Spring Break Homestand For Hornet Softball Starts Against Drury on Wednesday

Softball | 3/12/2024 10:44:00 AM

Emporia State Hornets (16-9, 1-3 MIAA)
vs. Drury Panthers (11-12, 0-0 GLVC)
Wednesday, March 13 • 2:00 p.m. (DH) • Emporia, Kan. • Turnbull Field
Series Record: ESU leads 5-3 • Last Meeting: ESU 5, DU 4 (3/22/23)
Live Stats: esuhornets.com   • Video: The MIAA Network
Up Next: vs. Northeastern State • March 15 • Emporia, Kan.
 

SPRING BREAK AT TRUSLER
Emporia State takes on Drury in their first of three doubleheaders from Turnbull Field over spring break.

THE COACHES
April Rosales is 224-211 in her ninth season at Emporia State. She has taken the Hornets to two MIAA Championship with a win in the 2018 MIAA Championship. Coach Rosales will not be coaching due to orders regarding her pregnancy. Assistant Coach Megan Hill will coach in her absence and is 15-4 as acting head coach this season.
Brooke Gajewski is 11-12 in her first season at Drury.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 16-9 this season and 1-3 in the MIAA following the opening weekend against Newman and #12 Central Oklahoma. The Hornets are led offensively by Alexis Dial who is batting .474 with a 1.306 OPS through the first 25 games. Dial has nine doubles, two triples, four home runs and 32 RBI. Lexi Williams and Bailey Flewelling are batting .429 and .420 respectively while Flewlelling has 13 extra-base hits and 19 RBI. Abbey Ward has a .346 batting average and has a team-high 15 stolen bases this season. In her career, Ward has 117 stolen bases which ranks third in program history. In the circle, Gracie Rabe has a team-high 44.2 innings pitched and has a 2.66 ERA with 28 strikeouts and seven walks. Jayda VanAckeren and Jordan Harrison each have nine appearances six or more starts.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Drury is 11-12 on the season in the first year under head coach Brooke Gajewski. The Panthers are coming off a 26-27 season and are 2-2 against MIAA opponents this season, including a doubleheader split against Missouri Southern last week. As a team, the Panthers are batting .301, 25 points higher than their oppenents. Drury is led offensively by Sophia Luetticke who is batting .417 on the season with eight RBI and has a team-high seven stolen bases. Taylor Hartsell is batting .343 and has a team-leading 17 RBI and 35 total bases. Lauren Beier is leading the way with six home runs and an OPS above 1.100. In the circle, Bailee Nixon, Kristina Bettis and AJ Agers all have double-digit appearances while Bettis has a team-high 46 strikeouts in 51.0 innings pitched. 

LAST TIME VS. DRURY
Emporia State took on the Panthers last season at Trusler Sports Complex and came way with the doubleheader sweep in midweek action. In the doubleheader, Emma Furnish and Alexis Dial each tallied three RBI across both games as the Hornets took game one 9-1 in five innings before winning game two 5-4.

ON DECK
Emporia State continues their spring break homestand into the weekend with MIAA matchups against Northeastern State and Rogers State. The Hornets will take on the Riverhawks on Friday, March 15 with the doubleheader starting at 2:00 p.m.

IN THE DUGOUT
April Rosales is in her ninth season leading the Emporia State softball program and has a 224-211 record. Since taking over the program in 2016, Rosales has led the Hornets to an MIAA Tournament Championship, two MIAA Tournament title game appearances, and an appearance in the NCAA Central Sub-Regional Championship.
Rosales was also a member of Emporia State softball during her playing days which included an run to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2008 which resulted in a National Runner-Up finish. During the 2008 season, she hit .324 with 30 RBI while playing nearly every game at shortstop for the Hornets. She was named First Team All-MIAA that season. Assistant Coach Megan Hill is serving as the acting head coach while Coach Rosales is away due to doctor's orders regarding her pregnancy.

BEHIND THE PLATE
Catcher Bailey Flewelling (Sr./Holton, KS) is in her fourth season at Emporia State and has played in 111 career games. This season in 23 games, Flewelling is batting .420 with a 1.213 OPS and has five home runs, 19 RBI, eight doubles and 13 runs scored.

