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Washburn baseball set to host Steve Anson Classic this weekend
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn began the season 1-3 on the year after playing four road games in South Florida. The Ichabods finished the trip with a 6-0 loss to to Barry on Monday.
Douglas said he saw some good things in the Ichabods' Florida performance while also seeing plenty of things that need work.
"I thought this last weekend would be kind of a testament of our identity, kind of where we were going to be, what we were going to be like,'' Douglas said. "I thought we did a good job of coming out and competing and if you look at it, every game was tight and where it needed to be besides the last one when we didn't hit well.
"I think we had some good stuff come out of it.''
The Ichabods are coming off a fourth straight winning season in 2025, going 28-25 overall and 18-18 inside the MIAA. Washburn finished seveth in the regular season and won two games in the MIAA Tournament before falling in the semifinal round.
The Ichabods were picked to finish fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll for a second straight year.
Washburn is scoring 7.5 runs per game on the year while opponents are scoring 9.0 runs per game.
At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .209 with a .394 on base percentage and a .333 slugging percentage. Washburn has tallied three home runs with 31 total walks, including a program-record 17 against Palm Beach Atlantic.
The WU pitching staff has a 7.99 earned run average with 30 strikeouts across 32.2 innings. The Ichabods have allowed 50 hits and issued 16 walks.
Washburn has a .966 fielding percentage as a team with five errors and has not turned a double play.
On the basepaths the Ichabods have gone 3-6 in stolen base attempts while opponents have gone 5-7.
Washburn returned 19 players from the 2025 roster.
Trenton Barry and Jarrett Herrmann have the highest hitting streak entering the weekend at two games while Levi Risenhoover had the longest hitting streak of the year at three games and he leads the team with two home runs and six RBI.
Owen Laessig, Ian Luce and Chase Littrell have all reached base in all four games this season.
Right-handed hitters are hitting more than .100 points worse than left-handed hitters when facing the Ichabods.
Washburn is outscoring opponents 21-14 over the final two innings of games.
Seaman product Maclane Finley has pitched a team-high 6.0 innings in his one start. He has a 1.50 ERA with a pair of strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP. He is 10th in the MIAA in ERA.
Kai Bennett has made one appearance this year, throwing 5.0 innings. He has allowed just one run for a 1.80 ERA and has three strikeouts with a WHIP of just .80. He is third in the MIAA in hits allowed per nine innings while ranking seventh in the conference in WHIP.
Seaman product Gavin Wilhelm is 1-0 on the year, throwing a scoreless inning in his only appearance with a strikeout.
Doulas enters his 12th season at the helm of the Washburn baseball program in 2025.
In 11 full seasons, Douglas carries an all-time record of 285-245 with seven appearances in the MIAA Tournament and led the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2022.
Washburn women ride 3-point barrage to 85-70 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball returned to Lee Arena Thursday for only the third time over its past 10 games and took full advantage of the opportunity, draining a season-high 13 3-pointers on the way to an 85-70 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Washburn senior Payton Sterk scored a game-high 23 points in Thursday's 85-70 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn senior Aniah Wayne (24) is congratulated by her teammates after draining one of her six 3-pointers in Thursday's 85-70 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The underdog Lions stayed within striking distance for most of the night before Washburn stretched out its lead down the stretch, improving to 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the MIAA while Arkansas-Fort Smith dropped to 4-19, 3-11.
"I know what everybody else saw in their record,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We knew they were a much better team than that and they can score and move and defend. So we had to settle in and wear them out a little bit and I think we stayed consistent enough.
"We turned it over too many times on some unforced things, but I was really proud of our resiliency and then we saw some shots go in.''
After Washburn scored the first six points of the game the next 12 came from the Lions.
Washburn answered right back, scoring 10 in a row after senior Aniah Wayne knocked down a fast break 3-pointer. It was the first of four 3-pointers for Wayne inside the final five minutes of the quarter as she helped the Ichabods build a 25-21 advantage.
Senior Aniah Wayne hit six of nine 3-pointers Thursday in Washburn's 85-70 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Wayne, who tied her career-high with 19 points while hitting 6 of 9 shots from 3-point range, said she had an inkling before the game that Thursday was going to be a good night.
"I think I felt it during warmups,'' Wayne said. "I have a consistent little shot routine before games, so getting shots up and seeing them go in helped me build my confidence going into the game.''
Despite fighting foul trouble, the Ichabods continued to churn offensively, shooting 46.2 percent in the second quarter with three more connections from deep.
Arkansas-Fort Smith kept pace, staying within four before going in front 38-36 with 1:45 remaining in the half, using a 6-0 run.
Washburn scored the final six points on triples from Wayne and senior Payton Sterk to lead 42-38 going into halftime.
