#15 Emporia State Hornets (16-4, 5-1 MIAA) vs
Fort Hays State Tigers (7-14, 1-8 MIAA)
Friday, March 17 • 5:00 p.m. • Schumacher-Nelson Field/Larks Park • Hays, Kan.
Saturday, March 18 • 1:00 p.m. • Schumacher-Nelson Field/Larks Park • Hays, Kan.
Sunday, March 19 • 12:00 p.m. • Schumacher-Nelson Field/Larks Park • Hays, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 139-64 Last Meeting: at ESU 7, FHSU 4 (3/20/2016)
Live Stats • Complete Game Notes
Up Next: Missouri Western • March 21, 2017
Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
INTO THE TIGER DEN
The #15 Hornets enter the Tiger den to jump back into MIAA action, playing at Fort Hays from March 17-19. First pitch is at 5:00 p.m. on Schumacher-Nelson Field.
LAST AT BAT
The #15 Hornets had their second walk-off home run in the last three games when Daniel LaMunyon smashed one into left center in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 7-6 Emporia State win. The Jets had a 6-2 lead after five innings. Dean had a solo home run to lead of a three run seventh inning to close the gap 6-5. In the bottom of the ninth, Levi Ashmore scored the tying run on a fielder's choice to take the game into extra innings. There was a combined four hits between the two teams through the next three innings before LaMunyon would pinch hit for Ryan McBroom and hit a walk-off home run on his only at-bat on the day. Ashmore hit three for four with three runs. Trevor Turner and Tucker Perkins each had two RBI. Layne Downing picked up his second win in the last three games, improving to 2-1 on the year. Downing tossed 1.0 inning with one strikeout and just one hit.
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 539-233 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 845-346 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 40-11 against the Tigers.
Steve Johnson is in his seventh season with Fort Hays, sporting a 139-152 record with the Tigers. He is 5-16 against the Hornets.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 16-4 on the season, 5-1 in MIAA play and are ranked 15th in the nation. The Hornets are fifth in Division II averaging 10.7 runs per game. Emporia State is sixth with 48 stolen bases and a .976 fielding percentage and eighth with a .445 on base percentage, a .357 batting average and a .576 slugging percentage. They also come in ninth with 32 home runs. The Hornets lead the MIAA in batting average, runs, hits, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, on base percentage, stolen bases and fielding percentage.
Holman was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week after taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Missouri Southern, throwing six strikeouts with just two hits and two walks. Nathan Whitcomb has a 0.75 ERA with four saves. Jordan Plank is eighth with 28 strikeouts. Alex White leads the MIAA with a .514 batting average and a .609 on base percentage. Dean is second with seven home runs while Kaden Shaffer is fourth with 27 RBI while Brown is MIAA top ten in slugging percentage, on base percentage, hits and home runs.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Fort Hays is 7-14 on the season and 1-8 in the MIAA. Dayton Pomeroy is seventh in the MIAA with five home runs. Ty Redington is second with 12 stolen bases followed by Jake Lanferman with 11. Sam Capps is third in the MIAA with 11 batters struck out looking.
Emporia State leads the all-time series 139-64 over Fort Hays.
The #19 Hornets completed the sweep with a 7-4 victory over Fort Hays last season. Wade Hanna had two hits and two runs. Jordan Plank improved to 4-1, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing just three runs with four strikeouts.
ON DECK
The #15 Hornets host Missouri Western on Tuesday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m. to begin a four game home stand.
HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 845 career wins and is 539-233 (.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.) is seventh in the MIAA with a .685 slugging percentage and sixth with a .506 on base percentage. Brown is also tenth in the conference with 30 hits and tied for seventh with five home runs.
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) is fourth in the MIAA with 27 RBI and tied for seventh with five home runs.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) sits third in the MIAA with a .737 slugging percentage. McBroom is batting .386 on the season with 22 hits that include four home runs and six doubles
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) comes in fifth in the MIAA with 24 runs and is sixth with nine stolen bases.
Third baseman Alex White (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) leads the MIAA with both a .514 batting average and a .609 on base percentage.
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is ninth in the MIAA with a .483 on base percentage. Gowing has a .389 batting average on the year with 28 hits.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) comes in fifth in the MIAA with 24 runs and is tied for second with seven home runs. Dean has 24 RBI.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) has 20 hits, 21 runs, five doubles and two triples on the season. Hanna has a 1.000 fielding percentage.
ON THE MOUND
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is eighth in the MIAA with 28 strikeouts and is 3-1 on the season. Plank has a 5.52 ERA in 31.0 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (So./Wichita, Kan.) sits seventh in the MIAA with a 2.57 ERA. Cairns is 3-0 on the season with three starts and 28.0 innings pitched. He has 15 strikeouts and has allowed just ten runs.
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is eighth in the MIAA with 35.2 innings pitched and is one of five pitchers in the conference with four or more wins. Holman has 26 strikeouts with a 3.28 ERA and a .231 opponent batting average.
IN THE BULLPEN
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) has a 8.59 ERA in eight appearances and four starts. Gieber has 19 strikeouts in 22.0 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Taylor Thompson (Jr./Cuba, Mo.) is 2-0 with a 4.91 ERA.
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Whitcomb (Sr./Humboldt, Kan.) is one of five MIAA pitchers with at least four saves. Whitcomb has a 0.69 ERA in 13.0 innings pitched with nine strikeouts to no walks.
TRENDS
When Emporia State out-hits opponents they are 10-1.
Emporia State is 9-1 when they score first.
Emporia State is 8-1 when they score in the first inning.
The Hornets out-score their opponents 29-6 in the third inning.
The Hornets are out-scoring their opponents 211-107 overall.
With runners on third and two outs, the Hornets are batting .688 in 80 attempts.
All four of Emporia State's losses were by one run.
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 third all-time with 630 at-bats. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 195, which puts him fourth all-time. He will need eight more hits to tie Jim Wood for third. Hanna is sixth with 151 runs, needing three more to tie Brett Berry for fifth. He now is sixth with 181 games played, needing to appear in 24 more to tie Bob Hines. Hanna is seventh all-time with 37 doubles, needing two more to tie Kevin Wempe for sixth. Hanna hit his ninth career triple this season, tying Justin Harris, Dave Mosea and Conner Crubmliss for tenth. Hanna has 113 career RBI, needing 141 to break the Emporia State top ten.
COMEBACK KIDS
The Hornets have four 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. In an extended game due to weather delay, Emporia State hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth in game two against Missouri Western after trailing 3-1 headed into the sixth inning. Against Newman on March 15, the Hornets trailed 6-2 after five innings before they eventually hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 7-6 win.
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 scoring 10.7 runs per game and are sixth with 48 stolen bases and a .976 fielding percentage. The Hornets are eighth in the nation with a .576 slugging percentage, 204 runs, a .357 batting average and a .445 on base percentage. They are ninth with 32 home runs.
The Hornets lead the MIAA with a .350 batting average, 211 runs, 260 hits, 34 home runs, 189 RBI, a .571 slugging percentage, a .437 on base percentage, 50 stolen bases and a .978 fielding percentage.
IN THE POLLS
There are several national rankings in NCAA Division II for baseball. Emporia State is ranked #15 in ABCA Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the February 27th Poll. The Hornets are #6 in the Hero Sports Division II Rankings, #15 in the D2 Baseball News National Rankings, and are #14 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.
