TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn baseball begins MIAA play with a three-game series against Newman in Wichita beginning Friday before heading to face Fort Hays State in a mid-week game on Tuesday, Feb. 24. 
 

LEADING OFF

>> Washburn enters conference play for the 2026 season on the road with a three-game series against Newman followed by a mid-week game against Fort Hays State.

>> The Ichabods take on the Jets in Wichita, Kan. at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday. They take on the Tigers in Hays, Kan. at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

>> Washburn fell to 2-5 on the year after going 1-2 last week at the Steve Anson Classic. 

>> The Ichabods are coming off a fourth straight winning season in 2025 going 28-25 overall and 18-18 inside the MIAA. They finished 7th in the regular season and won two games in the MIAA Tournament before falling in the semifinal round.

>> They were picked to finish fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll for a second straight year.

BODS AND BITS

>> Washburn is scoring 6.14 runs per game on the year while opponents are scoring 7.29 runs per game. 

>> They are 1-2 playing at home at Steve Anson Stadium, 1-3 in road games and have not played in a neutral field game. 

>> At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .217 with a .380 OB% and a .327 SLG%. They have tallied three home runs with 47 total walks.

>> The pitching staff has a 5.88 ERA with 57 strikeouts across 59.2 innings. They have allowed 69 hits and issued 29 walks. 

>> Washburn has a .962 fielding percentage as a team with 10 errors and three turned double plays.

>> On the basepaths the Ichabods have gone 12-16 in stolen base attempts while opponents have gone 10-12. 

>> Washburn has returned 19 players from the 2025 roster with eight of them as  seniors, four juniors and seven sophomore. 

STREAKS AND STATS

>> Ian Luce and Jarrett Herrmann each have four-game hitting streaks entering the weekend. They both have the longest hitting streak of the season.

>> Ian Luce has a team and season-high seven game streak of reaching base. 

>> Luce has a team-high three multi-hit games.

>> Washburn is hitting 3-7 (.429) with the bases loaded this season. 

>> The Ichabods are reaching base at a .457 clip when leading off an inning. 

>> Washburn is outscoring opponents 25-19 over the final two innings of games.

AROUND THE ORDER

>> Ian Luce has started in all seven games hitting .333 with a team-high 1.068 OPS. He has six extra-base hits with four RBI and a pair of stolen bases. 

>> Jarrett Herrmann has played in five games making four starts. He is hitting a team-high .357 with a .929 OPS. He has driven in one run and has a .500 OB%. 

>> Easton Wasinger has played and started in five games. He is batting .263 with a pair of RBI and a .391 OB%.

>> Chase Littrell is hitting .250 while playing and starting in six games. He is tied for a team-high seven walks for a .500 OB%. He is 2-2 in stolen bases and a pair of RBI. 

>> Owen Laessig has played and started in six games. He is hitting .227 with four total RBI. 

>> Jackson Mervosh has started in all seven games hitting .200 with five RBI on the year. 

>> Levi Risenhoover has played and started in every game hitting .185 with a .815 OPS. He has a team-high two home runs and six RBI.

>> Brandt Beeby has played in four games making one start with a pair of hits and an RBI. 

>> Eli Dean has one start and played in three games with a 1.500 OPS and a pair of RBI. 

>> Brooks Richardson has played in six games making five starts behind the plate. He is hitting .154 with a .389 OB%.

ON THE MOUND

>> Maclane Finley has thrown a team-high 11.0 innings in his two starts. He has a 4.09 ERA with six strikeouts and a .211 opponent batting average. He is 0-1 on the year with a 1.18 WHIP. He is 13th in the MIAA in hits allowed per nine innings.

>> Kai Bennett has a pair of starts this year throwing 10.0 innings. He has a .200 batting average with a 2.70 ERA. The Liberty, Mo. native has struck out eight this season while going 0-1. He ranks 9th in the MIAA in hits allowed per nine innings. 

>> Caleb Lunnon has made two starts for the Ichabods throwing 10.1 innings on the year. He has a team-high nine strikeouts with a 2.61 ERA for a 1-0 record. He has not allowed a walk as he is tied for the nations lead in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

>> Max Strash has appeared in two games out of the bullpen for the Ichabods throwing 3.0 innings. He has five strikeouts and has not allowed an earned run for a 0.00 ERA. 

>> Mark Hoffmann has pitched in two games out of the bullpen throwing 5.1 innings. He has a 6.75 ERA with four strikeouts on the year. 

>> Gavin Wilhelm is 1-0 on the year throwing in two games ouf of the bullpen with a 9.00 ERA and two strikeouts. 

