By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University baseball heads to Tahlequah, Okla. for its final regular-season series of the year against Northeastern State, beginning on Friday at 2 p.m.
Washburn junior Payton McHarg is hitting .351 and leads the Ichabods in home runs and runs batted in. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Last time out the Ichabods won 14-3 over Southern Nazarene on the road Wednesday afternoon and are currently 26-19 overall and 18-12 in the MIAA.
The RiverHawks enter the series with a 20-27 record and an 11-19 record in the MIAA after falling 17-5 to Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday.
Washburn enters the MIAA Tournament next weekend which is played on the campus sites of the top four seeds. Washburn currently sits in fifth place in the MIAA standings. The Ichabods can go no lower than the fifth seed and could climb as high as third.
To finish in third the Ichabods would need to sweep the RiverHawks, with Central Oklahoma losing all three games in its weekend series and Pittsburg State winning no more than one. If Washburn is tied with the Gorillas the Ichabods would have the tiebreaker to move up to fourth or fifth in the standings. The Bronchos have the tiebreaker over the Ichabods.
Through 45 games Washburn is scoring 9.13 runs per game while allowing 7.49.
At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .324 with a .418 on-base percentage and are slugging .573 as a team. They have 85 home runs and have drawn 224 walks.
Washburn's pitching staff has an earned run average of 7.26 this season in 385.2 inning pitched. The Ichabods have struck out 337 batters while allowing 427 hits and issuing 246 walks.
The Ichabods are second in the nation in home runs with an average of 1.89 per game and 85 total blasts.
Washburn is sixth in the nation and first in the conference in doubles with 112 on the year.
Payton McHarg has started all 45 games for the Ichabods, hitting .351 with a team-high 18 home runs and 53 runs batted in. McHarg has scored 56 runs and has 61 total hits. He is fourth in the nation in home runs.
Cash Jay leads the team with a .362 batting average in 43 games played with 42 starts. Jay has a team-high 19 doubles and has 13 home runs while driving in 51 runs on a team-high 63 hits.
Connor Scott is hitting .356 on the year in 43 games played with 40 starts.
Jett Buck is batting .331 on the year with 42 appearances and 41 starts this season. He has 55 hits, 12 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and five stolen bases. He is tied for third in the MIAA in home runs.
Seventeen players have taken the mound this season for Washburn.
Cooper Carlgren leads the Ichabods with 57.1 innings pitched across 11 starts this season. He has a 6.59 ERA and a 3-3 record along with a team-high 57 strikeouts.
Caden Bressler has thrown 47.1 innings in 13 outings this season, with seven starts and six bullpen calls. He has a 5.70 ERA, lowest among starting pitchers, a 3-3 record and 26 strikeouts with 45 hits allowed. He leads the team with a pair of saves and is 10th in the MIAA in hits allowed per nine innings.
This weekend's series will be the 39th, 40th and 41st games between Washburn and Northeastern State with the RiverHawks leading the all-time series, 21-17.
Last season Washburn won the regular season series 2-1 and Northeastern State won 2-1 over the Ichabods in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
The MIAA Tournament first round will begin on campus sites on Friday, May 3, and will run until May 5 if needed.
