EMPORIA STATE SOFTBALL SET FOR DOUBLE HEADER ACTION IN ANDOVER

Softball | 3/6/2019 4:46:00 PM

Emporia State Hornets (4-11, 0-0 MIAA)
vs. Lindenwood (6-2, 0-0 MIAA)
Thursday, March 7, 2019 • (DH) 12:00, 2:00 p.m. • Andover Central HS • Andover, Kan.
Series: ESU Leads 13-3 Last: ESU 9, LWU 5 (Apr. 27, 2018)
vs. Lincoln (1-11, 0-0 MIAA) Live Stats
Friday, March 8, 2019 • (DH) 12:00, 2:00 p.m. • Andover Central HS • Andover, Kan.
Series: ESU Leads 30-1 Last: ESU 12, LU 1 (Mar. 24, 2018)
Next Up: at William Jewell • Liberty, Mo • Cardinal Softball Field • March 13

CONFERENCE OPENER
The Hornets travel to Andover, Kan. for a pair of double headers against Lindenwood and Lincoln on Thursday and Friday. The Hornets will be the home team on the scoreboard in each game.

LAST AT BAT
Emporia State went 2-2 at the Springfield invitational on February 28-March 1 in Peoria, Ill. The Hornets fell 7-6 in their first game against Quincy. Kailee Odegard, Rachel Kauss and Cassidy Beem each had two hits for the Hornets. In the second game of the weekend, the Hornets defeated Lewis 10-9 in eight innings. Cassidy Beem led the Hornets with two runs and two hits. The Hornets won their third game of the tournament 8-5 over Illinois-Springfield. Kenzie Garvin and Cassidy Beem each had three hits while Beem and Hannah Steeby each scored two runs. In the final game of the weekend, the Hornets fell 3-1 to Purdue Northwest. Valerie Kinney led the Hornets with two hits including a solo HR for the Hornets one run in the game.
 
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 89-100 in her fourth 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.
Liz Kelly is 57-50 in her third year as head coach for the Lions.
Christine Engbers is in her first season as head coach with the Blue Tigers.  

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 4-11 on the season. Cassidy Beem leads the Hornets with a .378 batting avg. and 11 runs including two home runs. Kenzie Garvin has 20 hits and six runs. Montana Mesler has pitched five complete games with 41 K's in 43.1 innings.

SCOUTING LINDENWOOD
The Lions are 6-2 on the season. Madison Corwell leads the team with a .500 batting avg. in five games. Hanna Porter has a .440 avg. with 11 hits while Austine Pauley has 13 hits with 12 rbi and eight runs. Stormee Galka is 3-1 in four starts with 11 K's and a 2.40 era through 23.1 innings.

SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State holds a 13-3 all time series lead over Lindenwood.

SCOUTING LINCOLN
The Blue Tigers are 1-11 on the season. Camryn Pryor leads the team with a .528 batting avg. with 19 hits and eight runs. She has a slugging percentage of .667. Jordan Lawson has a .385 batting avg. with 15 hits and six runs. Hannah Hennessy is 1-5 in six starts with an era of 6.59 and 18 K's.

SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 30-1 over the Blue Tigers.
 
UP NEXT
The Hornets travel to Liberty, Mo. to take on William Jewell at the Cardinal Softball Field on March 13.

HORNETS AT THE BAT
Left fielder, Kenzie Garvin has a .370 batting avg with 20 hits and six runs this season. She played in 61 games, starting in 60 for the Hornets in 2018. She finished the season with a .301 batting average on 58 hits with 44 runs.
Second Base, Gabby Biondo has a .250 batting avg. with five runs on five hits and two rbi. She has played in nine game, starting in four for the Hornets this season. In 2018, she appeared in 28 games for the Hornets.
Catcher, Cassidy Beem has 11 runs on 17 hits with four rbi and leads the Hornets with a batting avg of .378 this season. She started in 56 of the 57 games she played in last season. She finished the season with 14 runs and 13 rbi on 20 hits.
Center fielder, Hannah Steeby has a .265 batting avg with eight runs on nine hits including three home runs and eight rbi. She transferred from Central Methodist University. In 2018, she earned first-team All-American honors from the NFCA and NAIA and was the Heart of America Conference Player of the Year.
Designated player/pitcher, Kelsey Phillips has scored eight runs and has nine rbi for the Hornets this season. She played in 31 games, starting in 25 for the Hornets in 2018. She finished the season with a .394 with 16 runs on 26 hits.
Short-stop, Destiny Ojigoh has a batting avg of .234 with six runs on 11 hits and eight rbi. She played and started in 55 games for the Hornets in 2018. She held a .272 batting average with 18 runs on 40 hits. She tacked on three home runs with 34 rbi.
First base, Rachel Kauss has one run and four rbi on ten hits with a batting avg on .244. She played in 13 games for the Hornets in 2018. In 16 at bats she had five hits and scored two runs with a .313 batting average.
Right fielder, Valerie Kinney is batting .259 with seven hits and two rbi including one solo home run. She has started eight of the 11 games she has played this season. In 2018, she appeared in 25 games for the Hornets with a batting average of .293 in 58 at-bats.
Third base, Kailee Odegard has a .318 batting avg. with five runs on seven hits for the Hornets. She has started in nine of the ten games she has played in her freshman season with the Hornets.

EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Montana Mesler is 2-6 with five complete games. She has thrown 43.1 innings with a 5.19 era and 41 K's. She finished the 2018 season with a 15-13 record in 37 appearances with 31 starts. She threw 20 complete games with a 4.58 era and 124 K's in 198.1 innings.
Sydney Righi is 0-3 in five starts for the Hornets. She has an era of 8.00 through 18.0 innings with seven K's. She was 11-5 with a 2.91 era at Blue Springs South HS in her senior season.
Kelsey Phillips is 2-1 with five appearances and two starts. She has thrown 22.0 innings with a 5.32 era and seven K's. She finished the 2018 season with a 10-11 record in 30 appearances with 18 starts. She threw nine complete games with a 4.95 era and 54 K's in 125.1 innings.

THE HORNETS WITH ROSALES
Rosales is in her fourth season as head coach at Emporia State. She holds an 89-100 overall record, 38-40 in the MIAA after taking over in November of 2015 with no seniors on the roster.
In 2018, Rosales led the Hornets to the MIAA Tournament championship and her first trip to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament as head coach. The Hornets finished the regular season on a nine game winning streak and extended that to a 12 game streak in the MIAA Tournament. Emporia State advanced to the Central Regional championship game against Minnesota-Duluth.  
In 2017, 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.
In 2016, Rosales led the Hornets to a 21-32 record, 9-17 in the MIAA in her first season as head coach. Prior to the season, she was selected as the tenth head coach for the Hornets and took over the role in November of 2015.
Before accepting the head coaching role, she had served as an assistant coach for the Hornets the previous seven seasons under both coach Kristi Bredbenner and Julie LeMaire after her all-conference playing career at Emporia State.