Baseball | 4/5/2023 6:52:00 PM
Emporia State Hornets (13-21, 8-12 MIAA)
at Newman Jets (16-19, 9-11 MIAA)
Thursday, April 6 • 3:00 p.m. • Wichita, Kan.• McCarthy Field
Friday, April 7 • 3:00 p.m. • Wichita, Kan. • McCarthy Field
Saturday, April 8 • 1:30 p.m. • Wichita, Kan. • McCarthy Field
Series Record: ESU leads 58-21 •
Last Meeting: ESU 16, NU 6 (4/10/22)
Video: The MIAA Network •
Live Stats: esuhornets.com
Up Next: at Pittsburg State • April 11
Pittsburg, Kan. • Al Ortolani Field
TURNPIKE TRAVELS
Emporia State travels south down I-35 for a three-game MIAA slate against Newman as the Hornets and Jets are separated by one game in the MIAA standings.
LAST AT BAT
The Hornets traveled to Liberty, Mo. for a midweek matchup against William Jewell on Tuesday. Emporia State hit four home runs in a 9-6 win over the Cardinals.
THE COACHES
Seth Wheeler is in his fifth season as the Hornets head coach. He is 93-106 through four-plus seasons at the helm.
Drew Maus is 56-80 in his fourth season at Newman.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 14-21 and 8-12 in the MIAA this season. At the plate,
Chandler Bloomer leads the Hornets with a batting average of .316 with eight extra-base hits and 15 RBI on the season.
Noah Geekie and
Kadyn Williams follow Bloomer with a .313 and .292 batting average respectively. Geekie has two home runs, one triple, four doubles and 19 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 12 appearances and eight starts across 45.2 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen,
Will Hann has a 14 appearances and holds a 2.86 ERA across 22.0 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
SCOUTING THE JETS
Newman is 16-19 and 9-11 in the MIAA and are currently one game ahead of the Hornets in the MIAA standings. Offensively the Jets are led by Jenner Steele and Jake Angelico who are both batting above .400 on the season with .404 and .402 averages respectively. Steele has 11 home runs, 24 extra-base hits with 42 RBI while Angelico has ten home runs, 21 extra-base hits, 53 RBI while also stealing 21 bases. In addition to Steel and Angelico, four batters have an average above .300 while recording more than 100 at-bats for the Jets. On the mound, Garrett VanDeventer has a team-high nine starts with a 4.82 ERA across 56.0 innings pitched. Nate Denniston and Asher Finke both have starts this season and have recorded 40 or more strikeouts on the season.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 58-21 over Newman including series wins in each of the past two seasons.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will travel to Pittsburg State for the rubber match of the midweek MIAA series between the Hornets and Gorillas. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, Aprill 11 from Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kan.
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 93-106. 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 32 games for the Hornets and is tied for the team-high with seven home runs and has a team-high 27 runs scored while also drawing 24 walks and driving in 15 runs.
Outfielder
Brenden Tauber (Jr./Omaha, Neb.) has made 24 starts and played in 26 games for the Hornets and is batting .286 this season with a .414 on-base percentage. Tauber has 14 runs scored and hit his second home run of the season in the last game against William Jewell.
AROUND THE HORN
First Baseman
Chandler Bloomer (Sr./Ottawa, KS) has played in 30 games this season, while making 28 starts. Bloomer is batting .316 with a .424 on-base percentage that leads the team. He has recorded six doubles, 15 RBI and scored 23 runs.
Second Basemen
Kase Johnson (Jr./Iowa Park, Texas) has played in 21 games and made 15 starts at second base for the Hornets. Johnson has hit two doubles, scored ten runs while driving in eight runs of his own.
Infielder
Kadyn Williams (So./Emporia, KS) has played in 34 games and made 31 starts at four different positions for the Hornets. Williams holds a .413 OBP with six doubles, three triples, four home runs and 33 RBI on the season.
Shortstop
Andrew Rantz (Fr./Topeka, Kan.) has started all 35 games at shortstop for the Hornets and holds a .278 on-base percentage. Rantz leads the Hornets with seven home runs and has 12 extra-base hits while driving in 20 runs and scoring 24 of his own.
Third Baseman
Palmer Hutchison (So./Hays, Kan.) has played in all 35 games for the Hornets and made 33 starts at third base. Hutchison holds a .349 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 25 games for Emporia State in the designated hitter role and has played in 27 games. Bucovetsky holds a batting average of .250 with four home runs, ten RBI, 15 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.
Infielder
Mason Sturdy (So./Wamego, Kan.) has played in 12 games made six starts for the Hornets and is batting .286 with one double, four RBI and five walks drawn.
BEHIND THE PLATE
Catcher
TJ Racherbaumer (So./Hermann, MO) has started all 35 games for the Hornets behind the plate and holds a .340 on-base percentage. Racherbaumer has three home runs, 19 RBI, and 17 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 12 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 45.2 innings this season and has a 4-4 record with one save. He has struck out 33 batters while allowing just 20 walks and is only allowing a .236 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 six games for the Hornets this season and has totaled 25.2 innings pitched across his eight appearances. Barton has recorded 27 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 22.0 innings across 14 relief appearances and holds a 2.86 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.
