Baseball | 5/17/2014 1:32:00 AM
FIND A WAY
The Hornets take on Augustana on the third day of the NCAA Central Regional. The game pits the MIAA and NSIC tournament champions against each other in an elimination game.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State got three RBI from Dean Long and advanced to Saturday with a 3-2 win over Arkansas Tech. Dakota McKaskle gave an outstanding effort on the mound as he retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced.
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THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 444-193 in his 11th season at Emporia State and is 750-306 overall in his 18th year overall. He is the fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and is 19th in total victories. He has led Emporia State to two Division II World Series appearances in nine NCAA Tournaments. Fornelli has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 14 times, and was the national runner-up in 2009 with Emporia State and in 2000 while at Ft. Hays State.
Tim Huber is 202-123 in his sixth season at Augustana.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 41-18 overall, went 26-14 in the MIAA regular season, won the MIAA Tournament championship, are ranked #21 in the nation and seeded 4th in the Central Regional. They have won 22 of their last 26 games since starting the season 19-14. They are batting .293, with a 4.08 ERA and a .964 team fielding percentage. Emporia State pitchers lead the MIAA and are ranked in fifth nationally in K/BB ratio. At the plate the Hornets are fifth in the nation in home runs and stolen bases. Nine Hornets were named All-MIAA with Shawn Talkington, Brenton Higgins and Levi Parker earning first-team honors. Justin Harris has 43 stolen bases to rank fifth all-time at Emporia STate
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Augustana is 41-15 overall, went 25-8 in the NSIC, are ranked #30 in the nation and are the sixth seed at the Central Regional. They have a .341 team batting average, 3.71 team ERA and a .961 team fielding percentage. This is their second trip to the NCAA Tournament. Tony Viger was the NSIC Player of the Year and leads the nation with 28 doubles to go with ten homers and 62 RBI on the season.
THE SERIES
This will be the third meeting between Emporia State and Augustana with the Hornets leading 2-0 all-time. Both of the previous games were played at the Trusler Sports Complex in Emporia.
LAST TIME VS. AUGIE
The #30 Emporia State baseball team completed a double header sweep of Augustana with a 9-3 win at the Trusler Sports Complex. Matt Marasco was two for four with three RBI and a run scored while Nick Carlson went two for three with three RBI. Mickey Lara allowed two runs on four hits with five strike outs in 5.0 innings to pick up the win.
HOW TOUGH?
Five of the six teams in the Central Regional are nationally ranked in the top 30. This is the only region in D-II in which four teams have at least 40 wins. The Hornets have split a pair of games against teams ranked in the top ten to open the tourney and will be playing their third straight game against a team ranked in the top 30 nationally.
ON DECK
With a win the Hornets will advance to championship Sunday against a team to be determined after Saturday's play.  The winner of this game will need to win two games on Sunday to advance to Cary, N.C.Â
HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 750 career wins and is 444-193 (.697) at Emporia State. Fornelli is the second winningest coach by percentage at Emporia State behind Dave Bingham (557-223, .714 in 14 years) and the third winningest coach at by victories (444) behind Bingham and Brian Embery (458-320, .589 in 15 years). This is the Hornets ninth trip to the NCAA Tournament in his 11 years and he has twice led Emporia State to the National Championship game, in 2006 and 2009. He has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament in 14 of his 18 years as a collegiate coach.
Fornelli, a 1991 graduate of Emporia State, spent seven years at Ft. Hays State where he compiled a 306-113 record and led the Tigers to the NCAA Division II national championship game in 2000 and was in the NCAA regional tournament six times.
Prior to his time in Hays, Fornelli was the pitching coach at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., from 1991 until 1996. During his tenure the Grizzlies were 195-86 and finished third in the NJCAA World Series in 1994.
Fornelli, a native of Lenexa, Kan., was an honorable mention All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference catcher for the Hornets as a senior after transferring from BCCC. He is married to the former Jill Harris of Madison, Kan. The couple has three daughters - Emma, Rylie and Addison.
POWER AND LIGHT DISTRICT
Emporia State is ranked fifth in the nation in both total home runs with 57 and total stolen bases with 133 and are the only team in the nation with at least 50 homers and 100 stolen bases. Dean Long has 14 home runs to rank seventh in the nation. He is tied for tenth on the Emporia State single season list. Justin Harris has 42 stolen bases in 50 attempts to rank sixth in the nation. He is seventh on the Hornets single season list.
MOUND PRESENCE
The Hornet pitching staff is fifth in the nation in strikeout to walk ratio with 395 K's and only 124 walks entering the regional. Jarrod Miller was 7-5 with a 2.99 ERA and 75 strike outs in 78.1 innings pitched entering the regional. Dakota McKaskle is 8-2 with a 3.95 ERA and 51 strike outs in 79.2 innings. Shawn Talkington is 7-2 with a save, a 3.05 ERA and 69 strike outs in 76.2 innings. Talkington may move to the closer role with an injury to Brenton Higgins. The Hornets closer was 7-2 with 12 saves and a 1.44 ERA before aggravating an elbow injury in the first MIAA Championship game. His status is doubtful for the regional.
WHERE WINNERS PLAY
This school year Emporia State has sent teams to the NCAA post season in football, women's basketball, women's tennis, softball and baseball. Both the men's and women's track teams had a competitor at the indoor national championships and they have combined to send 13 athletes to the outdoor national championships. Â
The Lady Hornets won the women's basketball tournament championship while the Hornets took the baseball tournament championship. Emporia State won at least one contest in six of the eight league tournaments they took part in, the most of any school in the league.
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