May 10, 2018- Emporia State opened up the NCAA Central Regional Tournament with a 3-1 win over top-seeded Winona State on Thursday. The Hornets picked up their 14th win in their last 15 games to advance to the second round of the tournament.
In the top of the first, Kenzie Garvin led the game off with an infield single to give the Hornets an early baserunner. Later in the inning, she would steal second base, but would advance no further after two straight flyouts. In the second, the Hornets would get the leadoff runner on for the second straight inning as McKenna Davis drew a walk. Destiny Ojigoh and Katy Rae Nordman followed with back-to-back, one-out singles to load the bases. Cassidy Beem drove in the first run of the game on her single to left field to give the Hornets an early 1-0 lead. The Hornets flashed the leather in the bottom half of the second. Davis made a diving catch in center field and Hailey Cope made a nice stop and throw to get the lead runner out at second to keep the Warriors scoreless.
Through the first four innings, pitcher Montana Mesler held the Warriors to just two baserunners, one on a hit and the other on a walk. In the top of the fifth, Garvin led off with another infield single and advanced to second on a sac bunt from Annie Rockley. Hailey Cope followed with a single and Danielle Sprinkle brought home Garvin on her RBI single to left field. Two straight hit by pitches would give the Hornets another run in the inning as they extended their lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Warriors would get their first runner past first base after a double and a single, but Mesler forced a pop up to the shortstop to get out of the inning unharmed. The Warriors picked up their first run in the bottom of the sixth off of a solo home run. In the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors led the inning off with a double, but would be left stranded after three straight outs highlighted by a diving catch from Rockley for the final out of the Hornets' 3-1 win.
At the plate, Kenzie Garvin was two for four with a run scored and a stolen base. Danielle Sprinkle and Cassidy Beem each had an RBI for the Hornets. McKenna Davis reached base safely four times in the game with two hits and a run scored.
Montana Mesler pitched a complete game in the circle for the Hornets as she improved to 14-12 on the season. She allowed one run over seven innings with two strikeouts and stranded six baserunners.
Appearing in their 13th NCAA Tournament, Emporia State improves to 10-3 all-time in NCAA Regional openers. The Hornets will face Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m.