Both teams continued to trade baskets out of the break, but Wayne provided some breathing room for the Ichabods, pushing the lead to four with 4:55 left in the third when she hit another 3-pointer.
The Ichabods then got stingy on the defensive end, holding the Lions without a basket for the final 4:44 of the third quarter. Washburn finished the stanza on a 6-0 run to lead 58-49.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored the first five points of the fourth quarter for Washburn, pushing the lead into double figures.
The Ichabod offense kept the lead there, shooting 68.8 percent for the quarter to score 27 points in the frame. The Ichabods led by as many as 18 points after Kellyn Hunter scored with 2:34 left as the Ichabods eased into the 15-point win.
Both teams shot an even 50.0 percent from the field in the game, but the Ichabods took 18 more shots than Arkansas-Fort Smith while also going 13-25 from 3-point range to create their advantage.
Washburn had a narrow 31-28 lead on the glass but won the turnover battle 22-15, leading to 27 points off turnovers while the Lions had just 11. Paint scoring also went in favor of the Ichabods, 34-24.
Sterk led the way with 23 points on 7-15 shooting, turning in her second straight big night against the Lions after burning Arkansas-Fort Smith for 33 points last season.
"That's crazy,'' Sterk said. "I don't know what it is. I must just play good against them.
"I think us guards had been struggling a little bit shooting-wise in past games, so that was a good part of today and Aniah killed it. She was just hot, but it was all good.''
No. 3-ranked Ichabods bounce back from first loss with 81-53 win over No. 25 Lions
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods bounced back from their first loss of the season Thursday night in Lee Arena, pulling away in the second half to rout No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith, 81-53.
Junior Jack Bachelor scored a game-high 16 points in Washburn's 81-53 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn improved to 23-1 overall and 13-1 in the MIAA while Arkansas-Fort Smith fell to 18-5, 9-5.
Washburn trailed 31-30 at halftime after shooting just 37.5 percent in the opening half, but took control after the break, outscoring the Lions 51-22.
"The first 10 minutes of the game we were stagnant,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "And then we finally got them moving and I did think we did a good job of sharing it (22 assists on 29 field goals).
"We got some transition, which was good and converted in transition, and then we were able to execute some stuff in the halfcourt and kind of got them chasing and played a little stronger as the game went along.''
The Ichabods opened the second half on an 11-2 surge to build a 41-33 lead and never let the margin dip below six the rest of the way.
A 10-0 run midway through the half stretched the Washburn advantage into double figures and a later 13-3 burst pushed the Ichabods' lead past 20.
The Ichabods shot 55.9 percent in the second half (19 of 34) and 46.8 percent for the game, compared to 34.4 percent shooting by the Lions, including nine of 29 shooting in the second half (31 percent).
Washburn also heated up from deep, finishing 11 of 32 from 3-point range (34.4 percent), while holding the Lions to six of 25 (24.0 percent), including three of 14 in the second half.
Washburn rode balanced scoring to the win as junior Jack Bachelor's 16 points led the way for the Ichabods.
Bachelor, who was battling through illness, hit four of six 3-point attempts, went five of nine overall and connected on both of his free throw attempts.
"I've got some kind of bug or something,'' Bachelor said. "Luckily, my mom (Angie) is a nurse so I can just call her and feel like a little baby again and she kind of takes care of me. I'm feeling better now and I'll be good by Saturday.''
And Bachelor played a lot better against the Lions than he felt.
"My teammates were finding me tonight and the shot felt good,'' Bachelor said. "We just played a really good second half as a team and got back to what we were about after that loss Saturday and that was good. I'm just really proud of the guys and our togetherness as a team.''
Senior Bryson Smith scored 15 points Thursday night as Washburn improved to 23-1 with an 81-53 win over No. 25 Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Jeremiah Jones (22) and Washburn outscored Arkansas-Fort Smith 51-22 in the second half Thursday on the way to an 81-53 MIAA win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Bryson Smith added 15 points and four assists and junior Jeremiah Jones scored 14 points while sophomore Dillon Claussen had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
"Coach just told us (at halftime) that we have to come out here and play with an edge,'' Jones said. "This was a good team and every game's going to be hard every night and we had to turn up the pressure and get some stops.''
Smith said the Ichabods would rather take control of games from the outset, but he said the team also knows it's capable of coming from behind to get the job done.
"We don't want to do that all the time,'' Smith said. "Coach always preaches to come out and set the tone and I think in these next couple of games we're going to find a way to come out and set the tone, but this whole year we've shown that we're a second-half team, one of the best second-half teams in the country.
"So we knew we were going to come out in the second half and be ready to go.''
