Washburn University baseball posted its second shutout of the week in a 10-0 home win over Arkansas-Fort Smith Saturday, with the Ichabods securing their first series sweep of the season while pushing their win streak to four games as WU coach Harley Douglas reached the 300-win milestone.
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By RICK PETERSON
Washburn University softball team recorded its fourth straight 30-win season on Saturday afternoon with a 9-0, 11-2 MIAA doubleheader sweep over Newman in Wichita.
Senior Sadie Walker picked up her 15th pitching win in Washburn's 9-0 first-game shutout at Newman. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods have now won 15 straight games in a row over Newman.
Washburn combined for 28 hits and 20 runs on the day while holding the Jets to just two total runs across the two games.
The Ichabods have now reached the 30-win plateau four straight seasons, improving to 30-17 overall.
Washburn wasted no time in the opener, scoring twice in the first inning and adding four more runs in the second en route to the 9-0 run-rule victory.
The Ichabods opened the scoring when Dalaney Anderson drove in Makenzie Sais on a groundout before Madi Moore delivered a run-scoring single to plate Aspen Burgardt for an early 2-0 lead.
Washburn broke the game open in the second inning, capitalizing on Newman errors while continuing to put pressure on the Jets defensively.
Maddie McGee singled in a run, Anderson added a sacrifice fly and Burgardt doubled home another run to extend the lead to 6-0.
Taybor Moss kept things going in the third with an RBI double, scoring Moore, while Washburn added two more runs in the fifth to seal the run-rule victory.
At the plate, Moore and Moss both went a perfect 3 for 3 with RBI, while Seaman product Burgardt added two hits and an RBI and Shawnee Heights product Taylor Brees went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Pitcher Sadie Walker tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits while striking out eight over five innings to improve to 15-8 on the season.
The Ichabods carried their momentum into game two, erupting for four runs in the first inning and four more in the second to seize control early.
After Anderson singled home Sais in the first and Madi Moore smoked a three-run homer to left field, giving Washburn a quick 4-0 advantage.
In the second, Anderson continued her big day at the plate by launching a two-run home run, and Washburn added two more runs on RBI hits from Moss and Kate Ediger to push the lead to 8-1.
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By RICK PETERSON
Mark Hoffman pitched four-plus shutout innings in Saturday's 10-0 Washburn win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods now head on the road for four games, beginning Tuesday at Fort Hays State at 3 p.m.
After a scoreless first inning from Seaman product Gavin Wilhelm, Washburn (16-23 overall, 12-13 MIAA) got going offensively with two outs in the bottom of the first.
Jack Borgmann worked a walk and Levi Risenhoover slashed a single and advanced to second. Easton Wasinger slashed a single through the left side to score both runs and put the Ichabods up 2-0.
Arkansas-Fort Smith (4-35, 3-25) worked the bases loaded in the second inning but were kept off the board, with Risenhoover making a sliding catch in right field with two outs.
After escaping the jam Wilhem allowed one hit in the rest of his start.
The score stayed 2-0 into the fifth inning when Risenhoover took a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field for a home run.
A hit batter and double by Jackson Mervosh put two more on, with a balk scoring another run in the three-run inning.
The Ichabods added to their in the sixth with a one-out double from Brooks Richardson, followed by a single from Ian Luce into center field to score him.
After Borgmann worked a walk Risenhoover slashed a triple into the gap in left center to score them both. Wasinger capped off the four-run inning and made it 9-0 with a double to left center.
After entering in the fourth inning Mark Hoffman continued to keep the Lions off the board and did not allow a hit until the eighth inning.
He left the bases loaded in the eighth to keep the shutout intact.
An error and fielder's choice put two runners on for Washburn in the eighth before Risenhoover was intentionally walked to load the bases. Wasinger was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to score the game-winning run and end the game 10-0 after eight.
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By RICK PETERSON
Washburn University football held its annual Spring Game Friday in Yager Stadium with a big twist, hosting William Jewell in a departure from previous intrasquad scrimmanges.
Zach Watkins' Washburn football team hosted William Jewell in its 2026 Spring Game Friday in Yager Stadium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]"The reason we did it was we need to see where we're at,'' Washburn coach Zach Watkins said. "We're a young team in a lot of ways with a lot of transfers, 17 new transfers, and we have kids that redshirted last year that haven't played a college game and this is as close to a college game as we could get it.
"We didn't do a four-quarter scrimmage because you want to do some drill work and get better, but it exposed a lot of things good and bad, things we're doing well, things we need to improve on and you don't see that unless we play a scrimmage like that.''
