#17 Emporia State Hornets (25-7, 14-4 MIAA)
vs. #19 Central Missouri Mules (21-9, 12-6 MIAA)
Friday, April 7 • 6:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Saturday, April 8 • 1:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Sunday, April 9 • 12:00 p.m. • Glennen Field/Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: UCM leads 122-60 Last Meeting: UCM 6, ESU 3 (5/20/16) - Regional Tourney
Live Stats • Complete Game Notes
Up Next: at Washburn • April 12, 2017 • Falley Field • Topeka, Kan.
TANGLE OF THE TOP TEAMS
The #17 Hornets take on #19 Central Missouri in a battle for the top of the MIAA. The three game series starts on Friday, April 7 at 6:00 p.m. on Glennen Field.
LAST AT BAT
The #17 Hornets picked up their 25th win in a 7-3 victory over Missouri Western earlier this week. The Griffons took an early 1-0 lead after two innings before Emporia State took a 3-1 lead after four. Missouri Western scored another two in the fifth inning to close the gap 4-3. The Hornets did not look back as they scored anther three in the sixth. Levi Ashmore hit two for four with two RBI and two runs. Alex White hit two for three while Ryan McBroom had four RBI on just one hit. Layne Downing improved to 3-3 on the season, tossing 2.2 innings and allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts, four in a single inning, and no walks.
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 548-236 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 854-349 overall in his 21st year as a four year head coach. He is the fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and is 14th in total victories. Fornelli is the winningest active MIAA coach. He has led Emporia State to two Division II World Series appearances in 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament. 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 22-45 against the Mules at Emporia State.
Kyle Crookes is 73-37 in his third year as head coach at Central Missouri. He is 3-3 against the Hornets.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 25-7 on the season, 14-4 in the MIAA and are ranked 17th in the nation. Although no individual is ranked in the top ten nationally, offensively the Hornets are third in the nation in scoring, fourth in fielding percentage, eighth in stolen bases, ninth in total runs, and tenth in walks. White is second in the MIAA with a .505 on base percentage and third with a .402 batting average.
Emporia State's six shutouts are the second most in the nation. The Hornet pitching staff is second in Division II in walks allowed per nine innings. Seth Holman leads the MIAA with six wins.
SCOUTING THE MULES
Central Missouri is 21-9 on the season, 12-6 in the MIAA and ranked 19th in Division II. The Mules are ranked eighth in the nation with 15 triples and 11th with 64 stolen bases. Justin Rowe leads the MIAA with a .412 batting average. Zach Girrens is 11th in Division II, allowing 4.94 hits allowed per nine innings.
THE SERIES
The Mules lead the all-time series 122-60 over the Hornets.
LAST TIME AGAINST CENTRAL MO.
Emporia State got six scoreless innings from their bullpen but could not overcome a four run third inning by Central Missouri in a 6-3 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. McBroom and Wade Hanna each had two hits.
ON DECK
The #17 Hornets face Washburn in their first Turnpike Tussle of the season in Topeka on Tuesday, April 11 at 5:00 p.m.
HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 854 career wins and is 548-236 (.699) 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 fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and ranks 14th in career victories with a 848-347 (.710) record in his 21st season as a head coach.
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 third in the MIAA with a .483 on base percentage and sits fifth with a .395 batting average. Brown is also eighth with 47 hits. He has eight doubles and six home runs on the year.
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) is sixth in the MIAA with 23 walks, eighth with a .465 on base percentage, ninth with 32 runs and tenth with 33 RBI.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is third in the conference with a .683 slugging percentage and is fourth with four triples. Over the last ten games, McBroom has a team best 14 RBI.
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) ranks fourth in the MIAA with 14 stolen bases and is sixth with 35 runs. Ashmore has a .545 on base percentage when leading off.
Third baseman Alex White (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) is second in the MIAA with a .505 on base percentage and comes in third with a .402 batting average. White has 33 hits that include five doubles, has 26 RBI and 16 runs.
