Emporia State Hornets (34-25, 15-11 MIAA)
at MIAA Tournament Championship
vs.
Central Oklahoma Bronchos (45-9, 22-4 MIAA)Â
Saturday, April 29 • 11:00 a.m.
OGE Energy Field/ASA Hall of Fame Stadium • Oklahoma City, Okla.
Series: ESU leads 26-25 Last Meeting: UCO 3, ESU 0 (MIAA Tourney) (4/27/17)
Live Stats • Complete Game Notes
MIAA TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP Â
The Hornets face the Bronchos in the MIAA tourney championship at 11:00 a.m. on Sat., April 29. If Emporia State wins game one, a second game will be played due to the double elimination set up.
LAST AT BATÂ
After a 3-0 loss to Central Okla. in the first game of the MIAA tourney, Emporia State has knocked out four teams on their way to the MIAA championship. The Hornets defeated Mo. Southern 11-4 to finish up Thursday play. Emporia State then went 3-0 on Friday, defeating Pitt State 1-0 in eight innings, and snagging a pair of 5-1 wins over Mo. Western and Northwest Mo. Caitlin VanVleck is batting .500 in the tournament with a .571 slugging percentage. McKenna Davis has a .429 batting average with three stolen bases. Both Annie Rockley and Katie Yoakum are batting .400, Rockley with four RBI. Hailey Cope has brought in five RBI while Davis and VanVleck have scored four runs each. Eryn Stockman has gone 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA in 22.0 innings. She has allowed just six runs with 13 strikeouts and four walks. Holly Hinkel is 1-0 at the tournament in 11.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
THE COACHESÂ
April Huddleston is 55-57 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. She is 0-5 against Central Oklahoma.
Cody White 167-66 in his fourth year as head coach at Central Oklahoma. White is 9-5 against the Hornets.
ABOUT THE HORNETSÂ
Emporia State is 34-25 on the season, 15-11 in MIAA play and the eighth seed in the MIAA tournament. The Hornets lead the MIAA in stolen bases and are second in doubles. McKenna Davis is third in the MIAA in stolen bases, Caitlin VanVleck joining her in fifth. Jacie Stephens is fifth in the MIAA in doubles. Sarah Glass is eighth in runs scored. Stockman is in MIAA top ten in innings pitched, opponent batting average, ERA, strikeouts, batters struck out looking, shutouts and wins.
ABOUT CENTRAL OKLAHOMAÂ
The Bronchos are 45-9 on the season, 22-4 in the MIAA, the first seed in the MIAA tournament and ranked 21st in the nation. Central Okla. leads Division II with 25 shutouts. The Bronchos are eighth in the nation with a 1.59 ERA and ninth with a .975 fielding percentage. Morgan Heard is ranked fifth in the nation with 131 total bases. Carrie Abrams is 13th in the nation with six triples and 14th with 74 hits. Tori Collet sits 17th in Division II with 17 doubles. Peyton Walker is eighth in the nation with ten shutouts while Jayden Chestnut is 12th with 198 strikeouts.
THE SERIESÂ
The Hornets lead the all-time series 26-25 over the Bronchos.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BRONCHOSÂ
Emporia State fell 3-0 to Central Okla. in the first game of the MIAA tourney. The Hornets had six hits and left eight on base in the loss. Yoakum hit two for three and Stockman pitched 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
UP NEXTÂ
If the Hornets win the MIAA tourney, they will get an automatic bid into the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.
HORNET HITTINGÂ
The Hornets lead the MIAA with 92 stolen bases and sit second with 82 doubles. As a team the Hornets are batting .281 on the season with a .350 on base percentage and a .387 slugging percentage.
Shortstop Sarah Glass (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is eighth in the MIAA with 39 runs scored, sixth with seven hit-by-pitches and tenth with 13 doubles. Glass is hitting .306 with five home runs, three triples and a team high 33 RBI.
Outfielder Caitlin VanVleck (Jr./Liberty, Mo.) sits fifth in the MIAA with 17 stolen bases. She is batting .343 on the season with seven doubles, a triple and a home run.
Catcher Jacie Stephens (Sr./Goldsby, Okla.) is fifth in the MIAA with 14 doubles. Stephens has a .337 batting average on the season, a .479 slugging percentage with 55 hits that include three home runs. She has 25 RBI and has scored 23 runs.
First baseman Danielle Sprinkle (Jr./Salina, Kan.) is ranked fourth in the MIAA with 25 walks. She is batting .273 on the year with four home runs, four doubles and 32 RBI.
Outfielder Cassidy Berry (Jr./Shawnee, Kan.) batting .271 with 26 hits that include five doubles, a triple and a homer. Berry also has 14 stolen bases.
Katy Rae Nordman (Jr./Augusta, Kan.) and Hailey Cope (Jr./Baldwin, Kan.) have switched back and forth between third base and designated player. Nordman is batting .275 with two homers and 17 RBI. Cope is batting .250 with nine doubles, four home runs and 30 RBI.
Outfielder Annelise Rockley (Jr./Independence, Mo.) is batting .299 on the year with 20 runs scored, 19 RBI and eight doubles.
Second baseman Katie Yoakum (Jr./Shawnee, Kan.) is hitting .257 with 22 runs scored on the year. Yoakum has 36 hits that include six doubles.
Outfielder McKenna Davis (Jr./Olathe, Kan.) is ranked third in the MIAA with 27 stolen bases. She is batting .263 on the season and has a .363 on base percentage.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHINGÂ
Emporia State pitching is fourth in the MIAA with 13 shutouts. The staff has a 2.95 combined ERA that ranks fifth in the MIAA.
???????Eryn Stockman (Sr./Lindsborg, Kan.) is 12th in the nation and leads the MIAA with ten shutouts. She is ranked second in the league with 24 wins and 244 innings pitched, is fifth with 117 strikeouts, eighth with a .228 opponent batting average and 32 batters struck out looking and ninth with a 2.01 ERA. She is ranked eighth among active NCAA Division II players with 73 complete games, tenth with 104 starts, 11th with 679 innings pitched and 13th with 19 shutouts in her career.
Holly Hinkel (Jr./North Liberty, Iowa) is 7-11 with a 4.58 ERA in 26 appearances this year.
TRENDS
The Hornets are 27-0 when they hold opponents to two runs or less.
The Hornets are 21-3 when leading after four innings.
The Hornets are out-scoring opponents 43-16 in the fourth inning.
TOURNAMENTS WITH HUDDLESTON
???????Huddleston is 21-18 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 1-4 at the Southeastern Oklahoma State Tournament, 4-2 at the ASU George McCorkle Challenge, 5-1 at the 8-States Classic and 3-3 at the St. Cloud Indoor Tournament.
???????Huddleston makes her first appearance in the MIAA Tournament as head coach, going 4-1 through the first two days. She leads the Hornets to their first MIAA Tournament championship appearance since 2013.
SUCCESS IN MAYÂ
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 11 of the last 15 MIAA Tournament championship games with eight titles. Since 2001 the Hornets are 53-17 (.758) in MIAA Tournament play with a 52-13 (.800) record over the last 14 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.
