EMPORIA STATE SOFTBALL TO PLAY INDOORS THIS WEEKEND

Emporia State Hornets (10-8, 0-0 MIAA)
at St. Cloud Indoor Classic • Husky Dome • St. Cloud, Minn. 
St. Cloud State Huskies (8-0, 0-0 NSIC)
Feb. 23 • 4:00 p.m. (DH) • Series: ESU leads 6-2 Last: ESU 1, at SCSU 0 (2/21/2016)
Sioux Falls Cougars (6-3, 0-0 NSIC)
Feb. 24 • 11:00 a.m. (DH) • Series: USF leads 1-0 Last: USF 4, ESU 3 (3/18/16)
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (1-5, 0-0 NSIC)
Feb. 25 • 10:00 a.m. (DH) • Series: ESU leads 4-1 Last: ESU 6, UMD 5 (2/19/2017)
Up Next: Pittsburg State (DH) • March 10, 2017 • 3:00 p.m. •
Turnbull Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
 
TAKE IT INDOORS
Winner of seven of their last eight games, the Hornets wrap up tournament play at the St. Cloud Indoor Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn. Emporia State will face St. Cloud, Sioux Falls and Minn.-Duluth in double headers from Thursday through Saturday.
 
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State went 5-1 at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark. last weekend. The Hornets defeated Arkansas Tech 7-6 and Wayne State (Neb.) 8-0 in five innings on Friday. They lost to then #18 Harding 5-3 in eight innings before beating Drury 7-2 on Saturday.  They finished the tournament with a pair of walk off wins, 6-5 over Minn.-Duluth and 9-7 over Mo. St. Louis on Sunday.
 
THE COACHES
April Huddleston is 31-40 in her second year as the head coach at Emporia State. She is the tenth head coach of the Hornet softball program. She is head coach after 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.
Paula U'Ren is in her 20th season as the head coach at St. Cloud State, compiling a 615-425 overall career record.
Kelsey Thompson is in her fourth season as head coach at Sioux Falls, compiling a 102-63 record with the Cougars.
Jen Walter is 36-22 in her second season as head coach at Minn.-Duluth.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 10-8 on the season, going 9-3 in the last two tournaments. The Hornets lead the MIAA with 104 runs, 34 doubles, 96 RBI and 39 stolen bases and are second with 12 home runs and 151 hits. Sarah Glass leads the MIAA with six doubles while McKenna Davis leads with 15 stolen bases. Eryn Stockman is second in the MIAA with 60.2 innings pitched, third with 32 batters struck out and second with six wins. Stockman rounds out the top ten with a 2.31 ERA and is sixth with a .221 opponent batting averge.
 
ABOUT ST. CLOUD STATE
The Huskies are 8-0 on the season after competing in the Kelly Laas Memorial Invitational and sweeping Black Hills State to start the season.
 
ABOUT SIOUX FALLS
The Cougars are 6-3 on the season after competing in the Desert Stingers Invite and the Kelly Laas Memorial Invitational.
 
ABOUT MINN.-DULUTH
The Bulldogs are 1-5 after competing in the 8-State Classic. Minn.-Duluth's win was over Neb.-Kearney.
 
UP NEXT
Emporia State will take next weekend off before opening MIAA play with their home opener against Pittsburg State in a double header on Friday, March 10. First pitch will be at 3:00 p.m. on Turnbull Field at Trusler Sports Complex.

HORNET HITTING
The Hornets lead the MIAA with 104 runs, 34 doubles, 96 RBI and 39 stolen bases and are second with 12 home runs and 151 hits. Emporia State has a .297 batting average, good enough for fourth in the MIAA. Caitlin VanVleck sits seventh with 17 hits. McKenna Davis leads the MIAA with 15 stolen bases, is tied for seventh with 17 hits and four doubles. Sarah Glass leads the MIAA with six doubles and is tied for fifth with six stolen bases. Jacie Stephens is tied for fifth in the conference with 20 hits, tied for fourth with five doubles and tied ninth with 12 RBI. Katie Yoakum is tied for fourth in the MIAA with five doubles. Cassidy Berry is tied for fifth in the MIAA with six stolen bases.
 
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State pitching has a 4.13 ERA, 45 strikeouts and a .285 opponent batting average. Eryn Stockman is second in the MIAA with 60.2 innings pitched, third with 32 batters struck out, second with six wins, tenth with a 2.31 ERA, sixth with a .221 opponent batting average and tied for sixth with eight batters struck out looking. Holly Hinkel is sixth in the conference with 43.0 innings pitched. Hinkel has a 5.37 ERA and is 2-4 on the season. Kaelah McMullin is 2-0 on the season in 12.2 innings pitched and one start.
 
TRENDS
Emporia State is outscoring opponents 11-1 in the seventh inning.
The Hornets are outscoring opponents 77-72 overall.
Emporia State is 4-0 when games are decided by one run.
Emporia State is 7-0 when scoring six or more runs.
When leading or tied after the fourth inning, the Hornets are 9-0.
When the Hornets have a runner on third with two outs they have a .556 batting average.
 
TOURNAMENTS WITH HUDDLESTON
April Huddleston is 18-15 in tournament play as head coach at Emporia State. The Hornets went 4-1 at the St. Cloud Indoor Tournament last season and 2-2 at the Ark.-Monticello Tournament in 2016. In the 2017 season, Huddleston went 4-2 at the ASU George McCorkle Challenge and 5-1 at the 8-States Classic.
 
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 14 MIAA Tournament championship games with eight titles. Since 2001 the Hornets are 49-16 (.753) in 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 13 years and 12 times in the last 21 seasons. The Hornets won the NAIA National Championship in 1983 and 1984 and won the AIAW National Championship in 1980.
The Hornets were MIAA regular season champions four straight years from 2005-08 and MIAA Tournament champions seven straight years running from 2004-10. Emporia State has claimed the regular season title (2005-08, 2010-12, 2014) and the tournament title (2004-10, 2012) eight times each in the 21st Century.