IN THE FIELD
Shortstop Abbey Ward (Gr./Olathe, KS) is in her fifth season with the Hornets and is batting .346 this season with 27 hits and 15 stolen bases. In her career, Ward has stolen 117 bases, which ranks third in program history. She has scored a team-high 27 runs and her 117 career steals in second among active players in Division II.
Outfielder Alexis Dial (Sr./Topeka, KS) is in her fourth season at Emporia State and has played  in 168 career games for the Hornets. This season, Dial is batting .474 with 37 hits, nine doubles, 20 runs scored, 13 stolen bases and an MIAA-leading 32 RBI. Her RBI total is tied for 11th in the nation.
Outfielder Lexi Williams (Sr../Hutchinson, KS) is in her third season at Emporia State and is batting .429 in 24 games with 33 hits, five doubles, 11 RBI and 24 runs scored. In her career, Williams has 76 stolen bases across 127 games played. 
Infielder/Designated Player Haley Garnett (Sr./Olathe, KS) is in her second season with the Hornets and is batting .291 with four home runs, 17 RBI, 16 hits and three stolen bases. Last season, Garnett hit .264 with three doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI.
Outfielder Emma Furnish (Sr./Goddard, KS) is in her fourth season with the Hornets and has 20 hits, 12 RBI, two steals and seven extra-base hits. In the Alvy Early Classic, Furnish hit her fifth career home run, a three-run home run to clinch a 10-9 comeback win over Harding. 
Infielder McKensy Glass (Sr./Wichita, KS) is in her fourth season with the Hornets and has played in 131 career games. Glass has a .279 average with 12 hits, four RBI, six runs scored and a .354 OBP this season. Last season, she had a .377 OBP with 32 hits, 16 walks and 15 RBI.
Infielder Brooke Flewelling (Fr./Holton, KS) is in her first season with the Hornets and has started ten games for the Hornets. She has a double, triple, six hits, four runs scored and three RBI in her freshman campaign.
Infielder Karli Wehunt (Fr./Shidler, OK) is in her first season with the Hornets has five hits with four RBI, six runs scored, three walks and 12 total bases. 
Outfielder Juliana De Luna (Fr./San Antonio, TX) is in her first season at Emporia State and has played in 18 games for the Hornets. De Luna has three hits, five RBI, two runs scored, two walks and four stolen bases.
Infielder Avery Brewer (Fr./Jenks, OK) is in her first season at Emporia State is batting .359 with 14 hits, three doubles, 11 RBI and five runs scored in her 14 games played.

IN THE CIRCLE
Pitcher Gracie Rabe (Jr./Rossville, KS) is in her third season with the Hornets and has pitched 44.2  innings while posting a team-best 2.66 ERA in her ten appearances. She has struck out 28 batters and allowed just seven walks this season. 
Pitcher Josie Harrison (Gr./St. Mary's, KS) is in her fifth season for the Hornets and has has made seven appearances this season and has pitched 20.0 innings. Harrison also has a .333 batting average with 18 hits, 12 RBI and 12 runs scored at the plate this season.
Pitcher Jayda VanAckeren (Jr./Omaha, NE) is in her third season with the Hornets and has made nine appearances this season, and has a 4.99 ERA across 33.2 innings pitched. She earned MIAA Pitcher of the Week honors following her last outing against Wayne State, a complete game shutout where she allowed just three hits. In her career, VanAckeren has pitched 131 innings across 48 appearances.
Pitcher Jordan Harrison (Jr./St. Mary's, KS) is in her first season with the Hornets after transferring from Johnson County CC. In nine appearnaces, Harrison has pitched 34.0 innings and has 30 strikeouts with just ten walks allowed.
Pitcher Kelly Hipsher (Sr./Olathe, Kan.) is in her second season with the Hornets and has made strong impact in relief through the first 25 games. Hipsher has 13  appearances and has a 2.82 ERA across 22.1 innings with 13 strikeouts. She earned two saves at the Alvy Early Classic and pitched 12 innings across all four games in Bentonville, Ark. 

ON A ROLL
Emporia State entered last weekend on a 14-game winning streak and after the win in game one of their doubleheader against Newman, the Hornets won their 15th consecutive game. With that win, the Hornets matched thier longest winning streak since the 2012 where Emporia State won 42 games, including the MIAA Tournament Championship.

HOME SWEET HOME
After winning their final twelve home games of the 2023 season, Emporia State won all five games at the ESU Classic to extend their home winning streak to 17 games. The Hornets' home streak is currently the fifth-longest active streak  in Division II.

OFF AND RUNNING
Through the first 25 games of the season, Emporia State is among the top teams in Division II in stolen bases. After leading the MIAA in steals in seven of the last eight years as well as ranking top ten in the nation in both total steals and steals per game last season, the Hornets are continuing their pursuit as the Hornets rank eighth in total steals and 25th in steals per game in the nation.
Abbey Ward has been an important part to the success of the Hornets on the bases in her career. Ward led the MIAA last season in stolen bases and ranked second in each of her first two full seasons. She entered the 2024 season with 102 stolen bases, which ranked fifth in program history and has tallied 15 in the first 25 games this season. Ward is currently third in program history with 117 career stolen bases. The program record is held by Morgan Viola (2004-07) with 124 stolen bases. 

NATION'S LEADERS
Alexis Dial is having a strong start to the season, posting a .474 batting average and 1.306 OPS with 32 RBI. Dial earned back-to-back MIAA Hitter of the Week following her performacnes at the ESU Classic and Washburn Invitational. Her 32 RBI are tied four 11th in Division II this season and is leading the MIAA. Abbey Ward and Lexi Williams along with Dial are pacing the Hornets on the base paths as Ward is tied for 23rd in the nation in stolen bases with 15, while Williams and Dial rank 39th with 13 stolen bases on the season.