EMPORIA STATE SOFTBALL PLAYS HOST TO WILLIAM JEWELL

Emporia State Hornets (18-21, 7-7 MIAA)
vs.
William Jewell Cardinals (16-18, 8-10 GLVC)
April 5 • 4:00 p.m. • Turnbull Field/Trusler Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 3-2  Last: ESU 11, at WJC 5 (4/16/2015)
Live Stats  Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: FHSU • April 8 • 4:00 p.m. • Tiger Stadium • Hays, Kan.
 
OUT OF NO WHERE
Emporia State will play host to William Jewell in a game that has been moved up one week due to scheduling conflicts.
 
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State softball improved to 7-7 in the MIAA after a sweep of Central Missouri Saturday afternoon. Hornets took game one 9-5 and won game two 8-5 totaling 20 hits and 16 RBI.
Danielle Sprinkle and Jacie Stephens each went two for three in game one. Sprinkle had three RBI while Stephens had two runs scored. Morgan Swisher hit two for four and had three RBI. Eryn Stockman pitched 4.2 innings and picked up a win to improve to 11-8 on the season. Holly Hinkel earned her first save of the season, pitching 2.1 innings and allowing only one hit.
Caitlin VanVleck hit two for three in game two while Swisher hit two for four. Sprinkle had two runs scored and four RBI Holly Hinkel pitched a full seven inning game with no walks to pick up a win and improve to 5-7 on the season.
 
THE?COACHES
April Huddleston is 18-21 in her first year as the head coach at Emporia State. She is the tenth head coach of the Hornet softball program. She steps in as head coach for her first year having served as an assistant with the Hornets for seven seasons. Huddleston was a member of both the Hornets national runner-up teams in 2006 and 2008, and was named First Team All-MIAA at shortstop her senior year. This is her first meeting with William Jewell.
Dustin Combs has won 277 games in his tenth year at William Jewell. He is 1-1 against Emporia State in his career.
 
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 18-21, 7-7 in the MIAA. The Hornets are sixth in the nation in double plays per game and are ranked 19th in stolen bases. Morgan Swisher is fifth in the MIAA with 25 stolen bases with Caitlin VanVleck and Sarah Glass joining her in the top ten. Danielle Sprinkle and Erica Harper are tied for eighth in the league with ten doubles. Sprinkle is fifth in the league in RBI and fourthin walks. VanVleck is sixth in the MIAA in runs and tied with Swisher and Sarah Glass for fifth in triples. Eryn Stockman is 11-8 with a 3.03 ERA in the circle. She has 76 strike outs on the season.
 
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL
The Cardinals are 16-18 overall and 8-10 in the GLVC. They are 4-5 against the MIAA this season, having swept SBU,  and picking up single wins against UNK and Lindenwood, while being swept by NWMSU and NSU, and dropping a single game to MSSU. Brooke Bernard is batting .459 with five home runs and 36 RBI while Shelby McGraw is 10-10 with a 3.13 ERA in the circle.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets lead the all-time series with the Cardinals 3-2 with meetings in 1992, 1993, 2004 and last year.
 
LAST TIME VS THE CARDINALS
Stephanie Goodwin had two hits, including a two run home run, to tie Megan Davison's Emporia State and MIAA career hits record as the #17 Hornets split a double header at William Jewell in Liberty, Mo.  Emporia State lost the first game 6-2 and came back to win 11-5 in the second game.
 
UP NEXT
The Hornets return to MIAA play on the road this weekend. Emporia State plays at Ft. Hays State on Friday and Neb.-Kearney on Saturday.
 
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets lead the MIAA with 86 stolen bases, are ranked third with a .310 batting average, a .387 on base percentage and 125 walks, and are fifth with 58 doubles, 184 RBI and 208 runs scored. As a team, the Hornets have a .376 on base percentage that is good enough for third in the MIAA.
Morgan Swisher is fifth in the MIAA with 25 stolen bases with Caitlin VanVleck and Sarah Glass joining her in the top ten. Danielle Sprinkle and Erica Harper are tied for eighth in the league with ten doubles. Sprinkle is fifth in the league in RBI and fourthin walks. VanVleck is sixth in the MIAA in runs and tied with Swisher and Sarah Glass for fifth in triples.
 
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
The Hornet pitching staff has a 4.41 ERA on the season that ranks 11th in the MIAA and their 119 strike outs are ranked 13th in the league.
Eryn Stockman leads the way with 76 strike outs and only 41 walks through 129.1 innings pitched. She is 11-8 on the season.
 
TRENDS
The Hornets are 14-3 when scoring at least six runs.
The Hornets are 14-1 when leading after the fourth inning
The Hornets are 13-5 when they score first.
The Hornets have outscored their opponents 41-25 in the third inning.
The Hornets have scored at least ten runs in six games this season.
 
SUCCESS IN MAY
Emporia State has played in 12 NCAA Tournaments with a 35-25 (.583) overall record in NCAA Tournament play.  The Hornets are 20-13 in NCAA tournament elimination games all-time. Emporia State has played in ten of the last 13 MIAA Tournament championship games with eight titles. Since 2001 the Hornets are 49-16 (.753) in MIAA Tournament play with a 48-12 (.800) record over the last 13 tournaments.
 
HORNET HISTORY
Emporia State has finished as the NCAA Division II National Runners-up twice, in 2006 and 2008. The Hornets have qualified for NCAA Regional play in 11 of the last 12 years and 12 times in the last 20 seasons. The Hornets won the NAIA National Championship in 1983 and 1984 and won the AIAW National Championship in 1980.