Baseball | 2/12/2019 2:21:00 PM
Emporia State Hornets (0-3, 0-0 MIAA)
vs William Jewell (2-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Wednesday, Feb. 13 • 2:00 p.m. • Andover Central HS Field • Andover, Kan.
Thursday, Feb. 14 • 12:00, 3:00 p.m. • Andover Central HS Field • Andover, Kan.
Series History: ESU Leads 15-9 • Last Meeting: ESU 10, WJC 4 (5/10/1980)
Up Next: vs. Upper Iowa • Feb. 19, 2019 • Trusler Sports Complex • Emporia, Kan
Live Stats
PLAYING WITH THE WEATHER
The Hornets are set to take on William Jewell in Andover, Kan on Feb. 13-14. The Hornets will be the home team on the scoreboard in the neutral site meeting at Andover Central HS.
LAST AT BAT
The Hornets opened the season at the Edmond First Pitch Invitational in Edmond, Okla. On day one of the tournament, the Hornets forced Lubbock Christian into extra innings in a pitchers battle. The Hornets recorded five hits including a solo home run from Tanner Arst in the 2-1 loss. Tanner Cairns pitched 6.1 innings for the Hornets allowing one unearned run with eight K's. The Hornets faced off against Southeastern Okla. State on day two of the tournament. For the first time in the 21st century, the Hornets opened the season with consecutive extra inning games. Paul Classen and Mitch Sloan each had two hits and one run for the Hornets in the 3-2 loss in ten innings. Jake Barton pitched 5.0 innings allowing two unearned runs with five K's. On the third day, the Hornets fell 15-5 to Southwestern Okla. State. The Hornets had 12 hits including five doubles and three home runs in the game. Cooper Minnick led the team with three hits with one double and one home run. Josh Norlin and Paul Claassen joined Minnick with one home run each as the trio combined for all five of the Hornets runs.
THE COACHES
Seth Wheeler is 0-3 in his first season as the Hornets head coach. Over the past three years as a pitching coach at Emporia State, Wheeler has led the Hornets to the second best ERA in the MIAA at 4.60 improving from sixth in 2014. This will be his first meeting against William Jewell.
Mike Stockton is 528-373 in his 18th season at William Jewell. This will be his first meeting against the Hornets.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 0-3 on the season after opening the season at the Edmond First Pitch Invitational. The Hornets have forced extra innings in two of three games.
At the Bat
The Hornets are led by Paul Claassen with a .462 batting average with six hits including two doubles and two home runs. Cooper Minnick adds four hits with two runs and a .308 batting average.
On the Mound
The Hornets have four pitchers that have thrown two or more innings with a 0.00 era. Tanner Cairns leads the Hornets with a 0.00 era and eight K's through 6.1 innings. Jake Barton also has a 0.00 era through 5.0 innings and five K's.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
William Jewell is 2-1 to start the season after facing Southwestern Okla. State. The Cardinals are led by Nick Gavin with .455 batting average followed by Anthony Hansen with a .429. Gavin has five hits including three doubles and three runs. Hansen has six hits with three doubles and leads the team with three RBI. On the mound, Mack Stephenson has a 0.00 era through six innings with eight K's for the Cardinals. Reed Pegram is 1-0 with a 1.50 era through six innings.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 25th meeting between the two teams with Emporia State holding a 15-9 lead in the all-time series. The last meeting between the Hornets and Cardinals was May 10, 1980 in a Hornets 10-4 win in Emporia.
UP NEXT
The Hornets play host to Upper Iowa in a mid-week double header on Feb. 19. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the Trusler Sports Complex.
Wheels on the bus
On Friday, June 22, the Emporia State Hornets announced the hiring of Seth Wheeler as the 15th head coach in Hornet baseball history. Wheeler spent the previous three seasons as the pitching and catchers coach at Emporia State. The Hornets had the second best ERA in the conference at 4.60 over his three seasons after ranking sixth in the league in 2014. Emporia State has gone 110-52 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament and an MIAA regular season championship with Wheeler in the dugout.