>> Griffin Huiatt has made a team-high three appearances with one start throwing 2.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

>> Keegan McDonald has appeared in two games out of the bullpen throwing 2.0 innings with a strikeout and four earned runs. 

IN THE FIELD

>>  Excluding first basemen and catchers, Chase Littrell leads the team with 16 put outs in the field. Levi Risenhoover is second on the team with 14.

>> Trenton Barry has the most assists on the team with 15, while Owen Laessig is second on the squad with 13.

>> Brooks Richardson has a team-high 42 put outs from behind the plate while Jack Borgmann has 34 at first base. 

ICHABODS AROUND THE COUNTRY

>> Washburn's 47-man roster consists of players from eight different states.

>> There are 21 players on the roster who are from the Sunflower State.

>> Nebraska and Missouri are producing the second most Ichabods with seven each coming from the two bordering states.

>> Washburn has five players from Oklahoma and four from Colorado moving one state to join the Ichabod roster. 

>> One player comes from each of Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin to round out the roster. 

MIAA PRESEASON POLL

>> In the 2026 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll, the Ichabods were picked fifth, the same place they were picked to finish in the 2025 preseason poll as well. They earned 93 total points in the poll.

>> Central Missouri was picked to repeat as the regular season champion, earning 12 of 13 first-place votes with 144 total points.

>> Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma are picked to finish second and third respectively. 

>> Missouri Southern was slotted at No. 4 and earned the final first-place nod. 

NUMBERS AROUND THE NATION

>> As a team in 2026 Washburn stacks up to the rest of the nation and conference well in several areas...

Strikeout-to-walk ratio  - 1.97 (5th MIAA / 45th nationally)

Walks allowed per nine innings - 4.37 (5th MIAA / 57th nationally)

Walks  - 47 (7th MIAA / 67th nationally)

Stolen bases per game - 1.71 (6th MIAA / 83rd nationally) 

ERA - 5.88 (8th MIAA / 87th nationally)

Strikeouts per nine innings - 8.6 (7th MIAA / 90th nationally) 

HEAD COACH HARLEY DOUGLAS

>> Former Washburn All-MIAA outfielder Harley Douglas enters his 12th season at the helm of the Washburn baseball program in 2025.

>> In his eleven plus season, Douglas carries an all-time record of 286-247 with seven appearances in the MIAA Tournament and led the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2022.

>> He has also coached a total of 72 all-MIAA selections, including the MIAA Player and Pitcher of the Year in 2016.

>> Prior to returning to his alma mater in 2012 he was the head coach at St. Marys HS from 2003-06 and at Rossville HS from 2007-10. 

>> Douglas is a two-time Washburn graduate, receiving his Exercise Physiology degree in 2002 before earning an Education degree in 2004. He also earned a Master's Degree in Adaptive Special Education from Emporia State in 2010. 

ASSISTANT COACHES

>> Connor Crimmins is in his eighth season with the Ichabods on the coaching staff.

>> He began his coaching career spending the prior two seasons on Brad Hill's Kansas State staff serving as a graduate assistant

>> While at Washburn, Crimmins played both football and baseball, finishing his career on the diamond top 10 in sacrifice flies (4th/11), doubles (6th/38) and RBI (t-7th/132), while having the 12th-most at-bats (575).

>> He graduated from Washburn in 2016 with his bachelor's and earned his master's in college student development and counseling from K-State.  

>> Rane Pfeifer is in his third season on the coaching staff after finishing his playing career with the Ichabods in 2023. 

>> He finished his career second all-time in opponent batting average (.218), third in games started (36), fourth in strikeouts (210) and 19th in innings pitched (165.2)

>> Pfeifer graduated from Washburn with a bachelor's degree in business management in May 2022

>> Caden Bressler moves from the starting rotation to the coaching staff for the 2026 season in his first as a coach.

>> He finished his three-year career with the Ichabods in 2025where he appeared in 62 games as a hitter and 32 on the mound. He throw 113.2 total innings with a 6-6 record and three saves.

>> Bressler graduated with his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Washburn in 2025. 

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

NEWMAN JETS

>> Newman enters the weekend series with a 2-7 record on the year. 

>> Last season the Jets went 10-36 overall and 6-30 inside the MIAA. They missed out on qualifying for the MIAA Tournament.

>> Lance Spongberg is in his first season as the head coach at Newman after spending time at NAIA Southeastern University as an assistant coach.

>> Newman is scoring 4.22 runs per game while opponents are scoring 8.44 runs per game against them. 

>> The Jets offense is hitting .242 as a team with a .357 OB% and a .316 SLG%. They have three home runs and have tallied 33 total walks with 83 strikeouts.