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) has a .355 batting average on the year with 39 hits that include five doubles. Gowing has scored 26 runs and has 17 RBI.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) is fourth in the MIAA with nine home runs and ninth with 32 runs. Dean has a .319 batting average on the year with 38 hits that include six doubles and 29 RBI. He has also scored 32 runs.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) is batting a team best .379 over the last ten games with nine RBI.
TIMELY HITTING
Infielder/DH Daniel LaMunyon (Sr./Leawood, Kan.) has two late inning, game winning home runs on the season. He is sixth in the MIAA with 12 stolen bases and is batting .275 on the year. LaMunyon has 20 RBI, 21 runs and five home runs.
ON THE MOUND
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) leads the MIAA with six wins and comes in ninth with 53.0 innings pitched. He is fourth, allowing just nine walks on the season. Holman has a 3.74 ERA with a 6-2 record, 39 strikeouts and a .262 opponent batting average.
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is fifth in the MIAA, allowing just ten walks in 37.0 innings pitched. Plank is 4-1 on the year with a 4.86 ERA and 32 strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (So./Wichita, Kan.) is sixth in the MIAA with a 2.64 ERA. Cairns is 4-0 on the year with 32 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched.
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) sits second in the MIAA with just five walks on the year. Gieber is 1-0 on the season with six starts and 11 appearances. He has a 6.82 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Matt Slauter (Sr./Olathe, Kan.) is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched with a combined shutout in his only start. Slauter has 12 strikeouts.
IN THE BULLPEN
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Whitcomb (Sr./Humboldt, Kan.) is ranked fourth in the MIAA with six saves on the year. Over the season, Whitcomb has a .143 opponent batting average with runners on base.
Right-handed pitcher Taylor Thompson (Jr./Cuba, Mo.) is 3-0 with a 3.93 ERA in 16 appearances. Thompson has 16 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Layne Downing (Jr./Hays, Kan.) is 3-3 with a 2.88 ERA.
Left-handed pitcher Tyler Buss (Sr./Jay, Okla.) is 1-0 with a 8.78 ERA in eight games with two starts. Buss has 14 strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Jacob Tetuan (Jr./Topeka, Kan.) is 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA in ten appearances. Tetuan has seen 12.2 innings this season with 12 strikeouts.
TRENDS
Emporia State is 13-1 when they score first and 10-1 when they score in the first.
The Hornets out-score their opponents 40-10 in the third and 18-4 in the ninth.
The Hornets are 10-0 when they hold their opponents to two runs or less.
Five of Emporia State's seven losses were by one run.
Nathan Whitcomb has not allowed a run in 15.1 consecutive innings over 13 games dating back to Feb. 19.
Over the last ten games, Kaden Shaffer is batting a team best .379 with a .621 slugging percentage, a .526 on base percentage and ten runs scored.
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 665 at-bats. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 206, which puts him third all-time. Hanna is only one of four Hornets to have at least 200 career hits. Hanna fourth all-time with 157 career runs scored. He now is sixth with 193 games played, needing to appear in 12 more to tie Bob Hines. Hanna is sixth all-time with 39 doubles, needing two more to tie Mike Carlson for fifth. He has ten career triples, tying him for sixth all-time, needing one more to tie Mike Peterson for fifth. Hanna has 122 career RBI, needing 141 to break into the Emporia State top ten.
WALKING OFF
The Hornets have six comeback wins this season. On February 18 Alex White had an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth of 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, Kaden Shaffer hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 win in game two against Missouri Southern after trailing 3-1 headed into the sixth inning. Against Newman on March 15, the Hornets trailed 6-2 after five innings before Daniel LaMunyon hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 7-6 win. In game three against Neb.-Kearney on March 26, the Hornets came back from an 8-4 deficit to win 9-8 with a walk-off single from Wade Hanna in the ninth inning.
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.
IN THE POLLS
There are several national rankings in NCAA Division II for baseball. Emporia State is ranked #17 in ABCA Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the April 3 Poll. The Hornets are #13 in the D2 Baseball News National Rankings and are #13 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 for the April 4 Poll.
