April 28, 2018- Emporia State won the MIAA Tournament Championship with a 6-0 win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday. After dropping game one 7-4, the Hornets shut out the Bronchos in a winner-take-all championship game. It was the first MIAA Tournament Championship for the Hornets since 2012 and tenth overall in school history.
UCO 7, ESU 4
The Bronchos would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after a two-run home run. The Hornets responded in the bottom half of the frame, tying the game with two runs of their own. Kenzie Garvin led the inning off with a triple and Annie Rockley drove her in with an RBI single to right field. Rockley would come around to score on a Bronchos' error to tie the game at 2-2. In the top of the second, the Bronchos would retake the lead as they scored three runs in the inning off of four hits. The Hornets had the answer again in the bottom of the third. Garvin had her second straight leadoff hit on her single to left field. She scored her second run of the game on a throwing error from Central Oklahoma. After a fielder's choice and a walk to load the bases, Caitlin VanVleck picked up a sac fly RBI to cut the Bronchos' lead to 5-4. In the top of the fourth, the Bronchos would score two runs off of three straight singles to extend their lead. In the bottom of the fifth, the Hornets loaded the bases again after Danielle Sprinkle was hit by a pitch. McKenna Davis followed her with a single and VanVleck reached on a walk, but the runners would be left stranded. The Bronchos held the Hornets scoreless in the sixth and seventh inning as Emporia State fell 7-4 and had their 12-game winning streak snapped.
At the plate, Kenzie Garvin was two for four with a triple and two runs scored. Annie Rockley drove in her fourth run of the tournament. Danielle Sprinkle and McKenna Davis each had a hit in the game for the Hornets. Caitlin VanVleck picked up her 18th RBI of the season.
Kelsey Phillips started the game in the circle, going three innings and took the loss, snapping her eight-game winning streak. Montana Mesler pitched a scoreless four innings of relief for the Hornets.
ESU 6, UCO 0
In the second game, Emporia State scored in the first inning for the third straight game. Danielle Sprinkle drove in the game's first run with a two-out single up the middle. The Hornets came back with another run in the top half of the second inning as Katy Rae Nordman led the inning off by reaching on an error. After Cassidy Beem was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a fielder's choice, Annie Rockley drove her home on a two-out single. After a scoreless third inning, Beem drew a one-out walk and Kenzie Garvin followed her with a single to center field in the top of the fourth. Then, Rockley smashed a three-run home run to right field to give the Hornets a 5-0 lead. Emporia State kept the scoring going in the fourth as Hailey Cope and Sprinkle hit back-to-back singles and McKenna Davis drove in a run on her RBI double to right field. The Hornets' defense forced back-to-back one, two, three innings in the bottom of the fourth and fifth inning. After allowing two runners in the sixth, the Hornets got the final three batters out in the bottom of the seventh with senior Caitlin VanVleck securing the last out on a fly ball to right field.
Annie Rockley drove in four runs in the game, three of them coming on her fourth home run of the year. Danielle Sprinkle was a perfect four for four at the plate, picking up her 48th RBI of the season. Kenzie Garvin had a hit and two runs scored in the game. McKenna Davis went two for four at the plate with a double and an RBI.
Montana Mesler improved to 13-12 on the year, pitching seven shutout innings to go along with four strikeouts. Between the two games, Mesler pitched 11 scoreless innings for the Hornets.
The Hornets had a historic run in this season's conference tournament. After becoming the first #8 seed to win the first three games of the tournament, with today's win they are the only #8 seed to win the MIAA Tournament Championship.
The Hornets secured an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Regional Tournament, which is set to begin on May 10. Emporia State will find out their opponent and site as the other conference tournaments wrap up next weekend.