"Practice is one thing and we make practices very competitive and very efficient and fast, but you just can't simulate live tackle scrimmaging with refs, with a play clock, another quality opponent, so it was just a really good situation for us to essentially get a game before we actually play a season.''
Washburn Rural product Jamond Lane goes through a contact drill during Friday's Washburn Spring Game with William Jewell. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]Watkins, who is heading into his second season as the Ichabods' coach, said he is very pleased with how spring ball went.
"I felt great,'' he said. "We were so far ahead of where we were last year, obviously taking over year one and having a month to recruit, coaches moving here and figuring each other out.
"Now we're not doing any of the off the field stuff, we did that last year. Now it's just football and lifting and the football IQ acumen is way up and we're a bigger, stronger, heavier, taller, wider team and you have to have all that stuff in the MIAA. I really like where we are. We're nowhere near where we're going to be in August, but it was a really good and productive spring.''
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By RICK PETERSON
Washburn University baseball scored five runs in the first inning and five runs to walk off the game in the eighth inning in a 13-3 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday at Steve Anson Stadium.
Seaman product Maclane Finley picked up the pitching win Friday in Washburn's 13-3 MIAA victory over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [File photo/TSN]The Ichabods will go for the series sweep on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
The Lions (4-32 overall, 3-24 MIAA) led off the game with a pair of hits, scoring one on a double steal.
After the bases were loaded on a walk and error, a second run came around to score on a walk to make it 2-0.
In the home half of the first Washburn's Trenton Barry led off with a ground-rule double and came around to score after Jack Borgmann walked and stole second.
Another run scored on a wild pitch before Brandt Beeby cleared the bases with a triple to the center field wall making it a 4-2 game. Another run scored a wild pitch to cap off the five-run first.
Seaman product Maclane Finley settled in on the mound with four straight scoreless innings after the first.
The score stayed 5-2 until the Ichabods (15-23, 11-13) loaded the bases in the fifth.
Washburn scored one run on a ground ball doubleplay to push the lead to four.
Next time up Arkansas-Fort Smith got a one-out walk followed by two stolen bases and an error to score a run and make it 6-3.
A hit batter and error put two on for Washburn in the sixth.
Brooks Richardson plated one with a single through the left side. Two batters later Ian Luce laced a single into centerfield to go up 8-3.
Griffin Huiatt took over on the mound in the sixth inning and delivered a clean seventh inning before handing things over to Blake Priest, who kept the lead intact with a zero in the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth a single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Borgmann worked another walk, scoring a run.
Levi Risenhoover followed with a shot up the middle that scored two and made it an 11-3 game.
Kuyper Kendall shot a single into right field that scored two runs and ended the game 13-3 after eight innings.
Washburn led 9-6 in hits and worked eight walks compared to five for the Lions. The Ichabods did have two errors in the field while the visitors committed one.
Three pitchers appeared for Washburn with Finley tossing five innings and allowing on earned run while striking out four.
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By RICK PETERSON
Washburn University football will hold its annual Spring Game at 6 p.m. on Friday in Yager Stadium, with a twist.
For the first time, in a change from the traditional intrasquad scrimmage, the Ichabods will scrimmage against William Jewell in Friday's free event, which will conclude spring football for the Ichabods.
Former Washburn Rural star JC Heim returns for Washburn University football after ranking second in the nation with 142 tackles in 2025. [File photo/TSN]"It's kind of rare,'' said Washburn star linebacker JC Heim, who led the MIAA and finished second in the nation with 142 tackles last fall. "It's like a joint practice, like how the NFL does it, so it should be pretty cool.''
Washburn is getting set for its second season under Zach Watkins after posting a 3-8 record last fall.
The Ichabods return a strong nucleus from last year's team while adding a big group of transfers.
"I think the transfers have done great, kind of picking up on things in spring ball,'' said the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Heim.
"It's hard coming into our defense or offense picking it up quick, but I think the transfers that we have brought in have really bought into the culture and have done well on the field.''
Heim said he feels like spring ball has been very productive for the Ichabods.
"I think overall in the spring we're starting to figure things out, now that we've had a year under our belt with the defense and the offense as well,'' Heim said. "It just seems like we've been running a lot smoother while at the same time competing.''
Second-year Washburn football coach Zach Watkins and his Ichabods will wrap up spring practice with Friday night's Spring Game. [File photo/TSN]Watkins agreed.
"This has been a big jump from year one to year two, the development, the talent level, the schemes, the culture,'' he said. "All the knowledge of how we want to run our program is so much better going into year two now than it was year one.
"The foundation's been laid. Now it's just stacking on top of that.''
William Jewell, a member of the Great Lakes Conference, also went 3-8 in 2025.
