Sports Briefs – February 15, 2017

Bryan Grabauskas

Here are your up-coming Washburn Sport events.

M. B-ball vs. Emporia

The Ichabods are set to return home on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. They will face off against the rival Emporia State Hornets.

Washburn is coming off of a loss to Northern Missouri State University after looking to be back on track with a win before that.

The Ichabods had three straight losses before this game, so they were hoping to start gaining some momentum, but that hit a snag.

Washburn was defeated by a single point in the last matchup between these two teams.

Fortunately for the Ichabods, the Hornets have their own struggles, losing as much as they win.

Their season record is an even 12-12. They are also much worse on the road than they are at home, with a road record of 4-8.

This game is a great opportunity for either team to get momentum, with Washburn having a slight edge over the Hornets.

W. B-Ball vs. Emporia

The Ichabods will suit up at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 and take on the Emporia State Hornets.

Washburn is currently 16-8, and after a month of winning and losing every other game, they are finally on a winning streak, winning two consecutive games. They are also playing at home, where they are an impressive 9-4.

The Hornets are a dominant 20-4 this season, and they easily won the last match against the Ichabods. However, the Ichabods are at home this time and that is where the Hornets can be taken advantage of.

All four of their losses have come at home. The Hornets seem to have the edge, so Washburn will have to play their best for a chance to win this game.

M. B-ball vs. SBU

On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Washburn Ichabods will welcome the Southwest Baptist University Bobcats.

The Ichabods are looking to start winning some games again. They were once 14-5, but now have fallen to 15-9, with the losses piling up. The Bobcats are a similar 14-10.

They are on the opposite side of momentum however, collecting wins in their last two games. However, they do not perform so well on the road, with a 4-5 record visiting other schools.

These two teams have met once already this season. In that game, the Ichabods were the ones to come away with a victory.

With the previous win and a home advantage, Washburn looks to have the slight edge in this game.

W. B-ball vs. SBU

The Washburn Ichabods are 16-8. The Southwest Baptist Bobcats are 14-10. On Feb. 18 at 5 p.m., these two teams will face off in Lee Arena. Washburn is currently on a two game winning streak.

The Bobcats are coming off a loss in their most recent game. Southwest Baptist only has three wins away from home, compared to their five losses in enemy territory.

The Ichabods and Bobcats have already faced each other once before this season.

With homefield advantage, the Ichabods have the chance to get the same result as before and leave with another win on the year.

M. Baseball vs. Drury Panthers

The Ichabods will be spending Friday, Feb 17-Sunday, Feb. 19 playing in a four game series against the Drury University Panthers. The Panthers have yet to play this season, owning a blank slate record of 0-0.

Their inexperience will not help them this week. Washburn has already played in seven games. Of those, they have won six of them, including four straight games with a victory.

The only advantage the Panthers would appear to have is the location of the game, at their school. Even that doesn’t mean much against Washburn however, as they have gone 2-0 in away games and 4-1 in neutral locations.

The Ichabods seemingly have a huge advantage going into this game, and will be looking to use that to rack up four more wins.

W. Softball at the eight-state classic

The Ichabod softball team will be heading to Arkansas this week for the Eight State Classic. They will face six different schools: Upper Iowa University, Drury University, William Jewell College (Mo.), East Central University, Rogers State University, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

The Ichabods are 2-9 so far this season, and definitely need to win most of these games in this tournament before their entire season is derailed. There is a positive note, though, as the Ichabods have improved after starting 0-7.

Now that they finally have some games in the win column, they will hope to keep adding them there.

Track travels to the KSU Steve Miller open

Both the Men’s and Women’s track teams will be heading to Manhattan, KS to participate in the KSU Steve Miller Open on Feb 13.

This will be the last meet before the Indoor Season Championships, so Washburn runners will be looking to close the Indoor Season with some strong performances.