#30 HORNET BASEBALL HOSTS #35 MISSOURI S&T

#30 Emporia State Hornets (5-1, 0-0 MIAA) vs
#35 Missouri S&T Miners (0-0, 0-0 GLVC)
Friday, Feb. 17 • 3:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Saturday, Feb. 18 • 1:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Sunday, Feb. 19 • 12:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 19-8 Last Meeting: ESU 6, Missouri S&T 5 (April 16, 2005)
Live Stats • Game Notes
Up Next: Pittsburg State • Feb. 24-26, 2017
Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.

HOME STAND
The #30 Hornets continue their home stand with a three game series against #35 Missouri S&T on Feb. 17-19. First pitch will be at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17.
 
LAST AT BAT
The #30 Hornets swept MSU-Denver, winning 22-6, 10-5 and 3-0 for their home opening series. BJ Dean hit four for 11 over the weekend with five runs and six RBI. Kaden Shaffer hit five for ten with five runs. Tate Kastens went three for eight with seven RBI and two home runs. Mason Brown and Mack Gowing each went five for 12, Brown with four runs, four RBI and two home runs.
Seth Holman picked up another win to improve to 2-0 on Friday night, pitching 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and allowing only one walk. Tyler Buss claimed a win on Saturday with 2.2 innings pitched and allowing only one hit. Jordan Plank pitched for 7.0 innings on Sunday for his first win, striking out five and allowing just three hits and two walks. Nathan Whitcomb picked up a save on Sunday, pitching 1.0 inning with a strike out.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 528-230 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 834-343 overall in his 21st year as a four year head coach. He is the fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and is 15th in total victories. Fornelli is the winningest active MIAA coach. He has led Emporia State to two Division II World Series appearances in nine NCAA Tournaments. Fornelli has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, and was the national runner-up in 2009 with Emporia State and in 2000 while at Ft. Hays State. He is 5-1 against the Miners.
Todd DeGraffenreid begins his 14th season as the head coach of Missouri S&T. DeGraffenreid is 1-5 against the Hornets.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State starts the season 5-1, sweeping MSU-Denver and claiming a 2-1 series win over CSU-Pueblo. The Hornets lead the MIAA with 73 runs, 12 home runs and 64 RBI and are second with a .344 batting average, a .571 slugging percentage, a .451 on base percentage and 77 hits. Emporia State pitching leads the conference with three saves.
Brown leads the MIAA with a .688 on base percentage, 12 runs scored and four home runs. Brown also sits second with a 1.130 slugging percentage, third with 13 hits and a .565 batting average and is tied for fifth with ten RBI. Dean is second in the MIAA with 13 RBI and three home runs and third with ten runs scored. Kastens is third in the MIAA with a 1.000 slugging percentage and fourth with 11 RBI.
Seth Holman makes MIAA top ten with nine strikeouts, 12.0 innings pitched and two wins. Nathan Gieber makes the top ten list with three batters struck out looking.
 
SCOUTING THE MINERS
Missouri S&T ended the 2016 season with a 39-19 record, 19-9 in the GLVC. The Miners lost out in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional championship game to Southern Indiana to end the season. Eli Miller led Missouri S&T last season with a .400 batting average and eight triples. The Miners return Dan Borek who went 9-5 last season with a 4.61 ERA in 84.0 innings pitched.
Emporia State leads the all-time series 19-8 over Missouri S&T.
Emporia State swept the Miners in a three game series, winning the final game 6-5 on April 16, 2005.
 
ON DECK
The #30 Hornets finish their home stand with a three game series against Pittsburg State to open up MIAA play. Emporia State will take the field at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24 at Glennen Field.

HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 834 career wins and is 528-230 (.697) in his 14th season at Emporia State. Fornelli is the second winningest coach at Emporia State behind Dave Bingham who was 557-223 (.714) in 14 years from 1974-87. The Hornets have made 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament in his first 13 years and he has twice led Emporia State to the Division II World Series, in 2006 and 2009. He has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament in 16 of his 20 years as a collegiate coach. Fornelli is the winningest active MIAA 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 five times.
He is the fourth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and ranks 15th in career victories with a 823-337 (.710) record in his 20th season.
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.
A native of Lenexa, Kan., he was an honorable mention All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference catcher for the Hornets as a senior after transferring from Butler County CC. He is married to the former Jill Harris of Madison, Kan. The couple has three daughters - Emma, Rylie and Addison.
 
BEHIND THE PLATE
Catcher Mason Brown (Jr./Littleton, Colo.) leads the Hornets with a .565 batting average and a 1.130 slugging percentage. Brown has 13 hits that include four home runs and a double. He has brought in 12 runs and ten RBI.
 
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) is batting .391 with nine hits. Shaffer has four RBI and eight runs with two stolen bases.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) has a .250 batting average with three runs and three hits. McBroom has a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) has a .286 batting average with six hits. Ashmore has a home run, three RBI and four runs on the season.
Third baseman Tate Kastens (Jr./Denver, Colo.) is batting .438 with seven hits that include two home runs, a triple and a double. Kastens has 11 RBI and four runs with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
 
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) has a .409 batting average with nine hits and nine runs.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) is batting .391 with nine hits that include three home runs and two doubles. Dean has ten runs and 13 RBI.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) has five RBI and six runs on the season.
 
ON THE MOUND
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is 1-1 on the season with a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched. Plank has struck out six, allowing only two walks, seven hits and three runs.
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) has a 12.15 ERA on the season in two starts. Gieber has pitched 6.2 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. He has allowed 14 hits and ten runs.
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is 2-0 on the year in 12.0 innings pitched. Holman has a 3.00 ERA with nine strikeouts to one walk and allowing four runs on eight hits.
 
HISTORY
Emporia State advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year in the 2015 season and the 11th time in the last 13 seasons. The Hornets have finished second in MIAA regular season play for the past three seasons. Under Coach Fornelli, Emporia State won the MIAA Tournament in 2014 and 2007 and claimed the regular season title in 2011, 2009, 2008 and 2006.
 
RECORD BOOKS
In his fourth and final season with the Hornets, Wade Hanna looks to make an impact on the career batting recordings. Hanna currently sits fifth all-time with 582 at-bats, 10 at-bats short of tying Greg Strecker for fourth. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 178, which puts him sixth all-time. He will need 14 more hits to tie both Josh Stratman and Brad Bascue for fourth. Hanna is ninth with 136 runs, needing three more to tie Doug Miller for eighth. He now is ninth in games played with 168, seven games short of tying Josh Straman and Bob Moore. Hanna falls short of a few categories that he should break into in his senior season including three doubles shy (32 doubles) to tie Keith Hernandez and a triple short (seven triples) to tie Conner Crumbliss, Dave Mosea and Justin Harris.