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Created: 23 April 2023

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

Washburn University baseball junior Andrew Schmidtlein doesn't necessarily fit the mold for an ideal leadoff hitter.

Former Hayden multi-sport star Andrew Schmidtlein has had a breakout season for Washburn. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

But over the last four games, since Ichabod coach Harley Douglas inserted the former Hayden star football lineman into that role, it's impossible to argue with the results.

"We were on the road and Trevor McCollum got hurt last weekend and really we just didn't have a true leadoff guy that we felt comfortable with,'' Douglas said. "But we knew that (Andrew's) a guy that will take pitches but also attack and he fits pretty well into that role.

"He's been really good all week for us and it was just one of those things that we knew he was going to give us the best chance and I took a shot with it and it worked. It's been good. He's done a really good job for us.''

As an offensive and defensive lineman, Schmidtlein helped Hayden's football team reach a state championship game as well as a pair of state semifinals while earning All-Class 3A honors and being selected to play in the Kansas Shrine Bowl after his senior year.

But these days, a slimmed down Schmidtlein is much more suited to the diamond than the gridiron.

"I was roughly 240 pounds and now I'm about 190,'' Schmidtlein said. "I wanted to be a little more mobile and get a little faster. It definitely helps.''

During his first two seasons with the Ichabods Schmidtlein had trouble finding playing time, playing in eight games with three starts in 2021 and seeing action in 13 games with three starts last season.

But Schmidtlein has reversed his fortunes in a big way for the 27-19 Ichabods this spring.

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Created: 22 April 2023

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

The Washburn University softball team fell 6-0 in Saturday's opener to No. 8-ranked Rogers State before coming back in the second game to pick up a 4-1 win over the Hillcats.

The Washburn Ichabods were limited to three hits in the first game as Danielle Schlader came up with two of those.

Freshman Danielle Schlader had a big day at the plate as Washburn softball earned a twinbill split at No. 8-ranked Rogers State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

Jaycee Ginter picked up her 23rd pitching win of the season in Washburn's 4-1 second-game win over Rogers State on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
 

Rogers State scored runs in each inning but the fourth as the Hillcats improved to 38-8 in the first game.
 
Schlader had hits in the second and the fourth innings and Jaden LaBarge had the third and final hit for the Ichabods in the seventh.
 
Sheyenne Creek took the pitching loss, falling to 5-2 on the season. Creek threw 132 pitches and struck out three.

After the Hillcats took a 1-0 second-game lead on their first at-bat on an unearned run, the Ichabods came back with a run of their own to tie the score in the top of the second. 

Shawnee Heights product Jaycee Ginter started the inning with a single and then came around to score on a double down the line by Hadley Kerschen.
 
In the third, the Ichabods (35-13 overall, 14-10 MIAA) took a 2-1 lead when Schlader picked up an RBI single scoring former Silver Lake standout Ellington Hogle,  who singled to lead off the inning.

Washburn pushed its lead to 4-1 in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a Hillcat miscue.

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Created: 22 April 2023

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

Washburn University starter Casey Stewardfinished his six-inning outing without allowing a hit and striking out 10 Rogers State hitters while the Ichabod offense put up seven runs in the opening inning on the way to a 9-3 MIAA victory on Saturday afternoon at Falley Field.

Casey Steward pitched no-hit ball over six innings and struck out 10 in Washburn's 9-3 win over Rogers State Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics[

Washburn clinched the series win with Saturday's victory and will go for the sweep in its final home game of the regular season at 1 p.m. Sunday. The six Ichabod seniors will be recognized on the field 15 minutes prior to the first pitch.

Trying put itself in position for a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods (27-18 overall, 19-10 MIAA) have now won six of their last eight games.

"We go out and get two this weekend so far, so we're starting to get back to playing good baseball and finding a way to pitch it and taking care of opportunities,'' Ichabod coach Harley Douglas said. "This was definitely a week (five games on the week) that we needed to get some practice, get some opportunities, get some things that we could iron out and kind of get us moving forward.''
 
Washburn went through the batting order and then some in the first inning as the Ichabods scored seven runs on five hits and received four free bases.

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Created: 22 April 2023

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

The Washburn Ichabod softball team worked overtime in each game on Friday against Northeastern State, falling 4-3 in the opener in eight innings before taking the nightcap 7-5 in 11 innings.

Holton product Sadie Walker pitched a career-high 10 innings to pick up the win in Washburn's 7-5 11-inning win over Northeastern State on Friday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

Washburn returns to action on Saturday at Rogers State.

A walk-off home run by the RiverHawks pushed NSU to a 4-3 win in the opener in eight innings.

The RiverHawks took the early lead scoring one in the bottom of the second before Washburn (34-12, 13-9 MIAA) knotted the score in the fourth.
 
In the fourth, Paige Robbins' grounded out scoring Jaycee Ginter, who reached on a fielder's choice.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth when the RiverHawks hit a two-run homer to take a 3-1 lead, but the advantage was short-lived as the Ichabods came back with two of their own, tying the score at 3-3 in their at bat in the seventh inning.

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