He began his coaching career with the Junction City Brigade, a collegiate wood bat team that competes in the Mid-Plains League, the summer after graduating from Central Missouri. Wheeler served as the hitting coach as the team went 26-10, won the MPL and led the league in runs per game. During the school year he was an assistant coach at Butler CC. He was in charge of catchers and base running for the Grizzlies who led the NJCAA in stolen bases with 157 on the season.
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Tanner Arst (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) has a .167 batting average with one home run this season. He played third base for the Hornets in 32 games in 2018. He hit .284 for the and had eight doubles along with three home runs, driving in 21 runs.
Second baseman Brian Grove (Sr./River Falls, Wis.) has one hit and one rbi this season. He started 55 games at second base for the Hornets in 2018 hitting .301 with 59 runs scored. Grove also added 14 doubles, three triples, and four home runs on his way to a .449 slugging percentage and MIAA All-Conference Honorable Mention recognition.
Shortstop Josh Norlin (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) has two hits and two runs with one home run this season. He attended Dallas Baptist University in the fall of 2018 before he transferred to Emporia State and took a medical redshirt after an injury early in the season. As a Sophomore in 2017, Norlin hit .404 for Neosho County with an on base percentage of .536. Norlin had 18 doubles, four home runs, 50 RBI and 55 walks. He was named second team All-League SS.
Third baseman Paul Claassen (Sr./Denver, Colo.) leads the Hornets with six hits, two home runs and two doubles. He has a .462 batting avg and a 1.077 slugging percentage. He played in 55 games as a sophomore at Barton CC in 2017. He had a batting average of .290, .370 slugging percentage, and a .432 on base percentage. 12 doubles, two triples, and three home runs with the Cougars.
Catcher Cooper Minnick (JR./Leon, Kan.) has a .308 avg with four hits including one home run and one double. He redshirted for the Hornets in 2018. As a sophomore at Neosho County, he hit .359 in 217 AB's with 21 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, and 69 RBI's. Minnick was named First Team All-Conference, First Team All-Region, third Team All-American, and earned the Gold Glove as a catcher in the Jayhawk Conference.
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mitch Sloan (Sr./Paola, Kan.) has a .429 batting average with three hits and one run in two games this season. As a junior, Sloan transferred to Cameron University where he played in 29 games. He hit .338 with 68 hits, 16 doubles and five home runs as a sophomore at Fort Scott CC.
Outfielder Connor Hurst (Sr./Augusta, Kan.) is batting .273 with three hits, two double and one rbi this season. He hit .385 with an OBP of .476 as a sophomore at Butler CC and finished the season with 69 hits including 12 doubles, four triples, 18 home runs, 64 RBIs, 57 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases. Was named First Team All-Jayhawk Conference Outfield and Second Team All-Region VI.
Outfielder Jack Duke (Jr./Overland Park, Kan.) got his first start in the lineup against Southwestern Okla. State. Duke is in his first season with the Hornets after transferring from Cowley County CC.
ON THE MOUND
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) has thrown 6.1 innings with a 0.00 era and eight K's this season. He threw a total of 88.0 innings in 15 appearances with all 15 being starts in his junior season. He had a record of 9-1 with an ERA of 4.04 and had an opposing batting average of .279 to earn All-MIAA third team honors
Right-handed pitcher Jake Barton (Sr./Omaha, Neb.) has thrown 5.0 innings with five K's and two unearned runs for a 0.00 era this season. He medically redshirted the past two seasons. In 2016 he logged 72.2 innings in 14 starts at Johnson County Community College. He was 8-1 with six complete games and 83 K's allowing just 30 earned runs with an era of 3.72.
Right-handed pitcher Adam Theis (Sr./Olathe, Kan.) pitched 0.1 inning allowing one hit on opening weekend for the Hornets. He pitched in 14 games and started six with a 2-2 record and one save as a junior at Emporia State. He pitched 35 innings with 26 K's and 12 walks.
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