{{tncms-inline content=”<p><span>“[This season] has been an incredible amount of different. This year’s team just has a lot more fight and are more tenacious and just have more of a desire to win." -Maddie Anderson</span></p>” id=”c4515822-67da-49f5-b1ea-65b7761db8dc” style-type=”quote” title=”Anderson Pull Quote” type=”relcontent”}}

With a series against Rockhurst University, March 2, and another series against the University of Central Oklahoma, March 3, the softball team was stacked with quality games over the weekend.

After starting the season 10-5, the Ichabods came off a hot start and only hoped to get hotter.

Washburn started off early with a 2-0 lead over Rockhurst after junior, Samantha Stallbaumer scored off a single from junior, Savannah Moore plus a throwing error from the Hawks. The at bats were not the only factor in Washburn’s hot start as junior, Megan Dieter pitched five out of six possible strikeouts.

Important players in the first game of the double header March 2, were players like junior, Emilee Baker who recorded four at bats with two hits and junior, Ashley Ruder who was up for three at bats with two hits and one run.

Rockhurst eventually tied the game in the fourth-inning with a two run half, but Washburn answered back with two runs of their own. After that, the bats went silent for both sides following the fourth-inning.

Washburn ended up with the win, besting the Hawks by a score of 2-4 at the Washburn Softball Complex. This put Washburn’s record at 11-5 with another game against Rockhurst.

The second game started off almost identical to the first with Washburn coming out with an early lead in the third-inning as they put up two runs on the board. Notable players in this game were Stallbaumer with three at bats, two hits and one run and Moore with four at bats, three hits, one run and three RBIs.

“We definitely built off of already playing them and knowing what to expect from us and them as teams,” Moore said.

Washburn never surrendered their lead and swept the Hawks, recording a 0-2 win. The Ichabods then waited for their turn to take on the Bronchos March 3 for their third series of the week.

This time Central Oklahoma started out with the early lead as they recorded a run in the top half of the second-inning.

Significant playmakers in this contest were senior, Alyssa Carney with three at bats and one hit, Baker with four at bats and one hit, Stallbaumer with three at bats, two hits and three runs and Moore with four at bats, three hits and three RBIs.

The most notable part of this game, however, came in the bottom of the seventh-inning with Washburn down by one. The Ichabods fought back with one run and then another with a walk-off walk from junior, Taylor Kirk.

“[This season] has been an incredible amount of different. This year’s team just has a lot more fight and they are more tenacious and just have more of a desire to win,” senior, Maddie Anderson said.

The Ichabods ended with a win against the Bronchos as they advanced beyond UCO in the seventh-inning. The finals score was 3-4 as Washburn prepared for the second game on the day.

Game two was less of an event. Washburn ended up scoring zero runs the entire game as the Bronchos shut out the Ichabods. The Bronchos scored runs in the second and third-innings with three runs and one run, respectively.

The Bronchos won this contest with a final score of 4-0 in the final game of the week. Washburn escaped out of this week with a 13-6 record and a 1-1 conference record.

{{tncms-inline content=”<p>Washburn @ Missouri Southern State</p> <p>Friday, March 9th</p> <p>2pm</p> <p>Joplin Athletic Complex</p>” id=”af4f2bcb-46d4-4587-8fb1-528739b7ea9a” style-type=”fact” title=”Up Next…” type=”relcontent”}}

Up next for the Ichabods is a series against Missouri Southern State University starting March 9 at 2 p.m. The Ichabods look to keep their it going as they dive into conference play.