Emporia State Hornets (24-28, 14-12 MIAA)
at MIAA Tournament
vs. Washburn Ichabods (39-10, 23-3 MIAA)
Thursday, April 26, 2018 • 5:00 p.m.
HOF-OGE Energy Field/ASA Hall of Fame Stadium • Oklahoma City, Okla.
Series: ESU leads 93-59 Last: ESU 9, WU 7 (March 31, 2018)
Up Next: Northwest Missouri/Missouri Western • Thursday, April 26, 2018 • 7:30 p.m.
Live Stats
MIAA TOURNAMENT
Emporia State is set to compete in the MIAA tournament as the #8 seed where they will face top seeded Washburn on Thursday, April 26 at 5:00 p.m. The Hornets return to Oklahoma City after reaching the championship game in last year's tournament where they fell to #1 Central Oklahoma.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State continued their winning streak on Senior Day with a sweep against Missouri Western. The Hornets won their ninth straight game and fourth straight series sweep with a 2-0 win in game one and had a 9-1 run-rule win in the nightcap. In the opener, Kelsey Phillips pitched her first shut out of the season, giving up three hits and striking out three. In game two, Destiny Ojigoh and Cassidy Beem both had two RBI and a double in the game. Katy Rae Nordman picked up two RBI and had a run scored for the Hornets. Montana Mesler improved to 11-12 on the season, allowing one run on one hit over five innings.
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 79-86 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 6-6 against Washburn as a head coach.
Brenda Holaday is 64-40 in her second year as head coach for the Ichabods. She is 4-4 against Emporia State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 24-28 overall and 14-12 in the MIAA. The Hornets are on a nine-game winning streak, which is the team's longest since 2015 where they won nine games in a row from Feb. 27 to March 14. They lead the MIAA with 96 stolen bases in 52 games. Danielle Sprinkle is tied for first in the MIAA and ranks 10th nationally with 18 doubles and is sixth in the conference with 41 RBI. Annie Rockley is hitting .337 with 34 runs scored on the season. Montana Mesler is seventh in the conference with 103 strikeouts and has pitched 159.1 innings this season.
SCOUTING WASHBURN
The Ichabods are 39-10 on the season and won the MIAA regular season championship with a 23-3 conference record. As a team, they are hitting .316 and have a team ERA of 2.69 on the season. Megan Deiter leads the MIAA with 17 wins in the cirlce to go with a 2.01 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 93-59-1 against Washburn.
LAST AT BAT AGAINST WU
Emporia State split day two of their weekend series against Washburn. The Hornets fell in the opener 8-0 in five innings and won the nightcap 9-7 in eight innings against the Ichabods.
UP NEXT
Depending on the outcome of the first games, Emporia State will play either Northwest Missouri or Missouri Western on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m.
HORNET HITTING
The Hornets have a .296 team batting average on the season. Emporia State has scored 255 runs on 419 hits with 72 doubles, seven triples, and 18 home runs for a .395 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 18 doubles on the season, while batting .342 and slugging .599 with 41 RBI.
Caitlin VanVleck has 50 hits on the year for a .333 batting average. She has scored 35 runs on the season, including the game-winning run against #10 Southern Arkansas.
Annie Rockley has 34 runs scored for the Hornets while hitting .337 with six doubles, three triples, and three home runs. She is 19 for 24 on stolen base attempts.
Hailey Cope is tied for fourth in the MIAA and 31st nationally with 16 doubles on the season. She has scored 29 runs on 38 hits with 25 RBI, and a home run.
Kenzie Garvin is fourth in the conference with 22 stolen bases on the season, while hitting .296 with 35 runs scored.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Emporia State has a 4.19 team ERA with 177 strikeouts, 29 complete games, and a .301 opponent batting average.
Montana Mesler is 11-12 with a 3.69 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 159.1 innings pitched. She is fourth in the MIAA with 17 complete games pitched this year.
Kelsey Phillips has a 8-9 record in 111.2 innings with 52 strikeouts, nine complete games pitched, and a save. Currently, she has won her last six decisions in the circle for the Hornets.
Destiny Ojigoh is 4-6 with a 5.82 ERA and an opponent batting average of .363 in 55.1 innings pitched.
TOURNAMENTS WITH HUDDLESTON-ROSALES
Huddleston-Rosales is 31-31 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. At the ESU St. Patrick's Classic, the Hornets finished 1-4 and scored 28 runs in the tournament.
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.
