Ichabod baseball starts season at .500 after poor record in 2008

Washburn started off the season with a 3-3 record, following an abysmal 17-29 record in 2008. The Ichabods face will next face Rockhurst at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Ben Fitch

The baseball team’s season is getting off to a slow start. They had an expectation to live up to after team was ranked eighth in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association coaches’ poll in January. However, the first game of the season was a loss. The team was defeated in a doubleheader by Bethany, Feb. 17. They fell 6-3 in the opener and 9-7 in the nightcap.

The second competition, against Bemidji State, was rescheduled to accommodate the weather. The original doubleheader scheduled for Feb. 21 was rescheduled for Feb. 20, and the team played a single on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Ichabods won the first game on Friday, 3-2, and lost the second, 7-4.

“We just didn’t take care of the baseball, and we let some scoring opportunities get away.” coach Steve Anson said Friday after the nightcap.

Anson said he knew what he wanted to work on with the team.

“We need to make more clutch hits and not walk so many people,” he said.

The Ichabods walked seven during the game.

The next face off with Bemidji, Saturday, featured a home run by sophomore Dane Simaneau and series of good pitches by senior Brett Sorensen, who managed to turn a double play with the bases loaded.

“We came in ready to play,” Sorensen said.

The Ichabods scored 12 hits and nine runs, Saturday.

The team played Bemidji State again, Sunday and they will host a single against Rockhurst Feb. 24. Afterwards, the Ichabods will prepare to meet Southwest Baptist in a conference in Bolivar, Mo.