Emporia State Hornets (5-4, 0-0 MIAA)
vs. #14 Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (2-2, 0-0 GLVC)
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 • 1:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 9-5 Last: ESU 9, UMSL 7 (2/19/17)
vs. Henderson State Reddies (4-3, 0-0 GAC)
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 • 3:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 6-3 Last: HSU 8, ESU 2 (2/12/16)
vs. #10 Southern Arkansas Muleriders (6-0, 0-0 GAC)
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 • 1:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU Leads 3-1 Last: ESU 3, SAU 1 (2/16/13)
vs. William Jewell Cardinals (0-0, 0-0 GLVC)
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 • 3:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 4-3 Last: WJC 4, at ESU 2 (4/05/16)
Up Next: Central Oklahoma • March 2, 2018 • 3:00 pm • Emporia, Kan.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
After inclement weather forced the cancellation of the 9-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark., Emporia State has put together an impromptu 6-State Classic at the Trusler Sports Complex. Emporia will be host to over 300 softball players this weekend.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State finished 3-1 at the Ark.-Monticello D-II Challenge in Bentonville, Ark. The Hornets lost the first game of the tournament to Ark. Tech, then closed out the tournament by beating #12 Harding, Missouri Western, and Ark-Monticello.
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 60-62 in her third year as the head coach at Emporia State. She became head coach after having serving as an assistant for seven seasons. She 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.
Amanda Scott has a record of 44-17 and is in her second season at Mo.-St. Louis.
Beth Jackson has gone 247-256 and is in her tenth season at Henderson State.
Jason Anderson is 125-53 in his fourth year at Southern Arkansas and is 432-126 in his 11th year overall
Dustin Combs has a 309-254 record and is in his 12th season at William Jewell.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 5-4 on the season after going 3-1 in the Ark.-Monticello D-II Challenge in Bentonville, Ark. MIAA Hitter of the Week Danielle Sprinkle leads the Hornets with a .452 batting average, 12 RBI, six doubles, and two home runs. Kenzie Garvin leads the team with seven stolen bases. Montana Mesler is 2-2 on the season with three complete games pitched and 19 strikeouts. Destiny Ojigoh is 2-0 with a 5.57 ERA and one complete game in the circle.
KNOW THE FOE
Mo.-St. Louis is 2-2 on the season and ranked #14 in the NFCA national poll. Emporia State leads the all-time series 9-5.
Henderson State is 4-3 after the first two weekends of action. The Hornets lead the all-time series 6-3.
Southern Arkansas is 6-0 on the year and is ranked 10th in the NFCA preseason poll. Emporia State leads 3-1 in the all-time series.
William Jewell is opening the season in Emporia. They went 25-27 overall and 14-14 in the GLVC last year. The Hornets lead the all-time series 4-3.
UP NEXT
Emporia State opens MIAA play on March 2 when they play host to Central Oklahoma. First pitch at Trusler is set for 3:00 p.m.
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets have a .337 team batting average after nine games. Emporia State has scored 64 runs on 94 hits with 19 doubles, three triples, and four home runs for a .470 team slugging percentage.
Danielle Sprinkle was named the MIAA Softball Hitter of the Week after batting .571 in four games last week for the Hornets. Sprinkle hit .571 with a 1.214 slugging percentage with seven RBI in four games as Emporia State went 3-1 at the Ark.-Monticello D2 Challenge. She is batting a team best .452 on the season with a team high six doubles for an .839 slugging percentage and 12 RBI in nine games.
Valerie Kinney is hitting .435 on the year with seven RBI.
Annie Rockley is batting .344 and has a team high ten runs scored.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State has a 6.24 team ERA with 37 strikeouts, six complete games, and a .336 opponent batting average.
Destiny Ojigoh is 2-0 with a 5.57 ERA and an opponents batting average of .315. Kelsey Phillips has a 1-2 record in 19.1 innings with 13 strikeouts and two complete games pitched. Montana Mesler is 2-2 with 19 strikeouts in 25.2 innings pitched and three complete games.
TOURNAMENTS WITH HUDDLESTON-ROSALES
Huddleston-Rosales is 29-24 in tournament play as head coach at Emporia State. The Hornets went 4-1 at the St. Cloud Indoor Tournament and 2-2 at the Ark.-Monticello Tournament in 2016. In the 2017 season, Huddleston-Rosales 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. The Hornets went 2-3 at the Lubbock Sports Classic to open the 2018 season, followed by a 3-1 outing at the Ark.-Monticello D-II Challenge in Bentonville, Ark.
In 2017, Huddleston-Rosales made her first appearance in the MIAA Tournament as head coach, going 4-2 and finishing second, losing to #1 seed Central Oklahoma in the championship game. She led the Hornets to their first MIAA Tournament championship appearance since 2013.
SUCCESS IN MAY
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 53-18 (.746) in MIAA Tournament play with a 52-14 (.788) 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 14 years and 12 times in the last 22 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.
