#13 HORNET BASEBALL FACES JETS IN MID-WEEK MATCH-UP

#13 Emporia State Hornets (10-2, 3-0 MIAA) vs
Newman University Jets (5-6, 0-0 Heartland)
Wednesday, March 1 • 3:00 p.m. • McCarthy Field • Wichita, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 47-18 Last Meeting: ESU 7, at NU 5 (March 15, 2016)
Live Stats • Complete Game Notes
Up Next: at Quincy University • March 4-5, 2017
QU Stadium • Quincy, Ill.

MID-WEEK, NON-CONFERENCE
The #13 Hornets travel to Wichita, Kan. to face Newman University in a mid-week, non-conference match-up. First pitch will be at 3:00 p.m. on McCarthy Field.
 
LAST AT BAT
The #13 Hornets swept Pitt State to open MIAA play, out-scoring the Gorillas 32-14 through three games. Kaden Shaffer went four for 11 with ten RBI and two home runs, one a grand slam. Mason Brown hit five for 12 with eight RBI and two doubles. Wade Hanna went six for 11 over the weekend with five runs while Tate Kastens went six for 13 with fours runs. Ryan McBroom hit six for 12 including a home run and three doubles.
Seth Holman pitched a complete 7.0 innings on Saturday to improve to 3-0, allowing no runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Jordan Plank improved to 2-1 Sunday, pitching 5.0 innings with four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Tanner Cairns is now 2-0 on the season after pitching 5.0 innings with three runs on five hits and five strikeouts on Monday. Nathan Whitcomb now has two saves on the season, throwing 1.0 inning with two strikeouts.
 
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 533-231 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 839-344 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 12-4 against the Jets.
Zane Ehling has a 167-165 record in his eighth season as the head coach of Newman University. He is 2-8 against the Hornets.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 10-2 on the season, 3-0 in MIAA play. The Hornets are sixth in the nation with a .373 batting average and a  .627 slugging percentage. Emporia State leads the MIAA in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage, on base percentage and stolen bases.
Shaffer was named MIAA Hitter of the Week after hitting .364 with two home runs and ten RBI in the sweep over Pitt State. Shaffer is fourth in the MIAA with four home runs and fifth with 21 RBI. Brown is second with a .907 slugging percentage and five home runs, third with a .571 on base percentage and fifth with a .465 batting average and 21 RBI. BJ Dean is fourth with four home runs. McBroom is fourth with an .811 slugging percentage. Kastens is fifth with a .806 slugging percentage.
Cairns is sixth in the conference with a 1.59 ERA. Plank is ninth with 18 struck out batters while Holman is one of five players with three or more wins.
 
SCOUTING THE JETS
Newman is 5-6 on the season and lead the Heartland with a .423 on base percentage and 19 stolen bases. Paul Rupnik leads the conference with a .500 batting average and a .595 on base percentage. Jacob Hamerle leads with seven stolen bases.
Emporia State leads the all-time series 47-18 over Newman University, going 12-4 during the Fornelli era.
The #14 Hornets defeated the Jets 7-5 to improve to 15-5 last season. Daniel LaMunyon went two for four with two runs, two RBI, a double and a home run. He was joined by Wade Hanna who hit two for five with two runs.
 
ON DECK
The #13 Hornets will face Quincy University in a three-game series from March 4-5 in Quincy, Ill. First pitch will be at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 at QU Stadium.

HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 839 career wins and is 533-231 (.698) 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.) has a .465 batting average with 18 runs, 20 hits and 21 RBI. Brown has five home runs and four doubles with a .907 slugging percentage. He also has a 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) is hitting .404 on the season with 19 hits that include three doubles, four home runs and a triple. Shaffer has 15 runs, 21 RBI, four stolen bases and a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is batting .459 with 11 runs and seven RBI. McBroom has five doubles, a triple and two home runs.
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) has a .304 batting average with 14 hits that include two doubles, a triple and a home run. Ashmore has 14 runs, four RBI and five stolen bases.
Third baseman Tate Kastens (Jr./Denver, Colo.) is hitting .417 on the year with 15 hits that include three doubles, a triple and three home runs. Kastens has 15 RBI.
 
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is batting .400 with 13 runs, seven RBI and three stolen bases. Gowing has 18 hits with three doubles and a home run.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) has 18 hits with 17 runs and 15 RBI on a .383 batting average. Dean has two doubles and four home runs on the season.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) has a .333 batting average with 15 runs, 15 hits and eight RBI. Hanna has two triples and a home run on the season.
 
ON THE MOUND
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is 2-1 on the season through 21.1 innings pitched. Plank has a 4.22 ERA with 18 strikeouts to just five walks.
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) has a 10.32 ERA in three starts and four appearances and 11.1 innings pitched. Gieber has seven strikeouts on the year.
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is 3-0 on the year in three starts and four appearances. Holman has a 2.35 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched, allowing just six runs and two walks with 16 strikeouts.
 
IN THE BULLPEN
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (So./Wichita, Kan.) has a 2-0 record and a 1.59 ERA through 17.0 innings pitched with one start. Cairns has 13 strikeouts.
Left-handed pitcher Tyler Buss (Sr./Jay, Okla.) is 1-0 with a save and nine strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Whitcomb (Sr./Humboldt, Kan.) has a 1.50 ERA and is 0-1 on the year. Whitcomb has two saves in 6.0 innings with five strikeouts.
 
TRENDS
When Emporia State out-hits opponents they are 8-0.
Emporia State is 5-0 when they score first.
Emporia State is 5-0 when they score in the first inning.
The Hornets outscore their opponents 21-3 in the seventh inning and 26-2 in the third inning.
The Hornets are out-scoring their opponents 142-66 overall.
The Hornets are 2-0 against left-handed starters.
 
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 606 at-bats, two at-bats short of tying Jim Wood for third. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 190, which puts him sixth all-time. He will need two more hits to tie both Josh Stratman and Brad Bascue for fourth. Hanna is eighth with 145 runs, needing one more to tie Jon Perry for seventh. He now is ninth in games played with 174, a game 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 two doubles short, with 33 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 is fifth in Division II with 12.2 runs per game and 2.09 home runs per game. The Hornets are sixth in the nation with a .373 batting average, a .627 slugging percentage and 2.73 stolen bases per game. Emporia State is eighth with 23 home runs and ninth with a .462 on base percentage. Mason Brown is 17th in the nation with five home runs.
The Hornets lead the MIAA with a .367 batting average, 23 home runs, a .615 slugging percentage, a .455 on base percentage and 31 stolen bases. Emporia State is second with 146 runs, 166 hits, 124 RBI and a .972 fielding percentage.
 
IN THE POLLS
There are several national rankings in NCAA Division II for baseball. Emporia State is ranked #13 in ABCA Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the February 27th Poll. The Hornets are #18 in the Hero Sports Division II Rankings, #19 in the D2 Baseball News National Rankings, and are receiving votes in the 28th position in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.