Baseball | 2/18/2021 1:05:00 PM
Emporia State Hornets (0-0, 0-0 MIAA)
at
CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves (0-0, 0-0 RMAC)
Saturday, Feb. 20 • 1:00 p.m. (MT) • Rawlings Field • Pueblo, Colo.
Sunday, Feb. 21 (DH) • 12:00 p.m. (MT) • Rawlings Field • Pueblo, Colo.
Monday, Feb. 22 • 12:00 p.m. (MT) • Rawlings Field • Pueblo, Colo.
Series Record: ESU leads 6-5
Last Meeting: ESU 7, at CSUP 3 (Feb. 9, 2020)
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Missouri Southern • Feb. 27-28, 2021
Warren Turner Field • Joplin, Mo.
LET'S GET THINGS STARTED
After a 350 day layoff due to COVID and winter weather, the Hornets will open the 2021 season against CSU-Pueblo in Pueblo, Colo.
QUICK LOOK AT LAST YEAR
The Hornets were 13-7, 5-1 in the MIAA and had won seven of eight including five wins over nationally ranked teams when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down spring sports last year.
THE COACHES
Seth Wheeler is 40-29 in his third season as the Hornets head coach. He is 1-2 against CSU-Pueblo.
Damian Stambersky is in his first year as head coach at CSU-Pueblo. This is his first meeting with Emporia State, although he was an assistant at Central Missouri the past six seasons.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is set to return six of their eight position players from last year's 13-7 squad along with all three weekend starters on the mound.
Cooper Minnick was hitting .318 with a .495 on base percentage, six doubles, 18 runs scored and 16RBI last year.
Sam Chaput had a team high six home runs and 20 RBI in Emporia State's 20 games.
Jack Maki had a team best .355 average in 12 games with 11starts.
Jake Barton was 3-3 with a 4.19 ERA last year and a team high 52 strikeouts on the mound.
Jared Kengott went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 28 Ks while
Drew Repp was 2-1 with 23 strikeouts.
Jarrett Seaton was 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA and three saves out of the bullpen last year.
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
This will be the season opener for CSU-Pueblo. The ThunderWolves return the majority of their team that went 10-6 last season, before it was ended early due to COVID-19. The Pack finished 2-2 in RMAC play.
Seven starters are back offensively for the Pack. Three starting pitchers are also back in the rotation for the ThunderWolves. CSU Pueblo also has seven bullpen pitchers from last year's squad on their 2021 roster. In total 13 bench players from the 2020 team have returned.
SERIES HISTORY
The Hornets lead the all-time series 6-5. This is the fourth time in six years the two programs have played an early season series.
LAST TIME AGAINST CSU-PUEBLO
Emporia State went 1-2 at Colo. State-Pueblo last year despite a 1.90 team ERA that included starting pitchers posting a combined 0.60 ERA in 15.0 innings. The Hornets lost 3-2 and 6-5 in extra innings before winning 7-3 in the final game. Emporia State had eight errors in the three games that led to seven unearned runs by CSU-Pueblo. The Hornets outhit the Thunderwolves .234 to .221 in the series and had a .415 team on base percentage.Â
Blake Carroll hit .500 with a .692 OBP and scored four runs.
Cooper Minnick hit .300 with three RBI and four runs scored.
UP NEXT
The Hornets continue their season opening road trip as the open MIAA play at Missouri Southern on February 27 in Joplin.
