Baseball | 4/3/2023 6:54:00 PM
Emporia State Hornets (13-21, 8-12 MIAA)
at William Jewell Cardinals (19-8, 8-4 GLVC)
Tuesday, April 4 • 4:00 p.m. • Liberty, Mo.• Talley Stadium
Series Record: ESU leads 18-10 •
Last Meeting: ESU 8, WJC 2 (3/7/19)
Video: GLVC Sports Network •
Live Stats: esuhornets.com
Up Next: at Newman • April 6-8
Wichita, Kan. • McCarthy Field
TUESDAY TRAVELS
Emporia State travels to Liberty, Mo. for a non-conference midweek matchup against William Jewell. This is the first meeting since 2019 between the Hornets and Cardinals.
LAST AT BAT
The Hornets played host to Rogers State from Glennen Field and took one of three from the Hillcats as they rallied in game on Saturday for a 16-10 win.
THE COACHES
Seth Wheeler is in his fifth season as the Hornets head coach. He is 92-106 through four-plus seasons at the helm.
Mike Stockton is 638-464-1 in his 22nd season at William Jewell.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 13-21 and 8-12 in the MIAA this season. At the plate,
Chandler Bloomer leads the Hornets with a batting average of .319 with seven extra-base hits and 15 RBI on the season.
Noah Geekie and
Kadyn Williams follow Bloomer with a .313 and .291 batting average respectively. Geekie has one home run, one triple, four doubles and 18 RBI on the season. In addition to his production at the plate, Geekie has pitched 52.1 innings with a 4.47 ERA while recording 50 strikeouts.
Ian Lanik has made 11 appearances and eight starts across 44.2 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen,
Will Hann has a 13 appearances and holds a 3.26 ERA across 19.1 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
William Jewell is 19-8 this season and 8-4 in the GLVC this season. The Cardinals have six batters with double-digit extra-base hits this season with Dawson Tweet leading the way. Tweet has a .448 batting average with nine doubles, two triples and two home runs with 19 RBI. Alex Epp joins Tweet above .400 with a .421 average while tallying eight hits and a team-high five home runs and 27 RBI. As a team, the Cardinals rank second in the GLVC in batting average and in top four in a number of offensive categories. On the mound,
Chandler Ashby has six starts and holds a 3.03 ERA with 44 strikeouts and only 20 walks on the season. In the bullpen, Jack Wells and Drew Dant have appeared in a team-high 11 games.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 18-10 and defeated William Jewell in the last matchup 8-2 on March 7, 2019.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will have a short turnaround following their matchup against William Jewell as they travel to Wichita, Kan. for a three-game series against Newman. The first game of the series is scheduled for Thursday, March 6 from McCarthy Field.
WHEELS ON THE BUS
Seth Wheeler is in his fifth season at the helm of the Hornet Baseball program. Wheeler has a career record of 92-106. 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 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 all three 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.
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder
Noah Geekie (Sr./Strathclair, Manitoba) is batting .313 this season with an on-base percentage of .368. He has tallied 19 RBI and 15 runs scored. In addition to his play in the field and at the plate, Geekie plays a role on the mound for the Hornets as he has pitched 52.1 innings in nine starts this season.
Outfielder
Quinton Carlberg (So./Lee's Summit, Mo.) has played in 31 games for the Hornets and is second on the team with six home runs and has a team-high 26 runs scored while also drawing 23 walks and driving in 14 runs.
Outfielder
Brenden Tauber (Jr./Omaha, Neb.) has made 23 starts and played in 25 games for the Hornets and is batting .273 this season with a .402 on-base percentage. Tauber has 13 runs scored and hit his second career home run earlier this season against Pittsburg State.
AROUND THE HORN
First Baseman
Chandler Bloomer (Sr./Ottawa, KS) has played in 29 games this season, while making 27 starts. Bloomer is batting .319 with a .430 on-base percentage that leads the team. He has recorded five doubles, 15 RBI and scored 22 runs.
Second Basemen
Kase Johnson (Jr./Iowa Park, Texas) has played in 20 games and made 14 starts at second base for the Hornets. Last season, Johnson played in 23 games as he tallied two home runs and six RBI.
