• The Washburn Ichabod softball team returns to the road continuing MIAA play at No. 17-ranked Central Oklahoma on Friday starting at 2 p.m.
• The Ichabods enter the weekend with a 24-9 record after going 1-3 in their opening MIAA action after  being swept by Northeastern State before splitting a twinbill with No. 18-ranked Rogers State.
• The Ichabods are looking for their fifth 30-win season in a row …Washburn has hit the 30-win mark for four-straight seasons dating back to the 2022 season …that is longest streak of 30 wins since a run between the 2002-07 seasons when the Ichabods recorded 30 wins six seasons in a row.
• The Washburn Ichabods were tabbed sixth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches poll that was released before the season started by the MIAA office
• Brenda Holaday is in her 10th season as the Ichabod softball head coach recording a 307-179 overall record going 136-74 in MIAA contests leading the Ichabods to two MIAA Regular Season titles (2018, 2022) and three NCAA Central Regional (2018, 2022, 2024). Holaday became Washburn's all-time winning coach with a 13-0 win over Illinois-Springfield on Feb. 8, 2025. • Makenzie Sais became the Ichabod single-season leader in stolen bases against Montana State Billings with her 34th … she enters the weekend with a nation-best 55 stolen bases, 25 ahead of the No. 2-ranked player on the chart … the MIAA single season record is 65 by Becca Alt from Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri S&T) set in 1997 as a junior … Sais' 55 stolen bases are second on the MIAA top-10 single season chart …Sais' 72 career stolen bases at Washburn are trailing on Torrie Beauchamp's 87 from 1996-1999 and Marrit Mead's 96 from 2021-24.
• Makenzie Sais is also eighth in the nation in hits with 44 and 13th in runs scored with 33.
• Dalaney Anderson is 10th in the nation with 40 RBI and she is 18th in home runs with eight.
• Aspen Burgardt is 28th in runs scored with 30 and she is 40th in the nation in home runs with seven.
• Sadie Walker is third in the nation in shutouts with five and she is ninth in strikeouts with 96 … Jenna Sprague is 20th in the nation in saves with two.
• As a team, the Ichabods are ranked fifth in the NCAA with 59 doubles while also ranking seventh in hits (283), eighth in RBI (189), 11th in shutouts (7), ninth in stolen bases per game (2.85) and seventh in total runs (212) and second in stolen bases (94) and second in walks (141). TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod softball team split an MIAA doubleheader with No. 16-ranked Rogers State on Saturday afternoon at Gahnstrom Field.
Game 1 – WU 6, RSU 0
Washburn scored three runs in the opening inning and never looked back, rolling to a 6-0 victory in first game of the day.
The Ichabods pounded out 12 hits while pitcher Sadie Walker tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in seven innings.
Washburn set the tone immediately in the first inning. Makenzie Sais singled to start the frame and stole second before Taylor Brees followed with a single and also swiped second. Aspen Burgardt then delivered a two-run double to right center, scoring both runners. Kate Dolan added an RBI single later in the inning to push the lead to 3-0.
The Ichabods added to the lead in the third when Dalaney Anderson singled and later scored on a Kate Ediger RBI single up the middle, making it 4-0.
Washburn extended the advantage in the fifth inning after Dolan doubled to center and later scored when Ediger singled through the left side. The Ichabods capped the scoring in the sixth as Sais singled, stole second and eventually scored on a Kierra Goos groundout to give Washburn a 6-0 lead.
Sais led the offensive attack going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Brees added two hits and two walks, while Ediger went a perfect 3-for-3 with 2 RBI. Dolan chipped in two hits, including a double, and drove in a run, while Burgardt had a two-run double in the first inning.
Rogers State finished with six hits but stranded six runners and could not solve Walker, who induced eight groundouts and six flyouts in her shutout effort.
Game 2 – RSU 2, WU 0
Washburn outhit Rogers State but could not push a run across as the Ichabods dropped a 2-0 decision in the nightcap.
Washburn finished with seven hits while limiting Rogers State to just three, but two of those hits left the yard in the fourth inning and proved to be the difference. Chloe Cardona opened the frame with a solo home run to left and Jaden Jordan followed later in the inning with another solo shot to right center to give Rogers State the only runs of the game.
Jenna Sprague turned in a solid performance in the circle for Washburn, tossing a complete game while allowing three hits and two runs with four strikeouts and just one walk in seven innings.
Washburn threatened several times but could not deliver the key hit. The Ichabods stranded 10 runners in the game, including a strong opportunity in the fourth inning when Kate Dolan singled and Madi Moore followed with a double to center to put runners on second and third with one out, but Rogers State escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
Dolan led the Ichabods at the plate with two hits, while Makenzie Sais, Taylor Brees, Aspen Burgardt, Taybor Moss and Moore each added one hit. Moore's fourth-inning double was Washburn's lone extra-base hit of the game.
Washburn put at least one runner on base in six of the seven innings, including a leadoff single by Sais in the seventh, but Rogers State pitching combined to keep the Ichabods off the scoreboard and secure the shutout.
Washburn moved to 24-9 overall and 1-3 in MIAA play with the loss. CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
• The Bronchos are ranked 17th in the lastest NFCA Top 25 poll and have won their last four going into the weekend with a 22-5 record …the doubleheader against the Ichabods will be their first two MIAA games of the season.
• Brooklyn Ryan leads the team with a .402 average leading the team with 35 hits.
• Shelby Beard is 11-3 in the circle with a 2.87 ERA in 19 appearances and Carleigh Kinnaird is 10-1 with a 3.56 ERA.
• As a team the Bronchos are batting .355 with an OPS of 1.017 and have outscored their opponents 201 to 98 this season.
  • is 307-179 in her 10th season as the Ichabod head softball coach and is the all-time winningest coach in program history.
• she has gone 137-77 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 nine 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 (.791) 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  1371-1000-1 in their 56th 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.