while garnering four Preseason All-GSC selections.
• The Chargers Preseason All-GSC honorees included Katie Bracken, Alexa Douthitt, Lawren Hayes and Jada Henderson, as all four players were all-conference honorees last season.
• Bracken headlines the Chargers pitching staff in her junior campaign after posting a 3.30 ERA and 187 strikeouts over a team-high 153.2 innings pitched in 2024.
• Douthitt – the GSC Co-Player of the Year in 2024 – led the Blue & White with 12 doubles, 14 homers and 60 RBI last season, as she was joined by Hayes and Henderson with 100-plus total bases. Hayes additionally garnered NFCA Rawlings Gold Glove status at second base, while Henderson boasted a team-high .448 batting average.
• The Chargers were 40-18 last season reaching the NCAA postseason.
• The Ichabods have never faced the Chargers.
 
MILES
• The Golden Bears were 12-30 last season.
• The Ichabods have never faced the Golden Bears.
 
#12 MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE
• The Mississippi College softball team has been ranked fourth in the 2025 Gulf South Conference Coaches Preseason Poll, announced Thursday, Jan. 23. The Lady Choctaws earned three first-place votes and totaled 95 points, trailing Alabama Huntsville, West Florida, and Auburn Montgomery in the standings. Mississippi College enters the season following a historic 2024 campaign, achieving a program-best 48-9 record, a GSC regular-season title, and a national finish at No. 11 in the NFCA poll.
• Junior pitcher Camryn Bailey and junior outfielder Shelby Samples were also named to the 2025 Preseason All-GSC Team. Bailey, the anchor of the Choctaws' pitching staff, garnered multiple accolades last season, including NFCA and D2CCA Second Team All-South Region and GSC First Team honors. She posted a 26-5 record, a 2.68 ERA, and 209 strikeouts.
• Samples, a standout at the plate, earned NFCA Second Team All-South Region and GSC Second Team recognition in 2024. She maintained a .378 batting average, proving to be a consistent offensive force for the Lady Choctaws.
• The Lady Choctaws also enter the season ranked No. 12 in the NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, joining GSC rivals Auburn Montgomery (No. 6) and Trevecca Nazarene (No. 17) in the national rankings.
• Mississppi College was 48-9 last season reaching the NCAA Super Regional.
• The Ichabods have only faced the Lady Choctaws once winning the only meeting in an 8-0 win on March 20, 1997 in Pensacola, Fla.
 
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
• The Muleriders have been voted second in the Great American Conference preseason with 102 total points and one first-place vote coming in behind Southern Nazarene.
• Making her return to the circle as the 2024 Newcomer of the Year is the right-handed pitcher Brinson Rogers. The Statesboro, Georgia native claimed the award while also being named to the All-GAC Second Team in her season with the Muleriders. Rogers pitched for 139.1 innings last season and started in 24 contests out of 32 appearances. In her junior campaign, the Peach State native completed ten games and surrendered just 99 hits while also leading the team in strikeouts with 209.
• Also returning as a Second Team member in the Great American Conference is Regan Dillon. The junior out of Bryant, Arkansas was the team's top batter in 2024 as she produced a hitting average of .359 and started all 53 games. Dillon is the only returner from 2024 who accounted for 30+ runs (33) and led the unit last season in hits (60), home runs (13 | 2nd GAC), home runs per game (0.25 | 2nd GAC), on-base percentage (.471 | 3rd GAC), total bases (116 | 1st GAC), walks per game (0.64 | 1st GAC), runs batted in per game (0.92 | 2nd GAC), RBIs (49 | 3rd GAC), doubles (15 | 3rd GAC), doubles per game (0.28 | 3rd GAC).
• The Muleriders were 34-19 last season reaching the NCAA Central Regional Tournament in Pittsburg going 0-2 after losses to the Gorillas and to Oklahoma Baptist.
• The Ichabods have faced the Muleriders five times and trail the series 2-3 snapping a three-game losing streak with an 8-7 win on Feb. 10, 2024 in Bentonville, Ark. when SAU was ranked No. 13 in the nation.
  • is 252-149 in her ninth season as the Ichabod head softball coach.
• in eight seasons Holaday has gone 123-63 in MIAA contests leading the Ichabods to two MIAA regular season championships in 2018 and 2022 while leading the program to three of its six NCAA postseason in 2018, 2022 and 2024.
• In 2022, the Ichabods won their third MIAA Championship going 24-2 in the MIAA reaching the MIAA Tournament Championship game and the NCAA postseason as Holaday was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time in her tenure at Washburn.
• Overall in eight 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 and 18 all-region selections and 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. • The Ichabods are 1328-972-1 in their 55th year of softball.
• The Ichabods have made six NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2022).
• Washburn won the 2002, 2018 and 2022 regular season MIAA titles.