#30 HORNET BASEBALL OPENS MIAA ACTION WITH GORILLAS

#30 Emporia State Hornets (7-2, 0-0 MIAA) vs
Pittsburg State Gorillas (6-5, 0-0 MIAA)
Saturday, Feb. 25 • 1:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Sunday, Feb. 26 • 1:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Monday, Feb. 27 • 1:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 77-35 Last Meeting: ESU 20, a PSU 5 (Feb. 28, 2016) 
Live Stats Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Newman University • March 1, 2017
McCarthy Field • Wichita, Kan.
 
MIAA OPENING AT HOME
The #30 Hornets finish their nine game home stand with their MIAA series opener against Pittsburg State from Feb. 25-27. First pitch will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 on Glennen Field.
 
LAST AT BAT
The #30 Hornets took a 2-1 series win over #35 Missouri S&T last weekend, winning game one, 22-8, and game two, 9-8, on a walk-off. Emporia State dropped game three, 7-6, in extra innings. Ryan McBroom hit eight for 13 with four runs on the weekend followed by BJ Dean hitting seven for 15 with five runs. Kaden Shaffer hit six for 13 with seven RBI and four runs. Wade Hanna also hit six for 13 with four runs, Levi Ashmore going six for 14 with five runs.
Tanner Cairns picked up his first win of the season Friday night, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing no runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Taylor Thompson improved to 2-0 Saturday, pitching 1.0 inning with two strikeouts, no hits, no runs and no walks.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 530-231 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 836-344 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 39-11 against the Gorillas, going 10-0 against them from 2007-2012.
Tom Myers is 6-5 in his first season as head coach at Pitt State. Myers compiled a 311-91 record at Central Missouri.
 
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 7-2 on the season heading into MIAA play. The Hornets lead the MIAA in runs, hits, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage and are second in batting average, on base percentage and triples. Emporia State has MIAA game highs in runs and RBI at CSU-Pueblo, hits against Missouri S&T and home runs and stolen bases against MSU-Denver.
Mason Brown is second in the MIAA with five home runs and a 1.032 slugging percentage and third with 15 runs. Dean is tied for third with 15 runs and four home runs and fifth with 15 RBI. Tate Kastens is fourth in the MIAA with a .913 slugging percentage.
Cairns is tenth in the MIAA with a 1.50 ERA while Nathan Gieber is tenth with four batters struck out looking.
 
SCOUTING THE GORILLAS
Pitt State is 6-5 on the season heading into MIAA play. Dallas Reed leads the MIAA with 18 runs and is second with 19 hits. Colton Progue leads the conference with 20 hits and is second with 19 RBI. Cody Whiting has a 5.40 ERA with 13 strikeouts.
Emporia State leads the all-time series 77-35 over Pitt State, sweeping the Gorillas last season. The Hornets out-scored the Gorillas last season 55-15.
The #30 Hornets had five doubles, three triples and four home runs on the way to a 20-5 run rule against Pitt State last season. Levi Ashmore was three for six with two homers, six RBI and four runs. Hanna had five RBI with a single, double and triple. Dean was three for six with two doubles and a triple. Jordan Plank went 4.0 innings for the win, allowing only two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
 
ON DECK
The #30 Hornets play Newman University in a mid-week, non-conference game on Wednesday, March 1 in Wichita, Kan. First pitch will be at 3:00 p.m. on McCarthy Field.

HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 836 career wins and is 530-231 (.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 and 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.) is hitting .484 with 15 runs and 15 hits that include two doubles and five home runs. Brown has 13 RBI and a 1.032 slugging percentage and no strikeouts in 31 at-bats. He also has a 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) has a .417 batting average and has started all nine games for the Hornets. Shaffer has 12 runs and 15 hits that include two doubles, a triple and two home runs. He has 11 RBI and four stolen bases.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is batting .440 with 11 hits that include two doubles and a home run. McBroom has a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) has a .343 batting average with 12 hits including two doubles, a triple and a home run.
Third baseman Daniel LaMunyon (Sr./Leawood, Kan.) has eight RBI, six runs and five hits with a .217 batting average on the season.
 
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) has 13 hits and ten runs on a .394 batting average with two doubles.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) has a .421 batting average and started all nine games for Emporia State. On 16 hits, Dean has four home runs, bringing in 15 RBI and 15 runs.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) has ten runs and nine hits that include two triples. Hanna is batting .265 on the season.
 
ON THE MOUND
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is 1-1 on the season with a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched. Plank has 11 strikeouts to just three walks, allowing only seven runs.
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) has a 9.28 ERA in three starts and 10.2 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is 2-0 on the year in 16.0 innings pitched with a 3.38 ERA. Holman has 12 strikeouts and two walks, allowing only six runs in 59 at-bats for a .220 opponent batting average.
 
IN THE BULLPEN
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (So./Wichita, Kan.) is 1-0 on the season in 12.0 innings pitched with a 1.50 ERA, a save and eight strikeouts.
Left-handed pitcher Tyler Buss (Sr./Jay, Okla.) is 1-0 with a save and nine strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Layne Downing (Jr./Hays, Kan.) has a 3.00 ERA in 6.0 innings.
 
TRENDS
When Emporia State out-hits opponents they are 7-0.
Emporia State is 3-0 when they score first.
Emporia State is 4-0 when they score in the first inning.
The Hornets outscore their opponents 21-2 in the 7th inning and 17-1 in the 3rd.
The Hornets are out-scoring their opponents 110-52 overall.
 
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 fourth all-time with 595 at-bats, 13 at-bats short of tying Jim Wood for third. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 184, which puts him sixth all-time. He will need eight more hits to tie both Josh Stratman and Brad Bascue for fourth. Hanna is eighth with 140 runs, needing six more to tie Jon Perry for seventh. He now is ninth in games played with 171, four games short of tying Straman and Bob Moore. In game three against Missouri S&T, Hanna broke the top ten, hitting his ninth career triple, tying Justin Harris, Dave Mosea and Conner Crubmliss for tenth. Hanna falls three doubles short with 32 doubles from tying Keith Hernandez for tenth.
 
COMEBACK KIDS
The Hornets have two comeback wins this season. Emporia State came back from an 8-4 deficit after the first two innings on Friday, Feb. 17 against Missouri S&T. The next day, the Hornets had a 9-8 walk off win against Missouri S&T after trailing 8-6 through seven innings.
 
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
Emporia State was ranked third in the NCAA Central Region last year and was one of two MIAA teams in the regional tournament. The automatic qualifiers from the MIAA, NSIC and GAC along with the next three highest ranked regional teams make up the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.
 
POWER AND LIGHT DISTRICT
Emporia State leads the MIAA with 130 hits, 19 home runs and a .618 slugging percentage. The Hornets are second in the conference with a .368 batting average, 110 runs, six triples, 96 RBI and a .455 on base percentage. Through nine games, Emporia State has committed only ten errors, good enough for fourth in the MIAA.
 
IN THE POLLS
There are several national rankings in NCAA Division II for baseball. Emporia State is ranked #30 in ABCA Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the Preseason Poll. The Hornets are #18 in the Hero Sports Division II Rankings, #22 in the D2 Baseball News National Rankings, and are receiving votes in the 30th position in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.