Emporia State Hornets (7-12, 0-2 MIAA)
at Pittsburg State Gorillas (8-14, 0-0 MIAA)
Friday, March 9, 2018 • 3:00 p.m. [DH] • PSU Softball Field • Pittsburg, Kan.
Series: ESU leads 74-53 Last: ESU 1, PSU 0 (April 28, 2017-MIAA Tourney)
at Missouri Southern Lions (8-11, 0-0 MIAA)
Saturday, March 10, 2018 • 12:00 p.m. [DH] • Lipira Softball Complex • Joplin, Mo.
Series: MSSU leads 40-37 Last: ESU 11, MSSU 4 (April 27, 2017-MIAA Tourney)
Live Stats •
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: MWSU Hy-Vee Classic • March 16-18, 2018 • St. Joseph, Mo.
MIAA ROAD TRIPS
The Hornets play their MIAA road opener this weekend at Pittsburg State on Friday before heading to Missouri Southern on Saturday. They will be one of three Emporia State teams competing in Pittsburg on Friday with the Hornet baseball team taking on the Gorillas and the #17 Emporia State men's track team competing at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships at the Plaster Center.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State rallied in the seventh inning of the nightcap of their doubleheader against Rogers State, but the Hillcats were able to get a walk off in the bottom of the inning in a 4-3 loss. The Hornets lost the first game by a score of 3-1.
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 62-70 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. She is 2-3 against Pittsburg State and 3-2 against Missouri Southern.
Ashley Balazs is 8-14 in her first year at Pittsburg State and 24-43 in her second year as a head coach. This is her first meeting with Emporia State.
Melissa Chmielewski is 58-73 in her third year as head coach at Missouri Southern. She is 2-3 against Emporia State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 7-12 overall and 0-2 in conference play on the season. The Hornets are hitting .288 as a team with a 5.05 ERA. They lead the MIAA and rank 27th nationally with 39 stolen bases in 19 games. The Hornets have hit 29 doubles this season, which ranks second in the conference. Emporia State pitchers have struck out a combined 80 batters this year. Caitlin VanVleck leads the Hornets with 20 hits on a .364 batting average. Danielle Sprinkle is second in the MIAA and tied for tenth nationally with eight doubles and has 14 RBI and two home runs on the season.
SCOUTING PITTSBURG STATE
The Gorillas are 8-14 on the season. As a team, the Gorillas are hitting .247 at the plate and have a team ERA of 5.62. Kala Holder leads the MIAA with eight home runs and is slugging .767 on the season. The Hornets lead the all-time series 74-53.
SCOUTING MISSOURI SOUTHERN
The Lions are 8-11 on the year. Missouri Southern is second in the MIAA with 137 hits on the season. The Lions have a team ERA of 3.87 and have combined to strikeout 61 batters. Abi Corbett is hitting .412 with ten runs scored and six RBI. The Lions lead the all-time series 40-37.
UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to St. Joseph, Mo. to play in the MWSU Hy-Vee Classic on March 16-18.
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets have a .288 team batting average on the season. Emporia State has scored 93 runs on 155 hits with 29 doubles, three triples, and five home runs for a .381 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 second in the MIAA with eight doubles on the season, while batting .328 and slugging .569 with 14 RBI.
Caitlin VanVleck leads the team with 20 hits and has a .364 batting average. She has scored ten 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 a team high 15 runs scored while hitting .311 with two doubles, and two triples. She is ten for twelve on stolen base attempts.
Kenzie Garvin ranks second in the MIAA with 11 stolen bases on the season.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State has a 5.05 team ERA with 80 strikeouts, nine complete games, and a .313 opponent batting average.
Montana Mesler is 2-6 with 4.77 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 61.2 innings pitched. She had thrown a team best six complete games.
Kelsey Phillips has a 2-5 record in 37.0 innings with 25 strikeouts, two complete games pitched, and a save.
Destiny Ojigoh is 3-1 with a 4.47 ERA and an opponent batting average of .310 in 31.1 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.
