Wayne State closed play Saturday afternoon at the Alvy Early Memorial Softball Tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas with a 12-1 loss in five innings to Washburn.  The 'Cats drop to 1-3 while the Ichabods are now 7-2.
            Washburn opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
            WSC got one run back in the top of the second as designated player Dylan Sweeney walked and later scored on a bases loaded walk to Jordyn Rochholz to make the score 3-1.
            The Ichabods grabbed a 5-1 lead in the second with two runs and added five more in the third for a 10-1 advantage.
            Washburn then scored two more runs in the fourth for a 12-1 final score.
            Wayne State had four hits in the contest – singles by Lauren Laudick, Emilee Marth, Haylee Weber and Abby Husing.
            Junior starter Grace Lucka suffered the pitching loss in 2 1/3 innings of work.  Senior Callie Carraher worked the final 1 2/3 innings of the contest.
            The Wildcats will play next weekend at the Emporia State Tournament in Kansas on Friday and Saturday.  WSC faces Rockhurst (12:15 p.m.) and Missouri-St. Louis (2:30 p.m.) Friday and Maryville Mo. (12:15 p.m.) and host Emporia State (2:30 p.m.) on Saturday.