Emporia State Hornets (7-10, 0-2 MIAA)
at Rogers State Hillcats (17-4, 4-0 Heartland)
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 • 3:00 p.m. [DH]
Diamond Sports Complex • Claremore, Okla.
Series: First Meeting Last: First Meeting
Live Stats •
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Pittsburg State • March 9, 2018 • 3:00 pm • Pittsburg, Kan.
BACK ON THE ROAD
After hosting six straight home games, the Hornets travel to Claremore, Okla. on Tuesday, March 6 to take on Rogers State in a non-conference doubleheader.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State fell in both games of a doubleheader to Central Oklahoma in their MIAA opener. In game one, the Bronchos got on the board first, but Hailey Cope answered with a home run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game. The Bronchos took the lead again in the top of the fifth with one run in the inning. The Hornets tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with one run before giving up two runs in the top of the seventh. The Hornets were unable to answer in the final half inning falling 4-2. Hailey Cope led the Hornets with two hits, two RBI and one run in three at bats.
The Hornets were out hit 10-5 with one error in the nightcap. The Bronchos got on the board early with one run in the first inning and two in the third. In the fifth inning each team scored two runs to bring the score to 5-2 before the Bronchos concluded the scoring with one run in the top of the sixth. Carlie McComb and Annie Rockley each had a hit and an RBI in the game.
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 62-68 in her third year as the head coach at Emporia State. She became head coach after having 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.
Andrea Vaughan is 62-63 in her third year as head coach at Rogers State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 7-10 overall and 0-2 in conference play on the season. The Hornets have scored in the first inning in 12 out of 17 games. The Hornets are hitting .295 as a team with a 5.41 ERA. They lead the MIAA and rank 24th nationally with 35 stolen bases in 17 games. The Hornets have hit 27 doubles this season, which ranks third in the conference. Emporia State pitchers have struck out a combined 70 batters this year. Caitlin VanVleck leads the Hornets with 19 hits on a .388 batting average. Danielle Sprinkle is third in the MIAA and ranks 23rd in the nation with seven doubles and has a team best 14 RBI and two home runs on the season.
ABOUT ROGERS STATE
Rogers State is 17-4 on the season and are currently on a 13 game winning streak. They are 7-1 against the MIAA this season. The Hillcats have a team batting average of .306 and a team ERA of 2.08. Allie McFetridge leads the team with 25 hits for a .417 batting average and 25 RBI. Tailee Reding is 6-0 in the circle with a 1.39 ERA and an opponent batting average of .206.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
UP NEXT
Emporia State gets back into MIAA play as they travel to face Pittsburg State in a doubleheader on Friday, March 9. First pitch from Pittsburg, Kan. is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets have a .295 team batting average on the season. Emporia State has scored 89 runs on 144 hits with 25 doubles, three triples, and five home runs for a .389 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 batting .321 on the season with a team high seven doubles for a .566 slugging percentage and 14 RBI.
Caitlin VanVleck leads the team with 19 hits and has a .388 batting average. She has scored ten runs on the season, including the game-winning run against #10 Southern Arkansas.
Valerie Kinney is hitting .333 on the year with seven RBI, a double, and a triple.
Annie Rockley has a team high 14 runs scored while hitting .309 with two doubles, and two triples. She is nine for eleven on stolen base attempts.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State has a 5.24 team ERA with 70 strikeouts, eight complete games, and a .324 opponent batting average.
Montana Mesler is 2-5 with 4.90 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched. She had thrown a team best five complete games.
Kelsey Phillips has a 2-5 record in 36.2 innings with 24 strikeouts, two complete games pitched, and a save.
Destiny Ojigoh is 3-0 with a 4.76 ERA and an opponent batting average of .336 in 25.0 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.