>> They rank 6th in the MIAA in sacrifice bunts with four and are 8th with 15 stolen bases. 

>> Kaynan Kaku has started all nine games hitting .382 with a 1.038 OPS. He has a home run with a team-high nine RBI and three stolen bases. He is 9th in the MIAA in doubes and 15th in total bases. 

>> Nicolas Ely has played and started in eight games hitting a team-high .393 with a .916 OPS. He has driven in three and has a team-high four stolen bases. He is 11th in the MIAA in stolen bases.

>> The pitching staff has a 7.36 ERA as a team across 77.0 innings. They have struck out 60 batters while walking 52 and allwing 94 total hits.

>> They rank 5th in the MIAA and 48th nationally with seven turned double plays.

>> Frank Fabian has thrown a team-high 14.1 innings in his three starts with one complete game. He has a 5.65 ERA and 1-1 record with seven strikeouts. 

>> John Sjoberg has appeared in three games out of the bullpen throwing 4.1 innings. He has not allowed a run with a .46 WHIP and five strikeouts.

>> Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 31-24. They are 9-17 against the Jets in Wichita.

>> The first meeting came on May 2, 1978 with a 5-3 win for the Ichabods in a location unknown. Washburn has won the last four games in the series between the two teams including a three-game sweep last season.

FORT HAYS STATE TIGERS

>> Fort Hays State is 3-7 on the year entering conference play. They will face Northwest Missouri in a weekend series before taking on the Ichabods.

>> Last season the Tigers went 32-16 overall and 26-10 inside the MIAA. They lost in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament to Northwest Missouri.

>> On the year they are 1-2 playing at home in Hays, 2-3 on the road and are 0-2 in neutral field games. 

>> Justin Wichert is in his fourth season as the head coach for Fort Hays State where he has a 80-79 record. 

>> Fort Hays State is scoring 7.6 runs per game while opponents are netting 9.2 runs per game.

>> The Tigers offense is hitting .295 as a team with a .404 OB% and .462 SLG%. They have 10 home runs and 46 total walks on the year. 

>> Fort Hays State ranks 2nd in the conference in home runs, 3rd in doubles and 5th in hits while sitting top-50 nationally in all three.

>> Derek Woolwine has started in eight games hitting a team-high .452 with a 1.528 OPS. He has a team-best four home runs and 13 RBI. He leads the conference and is 15th nationally in home runs, 1st in slugging percentage and 6th in batting average. 

>> Antonio Avila has started in all 10 games hitting .409 with a 1.083 OPS. He has a home run, seven RBI and is 2-2 on stolen bases. He is 2nd in the MIAA in doubles and 3rd in hits.

>> The pitching staff has a 8.78 ERA across 82.0 innings on the year. They have 79 strikeouts while allowing 112 hits and 59 walks.

>> They rank 5th in the MIAA and 84th in the nation with 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings. 

>> Brett Jacobs has thrown a team-high 17.0 innings pitched across three starts. He has a 6.35 ERA with 14 strikeouts and an 0-1 record. He is 10th in the MIAA in strikeouts. 

>> Brandon Chavez has made three starts for the Tigers throwing 15.2 innings. He is 1-1 on the year with a 5.74 ERA and a team-high 20 strikeouts. He is 2nd in the MIAA and 18th nationally in strikeouts.

>> Fort Hays State leads the all-time series between the two teams 104-87. The Ichabods are 36-53 against the Tigers in Hays. 

>> The first meeting came on May 5, 1966 with a 7-3 win for Washburn in Omaha, Neb. Fort Hays State won all three meetings between the two teams last year.

MILESTONE MARKERS

>> Griffin Huiatt is tied for 5th in program history with seven career saves. He is 4th in Washburn history with 56 career appearances.

>> Jackson Mervosh has the 35th highest batting average in program history at .340. He is tied for 35th among all Ichabods with 37 doubles. 

WASHBURN BASEBALL HISTORY

>> The 2026 season will be the 74th year of Washburn Baseball.

>> The Ichabods have a 1389-1318-3 record in program history. 

>> There have been 35 seasons with 20+ wins; 25 seasons with 25+ wins; and 13 seasons with 30+ wins.

>> Washburn has earned 34 All-Region selections and 14 All-America awards.

ON DECK

>> Washburn heads to play in its final regular season tournament at the Drury Invitational with four games beginning on Friday, Feb. 27 in Springfield, Mo.

>> Senior day for the Ichabods will be on the regular season finale May 2 against Pittsburg State at 1 p.m.

>> The single elimination MIAA Tournament will be held in Edmond, Okla. at Wendell Simmons Field between May 6-10.