Softball | 4/11/2019 10:58:00 AM
Emporia State Hornets (16-21, 6-8 MIAA)
vs. Ft. Hays State Tigers (16-15, 9-7 MIAA)
Friday, April 12 • 3:00 p.m. (DH) • Turnbull Field/Trusler Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 43-31 •
Last Meeting: at FHSU 4, ESU 3 (4/4/18)
Game 1 only Radio: KVOE 96.9FM/1400AM
Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Video: themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
vs. Neb.-Kearney Lopers (14-18, 8-8 MIAA)
Saturday, April 13 • 12:00 p.m. (DH) • Turnbull Field/Trusler Complex • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 21-16 •
Last Meeting: at UNK 2, ESU 0 (4/5/18)
Game 1 only Radio: KFFX 104.9FM
Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Video: themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Next Up: at #2 Central Oklahoma • Friday, April 19, 2019 • 2:00 p.m.
Broncho Softball Stadium • Edmond, Okla.
FINAL HOME GAMES
Emporia State plays their final home games of the season as they take on Ft. Hays State and Neb.-Kearney.
LAST AT BAT
Emporia State enjoyed their return to the Trusler Sports Complex as they swept a double header from Rogers State on Tuesday. The Hornets won the matinee 1-0 in walk off fashion and then picked up a 4-1 win in the night cap.
Hannah Steeby hit a walk off homer in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the victory in the matinee as Montana Mesler had a career high 11 strikeouts in the two hit shut out. Â
Kenzie Garvin had the big hit of the second game when she delivered a two out double that plated two runs in the second inning and gave the Hornets a 3-0 lead.
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THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 101-110 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. She is 1-5 against Ft. Hays State and 2-4 against Neb.-Kearney as a head coach.
Adrian Pilkington is 93-148 in her fifth year as head coach for the Tigers. She is 5-3 against Emporia State.
Holly Carnes is 362-483 in her 19th year as head coach for the Lopers. She is 5-8 against Emporia State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 16-21, 6-8 in the MIAA and are 8-2 at home this year. As a team the Hornets are batting .272 with a 3.56 team ERA. Hannah Steeby is the only player in the top ten of the MIAA in both home runs and stolen bases. Montana Mesler is second in the MIAA in strikeouts. Â
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Ft. Hays State is 16-15, 9-7 in the MIAA. They are batting .293 as a team with a 3.77 team ERA. Hailey Chapman is leading the MIAA with 106 strikeouts.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets lead the all-time series with the Tigers 43-31.
LAST AT BAT WITH FT. HAYS STATE
Emporia State was swept at FHSU falling 2-0 and 4-3 in Hays.
SCOUTING THE LOPERS
Neb.-Kearney is 14-18, 8-8 in the MIAA. They are second in the MIAA with a .330 team batting average but have a 4.32 team ERA. Carlee Liesch leads the MIAA in batting average and runs scored.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets lead the all-time series with the Lopers 21-16.
LAST AT BAT WITH NEB.-KEARNEY
Emporia State split with UNK, winning 7-5 before falling 2-0 in the nightcap.
UP NEXT
The Hornets hit the road for the final ten games of the year starting at #2 Central Oklahoma on April 19 in Edmond, Okla.
HORNETS AT THE BAT
Left fielder Kenzie Garvin is batting .359 with 16 runs and ten stolen bases. She is on an eight game hitting streak although she missed five games in the middle of it with a knee injury. She is 11th in the MIAA in stolen bases with ten. 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.
Designated player/outfielder Gabby Biondo is batting .344 with 19 runs and 15 RBI and is ranked fifth in the MIAA with 13 stolen bases. She has played in 31 games with 26 starts. She is batting .364 in her 26 starts this season. In 2018, she appeared in 28 games for the Hornets.
Outfielder Maddy Broxterman is batting .214 in 20 games with 18 starts. She has eight runs, a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI on the season.
First base Rachel Kauss is hitting .305 on the year with three doubles and 13 RBI. 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.
Shortstop Hannah Steeby has a .333 batting average with a team high 30 runs, eight home runs and 25 RBI. She is second in the MIAA in home runs and sixth in stolen bases, the only player in the league to rank in the top ten in both categories, and is also ranked sixth in triples, eighth in runs, and ninth in slugging percentage. She transferred to Emporia State from Central Methodist where she earned first-team All-American honors from the NFCA and NAIA and was the Heart of America Conference Player of the Year in 2018.
Catcher Cassidy Beem is fifth in the MIAA with six home runs on the season. She is batting .264 with five doubles, 21 runs scored and 24 RBI in 37 starts. She started in 56 of the 57 games she played in last season and finished the season with 14 runs and 13 RBI.
Second base Destiny Ojigoh is batting .250 with 16 runs, four doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI and has started all 37 games this season. 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.
Third base Kailee Odegard has a .234 batting average with 13 runs on 18 hits including six doubles and a triple. She has started in 29 of the 30 games she has played this season.
Outfielder Brittanie Shepherd has scored 13 runs and has four doubles among her 17 hits on the season.
Designated player/pitcher, Kelsey Phillips has scored 14 runs and has three homers and 17 RBI at the plate for the Hornets this season. She had two home runs in game two against Missouri Southern. 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.
EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Montana Mesler is 7-10 with a 3.77 ERA and nine complete games. She is second in the MIAA with 103 strikeouts on the season. She tossed a two-hit shutout with a career high 11 strike outs against Rogers State. It is the most strike outs by a Hornets since 2013.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 4-5 in 11 starts for the Hornets. She tossed a four hit shutout of Missouri Southern. She has lowered her ERA to 3.56 after going 4-1 with a 1.22 ERA in her last six appearances. She was 11-5 with a 2.91 ERA at Blue Springs South HS in her senior season.
Kelsey Phillips is 4-3 with a save, a 3.21 ERA and six starts in 13 games. She is allowing batters to hit just .242 against her to rank fifth in the MIAA. 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.
Brylie Bassett has a 2.85 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched over nine appearances with one start.
Mackenzie Thornton is 1-2 with 4.31 ERA in five appearances this season. She was 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA in 13 games last year, including two starts.
THE HORNETS WITH ROSALES
Rosales is in her fourth season as head coach at Emporia State. She holds an 101-110 overall record, 43-45 in the MIAA.
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 then advanced to the Central Regional championship game before falling to Minnesota-Duluth. Â
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.
Before accepting the head coaching role, she had served as an assistant coach for the Hornets the previous seven seasons after her all-conference playing career at Emporia State.
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 12 of the last 15 years and 13 times in the last 23 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. In the 21st Century, Emporia State has claimed the regular season title eight times (2005-08, 2010-12, 2014) and the tournament title nine times (2004-10, 2012, 2018).
