EMPORIA STATE SOFTBALL CONTINUES BUSY WEEK WITH TRIP TO NEWMAN

Softball | 4/2/2019 11:55:00 AM

Emporia State Hornets (12-17, 6-4 MIAA)
at
Newman Jets (8-25, 2-18 Heartland)
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 • 4:00 p.m.
NU Softball Field • Wichita, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 15-3
Last Meeting: at ESU 5, Newman 1 (April 10, 2018)
Live Stats • Live Video • Complete Notes in pdf
Next Up: at Southwest Baptist • Friday, April 5, 2019 • 4:00 p.m.
SBU Softball Field • Bolivar, Mo.

PRO SCHEDULE
Emporia State hits the road to play their fifth and sixth games in three days on Tuesday when they travel to Wichita to take on Newman in non-conference action.

LAST AT BAT
Emporia State softball moved their MIAA winning streak to five games with a double header sweep of Missouri Southern on Monday at the Trusler Sports Complex.  The Hornets walked off to win the matinee 4-3 and then got a shut out 6-0 in the night cap. In game one Kelsey Phillips delivered an RBI single that plated Hannah Steeby in the eighth to give Emporia State their second walk off win in two days. In game two Sydney Righi went the distance for the second straight outing and posted her first career shutout with a four hitter.  Kelsey Phillips had four RBI on two home runs in the nightcap.
 
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 97-106 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 2-2 against Newman as a head coach.
Janice Fiene is 56-133 in her fourth year with the Jets and 420-431 in 18 years overall as a head coach. She is 2-2 against Emporia State.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 12-17, 6-4 in the MIAA and have won seven of their last ten games. As a team the Hornets are second in the MIAA in stolen bases with 51 as Gabby Biondo's 11 steals ranks fourth in the league. In the circle Montana Mesler is second in the MIAA with 76 strikeouts.  

SCOUTING THE JETS
Newman is 8-25 overall and 2-18 in their final year in the Heartland Conference. They are 2-1 against the MIAA with two home wins over Southwest Baptist and a road loss at Central Oklahoma.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets lead the all-time series 15-3.       

LAST AT BAT AGAINST NEWMAN
Emporia State split their non-conference doubleheader against Newman. The Hornets fell 3-2 in the opener and won the nightcap 5-1.  In game one, Destiny Ojigoh was one for two at the dish, hitting her third home run of the season.  In the nightcap, the Hornets would score in three straight innings on their way to a 5-1 win.  Annie Rockley was one for two at the plate with two runs scored and a double.  Kelsey Phillips started the game in the circle and held the Jets hitless through the first four innings.    

UP NEXT
The Hornets return to MIAA play on Friday at Southwest Baptist.

HORNETS AT THE BAT
Left fielder Gabby Biondo is batting .333 with 15 runs and 11 RBI. She has played in 23 games with 18 starts and is ranked fourth in the MIAA with 11 stolen bases. In 2018, she appeared in 28 games for the Hornets.
Outfielder Maddy Broxterman is batting .250 in 12 games with eight starts. She has four runs, a triple, a home run and two RBI on the season.
First base Rachel Kauss is hitting .349 on the year with three doubles and 11 RBI and raised her batting average 49 points over the weekend. 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 .276 batting average with a team high 20 runs and five home runs with 15 RBI. She is tied for eighth in the MIAA in home runs. 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 had two home runs in game two against Missouri Southern. He has scored 12 runs and has three homers and 15 RBI at the plate 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.
Catcher Cassidy Beem has a team high 18 RBI in 29 starts this season and is hitting .286 with four doubles and four home runs. She started in 56 of the 57 games she played in last season and finished the season with 14 runs and 13 RBI on 20 hits.
Second base Destiny Ojigoh is batting .221 with 12 runs, four doubles, a home run and 11 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.
Third base Kailee Odegard has a .263 batting average with 11 runs on 15 hits including five doubles and a triple. She has started in 23 of the 24 games she has played this season.
Outfielder Brittanie Shepherd has scored nine runs and has three doubles among her 13 hits on the season.
Left fielder Kenzie Garvin was batting .371 with 16 runs and ten stolen bases this season before she was injured scoring the game winning run in game one against Pitt State.  She is seventh in the MIAA in stolen bases. 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.

EMPORIA STATE PITCHING
Montana Mesler is 5-9 with a 3.47 ERA and eight complete games. She is second in the MIAA with 76 strikeouts on the season. 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 2-4 in eight starts for the Hornets. She went 2-0 over the weekend including a four hit shutout of Missouri Southern. She has lowered her ERA to 4.58 and has 15 strikeouts on the year. 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 3.47 ERA in ten games with six starts. She is allowing batters to hit just .253 against her to rank ninth 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.
Mackenzie Thornton is 1-1 with 5.07 ERA in four appearances this season. She was 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA in 13 games last year, including two starts.
Brylie Bassett has a 1.43 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched over seven relief appearances.

THE HORNETS WITH ROSALES
Rosales is in her fourth season as head coach at Emporia State. She holds an 97-106 overall record, 43-41 in the MIAA after taking over in November of 2015.
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.  
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.