Softball | 4/22/2019 11:56:00 PM

Emporia State Hornets (22-23, 12-10 MIAA)
at
William Jewell Cardinals (21-21, 8-14 GLVC)
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 • 2:00 p.m.
Cardinal Field • Liberty, Mo.
Series Record: ESU leads 5-4 • Last Meeting: ESU 5, WJC 2 (Feb. 16, 2019)
Radio: None Internet Audio: None Video: glvcsn.com
Live Stats • Complete Notes in pdf
Next Up: at Northwest Missouri • Friday, April 26, 2019 • 2:00 p.m.
Bearcat Field • Maryville, Mo.

OUT OF LEAGUE
Emporia State makes their last non-conference road trip of the regular season at William Jewell. .

LAST AT BAT
Emporia State swept Northeastern State on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla. The Hornets won game one 4-2 and pulled away late for a 10-1 win in game two. In the matinee Valerie Kinney gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead with a two run double in the first and Cassidy Beem made it 3-0 with a solo homer in the second. the RiverHawks scored two in the bottom of the third to get within a run. Beem hit her second homer of the game in the seventh to give ESU an insurance run. The Hornets got a bases loaded walk by Hannah Steeby and a sac fly from Beem to go up 2-0 in the first in the nightcap.  Beem singled in Steeby to make it 3-0 in the third before NSU scored their only run in fourth.  The Hornets exploded for seven runs in the seventh to ice the win.
 
THE COACHES
April Huddleston-Rosales is 107-112 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. She is 3-2 against William Jewell.
Dustin Combs is 358-297 in his 13th year at William Jewell. He is 3-4 against Emporia State.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 22-23, 12-10 in the MIAA and were 12-2 at home this year. As a team the Hornets are batting .276 with a 3.60 team ERA. Hannah Steeby is in the top five of the MIAA in runs, triples, home runs and stolen bases. She is the only player in the top ten of the MIAA in both home runs and stolen bases. Montana Mesler is third in the MIAA in strikeouts while Kelsey Phillips leads the league in saves.  

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Central Oklahoma is 21-21 overall and 8-14 in the GLVC. They are 7-4 against the MIAA this season. They are hitting .269 as a team and have a 4.06 team ERA. Courtney Beatty is batting .391 with a team high 27 RBI. Anna Biondo is 8-11 with a 3.77 ERA while Madelynne Greenstreet is 8-4 with a 4.13 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 5-4 with seven of the nine meetings coming in the last five years.

LAST AT BAT WITH WILLIAM JEWELL
Emporia State won 5-2 in the teams first meeting this year at the Alvy Early Classic in Arkadelphia, Ark..

UP NEXT
The Hornets wrap up the regular season at Northwest Missouri on Friday and Missouri Western on Saturday.

HORNETS AT THE BAT
Left fielder Kenzie Garvin (Sr./Lawrence, Kan.) is eighth in the MIAA in stolen bases. She is batting .354 with 24 runs and 13 stolen bases. She has hit safely in nine of 12 games since missing five games with a knee injury. She had an 11 game hitting streak wrapped around the time she missed. 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 (So./Belton, Mo.) is fourth in the MIAA in stolen bases with 18 and is batting .341 with 26 runs and 19 RBI. She has played in 39 games with 34 starts. In 2018, she appeared in 28 games last year.
Shortstop Hannah Steeby (Jr./St. Joseph, Mo.) is fourth in the MIAA in runs scored, fifth in home runs, triples and stolen bases, and is tenth in slugging percentage. She has a .349 batting average with a team high 39 runs, nine home runs and 34 RBI. She is batting .455 with three triples, two homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs in her last ten games. She transferred to Emporia State from Central Methodist where she earned first-team NFCA and NAIA All-American honors in 2018.
First base Rachel Kauss (So./Overland Park, Kan.) is hitting .295 on the year with five doubles and 17 RBI. She is one of three Hornets to start every game this year. She played in 13 games last year. In 16 at bats she had five hits and scored two runs with a .313 batting average.
Catcher Cassidy Beem (So./Lamar, Mo.) is fifth in the MIAA with nine home runs on the season. She is batting .258 with five doubles, 25 runs scored and 30 RBI in 45 starts. She had three home runs in the double header at Northeastern State. 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 (So./Kansas City, Mo.) is batting .244 with 19 runs, five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI and has started all 45 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 (Fr./Blue Springs, Mo.) has a .235 batting average with 14 runs, eight doubles and two triples. She has started in 39 of the 40 games she has played this season.
Center fielder Brittanie Shepherd (Fr./Kansas City, Mo.) is batting .240 and has scored 17 runs with six doubles, a triple and a home run. She is batting .333 over her last ten games.
Outfielder/designated player Valerie Kinney (Sr./Bennington, Neb.) is batting .265 in 26 games this year with a .333 average in the 13 games she has come off the bench. She is hitting .357 in her last seven games with seven RBI. She is the only four year player on the roster and has played in 83 games with 48 starts in her career.
Right fielder Maddy Broxterman (So/Meriden, Kan.) is batting .191 in 24 games with 22 starts. She has nine runs, a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI on the season.
Designated player/pitcher, Kelsey Phillips (Jr./Winfield, Kan.) 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
Right-handed pitcher Montana Mesler (So./Topeka, Kan.) is third in the MIAA with 116 strikeouts on the season. She is 9-11 with a 3.75 ERA and ten complete games. 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.
Right-handed pitcher Sydney Righi (Fr./Blue Springs, Mo.) is 6-5 in 14 starts for the Hornets. She has lowered her ERA to 3.44 after going 6-1 with a 1.76 ERA in her last ten appearances. She tossed a four hit shutout of Missouri Southern. She was 11-5 with a 2.91 ERA at Blue Springs South HS in her senior season.
Right-handed pitcher Kelsey Phillips is third in the MIAA in saves and ninth in opponents batting average. She is 5-4 with three saves, a 3.50 ERA and seven starts in 17 games. She has a 1.72 ERA in ten relief appearances with a 2-0 record and three saves out of the bullpen. 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.
Right-handed pitcher Brylie Bassett (Fr./Oskaloosa, Kan.) has a 3.36 ERA in 25.0 innings pitched over 11 appearances with one start.
Right-handed pitcher Mackenzie Thornton (Jr./Grandfield, Okla.) is 1-2 with 3.91 ERA in six games 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 107-112 overall record, 49-47 in the MIAA. She led the Hornets to the 2018 MIAA Tournament championship and her first trip to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament as head coach. 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, 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).