Infielder
Kadyn Williams (So./Emporia, KS) has played in 33 games and made 30 starts at four different positions for the Hornets. Williams holds a .407 OBP with six doubles, three triples, three home runs and 31 RBI on the season.
Shortstop
Andrew Rantz (Fr./Topeka, Kan.) has started all 34 games at shortstop for the Hornets and holds a .273 on-base percentage. Rantz leads the Hornets with seven home runs and has 12 extra-base hits while driving in 19 runs and scoring 23 of his own.
Third Baseman
Palmer Hutchison (So./Hays, Kan.) has played in all 34 games for the Hornets and made 33 starts at third base. Hutchison holds a .352 OBP and has 13 RBI on the season. He has three home runs and has eight multi-hit games this season.
Designated Hitter
Jake Bucovetsky (So./Toronto, Ontario) has started 24 games for Emporia State in the designated hitter role and has played in 26 games. Bucovetsky holds a batting average of .253 with three home runs, nine RBI, 14 runs scored, five doubles and one triple.
Designated Hitter/Pitcher
Jake Daneff (Fr./Kansas City, Mo.) has made eight pitching appearances and has eight at-bats on the season and is 5-8 with two doubles, one home run, three RBI and two walks.
BEHIND THE PLATE
Catcher
TJ Racherbaumer (So./Hermann, MO) has started all 34 games for the Hornets behind the plate and holds a .345 on-base percentage. Racherbaumer has three home runs, 18 RBI, and 16 runs scored. Last season, during his freshman campaign, Racherbaumer posted a .362 batting average along with a .456 on-base and .675 slugging percentage. He tallied 10 home runs, 41 RBI and 17 doubles as he earned MIAA Freshman of the Year honors.
ON THE MOUND
Right-handed pitcher
Ian Lanik (So./Eagle, Neb.) has made 11 appearances for the Hornets this season, with eight as a starter. Against Fort Hays State, Lanik pitched 6.0 scoreless innings allowing just three hits as he earned MIAA Pitcher of the Week honors. He has pitched 44.2 innings this season and has a 4-4 record. He has struck out 32 batters while allowing just 19 walks and is only allowing a .241 batting average.
Right-handed pitcher
Noah Geekie (Sr./Strathclair, Manitoba) has taken the mound for nine starts for the Hornets this season. Geekie has tallied 52.1 innings pitched has struck out 50 batters while allowing just 18 walks. He holds a 4.47 ERA with a 4-2 record and is allowing just a .247 batting average against.
Left-handed pitcher
Graham Brunner (Jr./Sherwood Park, Alberta) transferred to Emporia State from Illinois State and has started eight games for the Hornets and made nine appearances. Brunner has tallied 36.2 innings pitched with 27 strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher
Greg Ross (So./Sarnia, Ontario) has 11 appearances with one start and has recorded a team-high four saves. Across his 11 appearances, he has pitched 27.2 innings and has recorded 35 strikeouts and allowed just 19 walks. Ross has allowed just seven extra-base hits and is limiting opponents to a .240 batting average.
Right-handed pitcher
Braden Meek (Jr./Enid, OK) has appeared in 14 games for the Hornets with 17.2 innings pitched while recording 12 strikeouts. Last season, Meek appeared in 19 games, totaling 28.1 innings pitched as he recorded 23 strikeouts and allowed just seven walks.
Right-handed pitcher
Cade Barton (So./Omaha, Neb.) has started five games for the Hornets this season and has totaled 22.2 innings pitched across his eight appearances. Barton has recorded 24 strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher
Grant Huffman (Fr./Lee's Summit, Mo.) has appeared in eight games for the Hornets this season, with seven relief appearances and one start. Huffman has pitched 10.0 innings and recorded 17 strikeouts and allowed just nine walks.
Right-handed pitcher
Brayden Tower (Fr./Shawnee, KS) has made eight appearances and made one start for the Hornets this season and has tallied 19.1 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts. In the previous midweek matchup against Pittsburg State, Tower pitched the final three innings allowed just one hit and struck out five batters to pick up his second win of the season.
Right-handed pitcher
Will Hann (Jr./Olathe, KS) has pitched 19.1 innings across 13 relief appearances and holds a 3.26 ERA with only seven earned runs allowed.
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 occasions and have won the MIAA Tournament title twice.
