The cold front sweeping through the Midwest forced cancellations last week of the Lady Blues softball games. Washburn was originally set to travel to Omaha, Neb., to compete in the Nebraska-Omaha tournament March 31-April 1. Washburn was scheduled to play games against Southwest Minnesota, Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha and Augustana.

The weather also forced postponements of road games against Truman University, April 6, and Central Missouri State April 7. Conference games are generally rescheduled.

Despite the recent weather woes, Lisa Carey, head softball coach, is happy with how her team has played to this point.

“I am pretty pleased with our season,” said Carey. “We have played very tough teams and ranked teams, so I believe it has helped us within the conference thus far. We just need to stay healthy and maintain good pitching and defense.”

This week the Lady Blues are set to match up against rival Emporia State Hornets. The game starts at 5 p.m., April 11 at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka.

“The players are very excited about this game, especially since we haven’t played in a while due to weather,” said Carey. “So I think they are very hungry to play again. It is ESU, so playing at Hummer Sports Park under the lights and with the crowd makes it very energetic. If we maintain good pitching and defense we will be fine because our offense has been hitting well.”

Washburn is currently 19-12 overall and off to a quick 5-1 start in the MIAA. Tish Williams, freshman, is leading the MIAA with a .489 batting average. Williams has also hit six home runs and driven in 33 runs. Despite impressive numbers from several Lady Blues players, Carey still sees room for improvement.

“We need to play seven full innings and play hard and maintain our energy throughout the whole game,” said Carey. “We need to set the tone of the game in the early innings with scoring first, and pitching and defense.

After the Emporia State game, the Lady Blues will travel to Maryville, Mo., playing in the Northwest Missouri State tournament April 14-15. Washburn will play games against SIU-Edwardsville, Truman, Emporia State, South Dakota and Minnesota State-Mankato.