MIAA PLAY BEGINS FOR EMPORIA STATE BASEBALL AGAINST NORTHEASTERN STATE

Baseball | 2/25/2022 8:01:00 PM

Emporia State Hornets (5-6, 0-0 MIAA)
vs. Northeastern State RiverHawks (9-3, 0-0 MIAA)
Series Record: ESU leads 18-9 Last Meeting: NSU 8, ESU 7 (4/26/21)
Saturday, Feb. 26 • 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 27 • 2:00 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 28 • 1:00 p.m.
Trusler Sports Complex • Glennen Field • Emporia, Kan.
Live Stats • The MIAA Network • Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Washburn • Mar. 1, 2022
Topeka, Kan. • Falley Field

MIAA GETS UNDERWAY
Emporia State begins MIAA action with a home series against Northeastern State to finish the month of February.

LAST AT BAT
The Hornets played host to the MSU Denver Roadrunners in a pair of doubleheaders. Emporia State struggled in the first game of the series, managing only a single hit and falling 7-0. The Hornets offense heated up for the remainder of the series, recording double-digit hits in each game and managed to capture the final game of the series 14-3 in a seven inning run-rule victory.

THE COACHES
Seth Wheeler is in his fourth season as the Hornets head coach and enters with a 62-61 record through three seasons. He is 2-4 against Northeastern State.
Jake Hendrick is 133-140  in his seventh season as the head coach of the Roadrunners. He is 5-10 against Emporia State.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
The Hornets are 5-6 on the season. The Hornet offense is led by seniors Sam Chaput and Blake Carroll. Chaput is batting .421 with a .532 on-base percentage. Carroll is close behind with a .359 batting average and an on-base percentage over .400. Freshman Kadyn Williams has emerged for the Hornets with a .314 average. Lukas Rich leads the offense with 11 RBI, including 5 in the last game against MSU Denver.

SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS
The Riverhawks are 9-3 on the season.The Northeastern State offense has been led by  Blake Freeman, C.D. White, Brock Reller who all hold batting averages over .400. Reller leads the MIAA in slugging percentage, runs scored, triples and RBI. As a team, Northeastern State leads the MIAA in batting average and on-base percentage. On the mound, Jonathan Smithey has led the Riverhawks with a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched.

SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 18-9.

LAST TIME AGAINST NSU
Last season, Emporia State travled to Tahlequah, Okla. for a three-game series. The Hornets tallied 15 runs combined throughout the series, but were unable to take down the Riverhawks and were swept in the three-game series.

UP NEXT
Emporia State will travel to Topeka, Kansas for a single game against Washburn on Tuesday, Mar. 1. Following the midweek matchup, the Hornets will travel to Hays, Kan. for a weekend three-game series.

Wheels on the bus
Seth Wheeler is in his fourth season at the helm of the Hornet Baseball program. Through opening weekend, Wheeler has a career record of 62-61. Before taking over as the head coach of Emporia State, Wheeler spent the previous three seasons as the pitching coach at Emporia State. During this time, the Hornet pitching staff held the second lowest ERA in the MIAA. The success has continued since taking over as ESU has ranked top-five in two of his first three seasons in ERA. While the 2020 season was cut short, Emporia State has reached the MIAA tournament in both of Wheeler's full seasons at the helm.
A 2014 graduate of Central Missouri, Wheeler was an honorable mention All-MIAA selection at catcher for the Mules.  He hit .324 as UCM won the MIAA Regular Season Championship his senior year.  He played two years at Butler CC, earning All-Jayhawk Conference honors as a sophomore.

AROUND THE HORN
First Baseman Chanler Bloomer (Jr./Ottawa, KS) has played in 10 of 11 games for the Hornets so far this season. He is batting .207 with 1 HR and 7 RBI. He has also scored 6 runs.
Second Basemen Kase Johnson (So./Iowa Park, TX) transferred from Seward County Community College where he played two seasons. He has played in 6 games for the Hornets this season and is batting .188 including a clutch two-run home run against MSU Denver.
Shortstop Dylan Werries (Jr./McPherson, KS) has started all 11 games at shortstop for the Hornets this season. He has recorded 4 doubles and 3 RBI. He has recorded a .350 on-base percentage through the first 11 games.
Third Basemen Kadyn Williams (Fr./Emporia, KS) is in his first season with the Hornets. He has started all 11 games this far for the Hornets. He is batting .314 with 5 RBI and has recorded 5 runs.  

OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Javier Pena (Sr./Kansas City/KS) has started in eight games for Emporia State so far this season with a .387 on-base percentage while driving in four runs. He also has scored 7 runs and leads the team with four stolen bases.
Outfielder Blake Carroll (Sr./Wichita, KS) has played multiple positons for the Hornets since arriving in Emporia including both middle infield spots and centerfield. In 2021, he was named 2nd Team All-Miaa as a utility player. This season, Carroll is batting .359 with four doubles and seven RBI while starting all 11 games for Emporia State.
Outfielder Sam Chaput (Sr./Boisbriand, Quebec) played in all but one game for the Hornets in 2021 batting .334 with 7 doubles and 3 home runs. He also tallied 26 RBI and stole 10 bases. has started all 11 games for the Hornets from right field and from the leadoff spot in the order. Chaput is batting .421 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. He also has recording 3 doubles and 15 runs on the season.

ON THE MOUND
Right-handed pitcher Aaron Bechtel (Gr./Wichita, KS) spent the previous two seasons at Wichita State. So far this season Bechtel has started 3 games for the Hornets with a 6.43 ERA in 14.0 innings of work. He has 13 strikeouts while only allowing 2 walks this season.
Right-handed pitcher Jared Kengott (Sr./Addison, TX) has made 3 appearances so far this season including one out of the bullpen. He has a 5.40 ERA in 10.0 innings. He has 14 strikeouts for a K/9 of 12.6.
Left-handed pitcher Jarrett Seaton (Sr./Omaha, NE) has appeared in 3 games for the Hornets with his most recent against MSU Denver being as a starting pitcher. Seaton has recorded 12.2 innings with 20 strikeouts and allowing only 6 walks with an ERA of 4.26.
 
HISTORY
Emporia State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in the program's history. The Hornets have captured the regular season MIAA championship on six different occasions and have won MIAA Tournament title twice. The most recent regular season championship came in 2017 when they finished the season with a 42-19 record after hosting the Central Regional.