Emporia State Hornets (9-14, 2-4 MIAA)
vs. Augustana Vikings (15-4, 0-0 NSIC)
Friday, March 16, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 12-7 Last: UA 8, ESU 0 (March 18, 2016)
vs. Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (15-3, 0-0 NSIC)
Friday, March 16, 2018 • 4:00 p.m. • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 4-3 Last: UMD 4, ESU 2 (Feb. 25, 2017)
vs. Minot State Beavers (12-4, 0-0 NSIC)
Saturday, March 17, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: MSU leads 1-0 Last: MSU 1, ESU 0 (May 11, 2013, NCAA Regional)
vs. #10 Minnesota St.- Mankato Mavericks (16-3, 0-0 NSIC)
Saturday, March 17, 2018 • 4:00 p.m. • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 13-6 Last: MSUM 6, ESU 0 (March 19, 2016)
vs. #7 Winona State Warriors (17-2, 0-0 NSIC)
Sunday, March 18, 2018 • 12:00 p.m. • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 9-4 Last: WSU 12, ESU 4 (March 20, 2016)
Up Next: at Lindenwood
Friday, March 23, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. • Lou Brock Sports Complex • St. Charles, Mo.
TOURNEY WEEKEND
After the threat of inclement weather cancelled the MWSU Hy-Vee Classic, the Hornets will play host to the 10-team, ESU St. Patrick's Classic.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State split their doubleheader at Missouri Southern. The Hornets had a pair of five-run innings in their 12-4 win in game one and fell 6-2 in game two to finish 2-2 on their weekend road trip.
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 64-72 in her third year as the head coach at Emporia State. She served 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. She is 30-27 in tournament play as head coach for the Hornets.
Gretta Melstad is 440-199 in her 12th year at Augustana.
Jen Walter is 85-40 in her third year at Minnesota-Duluth.
Dave Kivett is 12-4 in his first year at Minot State.
Lori Meyer is 1174-652-3 in her 34th year at Minnesota St.-Mankato
Greg Jones has a 719-251-4 record in his 18th year at Winona State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 9-14 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA. The Hornets are hitting .304 as a team with a 5.22 ERA. They lead the MIAA and rank 25th nationally with 49 stolen bases in 23 games. The Hornets are second in the MIAA with 37 doubles this season. Danielle Sprinkle leads the Hornets with 26 hits on a .382 batting average. She is tied for first in the MIAA and sixth nationally with 11 doubles and has 21 RBI and four home runs on the season. Montana Mesler has struck out 53 hitters in 72.2 innings.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Augustana is 15-4 on the season and currently on a 14-game win streak.
Minnesota Duluth is 15-3 on the season and currently holds a nine game win streak.
Minot State has a 12-4 record on the season.
Minnesota State is 16-3 on the season and is ranked #10 in the nation.
Winona State is 17-2 on the season with a 14-game win streak and ranked #7 in the nation.
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UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to St. Charles, Mo. to take on Lindenwood in MIAA conference action March 23.
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets have a .304 team batting average on the season. Emporia State has scored 124 runs on 197 hits with 37 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs for a .410 team slugging percentage.
Danielle Sprinkle was named the MIAA Softball Hitter of the Week on Feb. 13 after hitting .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 tied for first in the MIAA with 11 doubles on the season, while batting .382 and slugging .721 with 21 RBI.
Caitlin VanVleck has 25 hits on the year for a .373 batting average. She has scored 14 runs on the season, including the game-winning run against #10 Southern Arkansas.
Valerie Kinney is hitting .308 on the year with seven RBI, a double, and a triple.
Annie Rockley has 17 runs scored while hitting .306 with two doubles, and three triples. She is ten for twelve on stolen base attempts.
Hailey Cope has 21 hits and 15 runs scored on the season with 18 RBI, eight doubles, and a home run.
Kenzie Garvin is tied for second in the MIAA with 13 stolen bases on the season.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State has a 5.22 team ERA with 91 strikeouts, nine complete games, and a .322 opponent batting average.
Montana Mesler is 4-6 with 4.53 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 72.2 innings pitched. She has thrown a team best six complete games.
Kelsey Phillips has a 2-6 record in 43.0 innings with 26 strikeouts, two complete games pitched, and a save.
Destiny Ojigoh is 3-2 with a 5.20 ERA and an opponent batting average of .335 in 36.1 innings pitched.
TOURNAMENTS WITH HUDDLESTON-ROSALES
Huddleston-Rosales is 30-27 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. The Hornets finished 1-3 at the 2018 ESU 6-State Classic and picked up their second win against a ranked opponent with a walk-off win against #10 Southern Arkansas.
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.
