Hornet Softball Travels up the Turnpike for Washburn Invite

Softball | 2/21/2025 3:04:00 PM

Games 12-17
Washburn Tournament
Emporia State (6-5)
vs. Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (1-3)
Sunday, February 23 • 9:30 a.m. • Silver Lake HS
Series History: ESU leads 11-7 • Last Meeting: CSP 8, ESU 2 (2/3/24)

vs. Minnesota State Mavericks (2-2)
Sunday, February 23 • 3:30 p.m. • Silver Lake HS
Series History: ESU leads 15-13 • Last Meeting: ESU 3, MSU 2 (2/23/24)

vs. Northern State Wolves (4-0)
Monday, February 24 • 1:30 p.m. • Washburn
Series History: NSU leads 2-1 • Last Meeting: NSU 1, ESU 0 (3/20/16)

vs. Minot State Beavers (7-2)
Monday, February 24 • 5:30 p.m. • Silver Lake HS
Series History: ESU leads 3-1 • Last Meeting: ESU 12, MSU 7 (2/23/24)

vs. Maryville Saints (6-3)
Tuesday, February 25 • 12:00 p.m. • Silver Lake HS
Series History: Series tied 1-1 • Last Meeting: ESU 15, MU 0 (2/25/24)

vs. Rockhurst Hawks (0-2)
Tuesday, February 25 • 4:00 p.m. • Silver Lake HS
Series History: ESU leads 10-4 • Last Meeting: ESU 4, RU 1 (4/23/24)

TOP CITY TOURNAMENT
Emporia State Softball travels up the turnpike for a six-game slate in the Washburn Invitational. The Hornets will play four NSIC opponents and two from the GLVC.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets went 2-3 at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic, which included wins over William Jewell and Arkansas-Monticello. Emporia State nearly pulled off the upset against #1 UT-Tyler, before narrowly falling 4-3 against the Patriots.

ABOUT THE COACHES
April Rosales is 245-227 in her tenth season as the head coach at Emporia State.
Bob Bartel is 567-459 in his 21st season at Concordia St-Paul.
Lori Meyer is 1,407-751-3 in her 41st season at Minnesota State.
Kaley Ness is 4-0 in her first season at Northern State. 
Sal Rodriguez is 31-21 in his second season at Minot State.
Chanin Billings is 6-3 in her first season at Maryville.
Dana Goss is 17-26 in her second season at Rockhurst.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 6-5 on the season with five games decided by just one run through the first two tournaments. The Hornets are hitting .287 through their first 11 games, with six players hitting .300 or better. Leslie Ramos is batting .391 with a .609 slugging percentage. Taryn Burkhardt and Juliana De Luna are hitting .371 and .345 on the season and Burkhardt has scored a team-high ten runs and seven stolen bases. As a team, the Hornets continue their aggressive ways on the base paths, as they have 23 steals on the season, which ranks third in the MIAA. In the circle, the Hornets' pitching staff is made up of a trio of seniors, Gracie Rabe, Jordan Harrison and Jayda VanAckeren. Rabe and Harrison have combined to pitch 60.0 innings with 48 strikeouts. Harrison leads the way with a 3.07 ERA and a 2-0 record. 

UP NEXT
Emporia State will return to Shawnee for a four-game slate in the Midwest College Classic with the trip being the final tournament before the MIAA openers against Rogers State and Northeastern State.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS
Concordia-St. Paul is 1-3 to start the season, but are coming off a 37-14 season in 2024 under head coach Bob Bartel who is now in his 21st season with CSP. The Golden Bears are led on offense by Alexis Monty and Sydney Pelzer who are batting .385 and .333 respectively. Both have five hits on the season and tallied three RBI with a run scored. In the circle, CSP has used four pitchers through four games, with Abi Carter having a team-high three appearances.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State is 2-2 to start the season and are in the 41st year under head coach Lori Meyer, The Mavericks are led on offense by Gianna Lara who is batting ,545 and has reached base in nine of 14 plate appearances, and has the team's lone home run of the season. In the circle, six Mavericks have made an appearance, with Sailor Hall pitching a team-high 10.1 innings and nine strikeouts.  

SCOUTING THE WOLVES
Northern State is 4-0 on the season and through one weekend the Wolves are hitting .457 as a team. Emma Owens is 12-16 through the first four games and has driven in a team-high ten runs and scored eight of her own. Abby Rux has a team-high 12.0 innings pitched and has a 0.58 ERA. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Minot State is 7-2 on the season and have a trio of hitters over .300 on the season, with Anna LaCount posting a team-high .517 with seven RBI and five doubles. In addition to LaCount's OPS, which is 1.223, Sara Van Wickler's is 1.012 as she has a triple and two home runs. In the circle, Reegan Floyd has a 1.56 ERA across a team-high 27.0 innings pitched, with 29 strikeouts and just one walk allowed.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
Maryville is 6-3 to start the 2025 season, including two wins over MIAA opponents Newman and Missouri Southern. The Saints are hitting .288 as a team and are led by Jenna Kosnoff and Emily Corona who are batting .448 and .367 respectively. Kosnoff has three home runs, nine RBI, three doubles and a 1.405 OPS, which all lead the team. Corona has scored a team-high 12 runs.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Rockhurst is 0-2 to start the season and will take on four MIAA opponent at the Washburn Invitational. The Hawks have struggled at the plate in their first two games, managing just seven hits and one run. Both games for Rockhurst have come against Rogers State and Central Oklahoma, who both currently rank inside the top 13 in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll.

IN THE DUGOUT
April Rosales is in her tenth season leading the Emporia State softball program. Her record as head coach for the Hornets is 245-227. 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.

IN THE FIELD
Catcher Ally Miller (So./Olathe, KS) is batting .286 through the first 11 games and has started seven games with five behind the plate and two at designated player. Miller has two extra-base hits, three RBI, and a run scored.
Catcher Leslie Ramos (Jr./Grand Island, NE) is in her first season with the Hornets and has started eight games with six behind the plate. Ramos is batting .391 with a home run, four RBI, and four runs scored while also stealing two bases.
Infielder Haley Garnett (Gr./Olathe, KS) is in year three with the Hornets and has played in 92 games at Emporia State. This season, Garnett has seven hits, five runs scored and four walks after drawing a team-high 31 walks last season.
Infielder Kennedy Topping (So./Wichita, KS) has started nine games for the Hornets with seven coming at second base. Topping has a .333 batting average and has reached base in 11 of 27 plate appearances. She has six RBI, one double, one triple and three stolen bases.
Infielder Brooke Flewelling (So./Holton, KS) is in year two with the Hornets after playing in 35 games as a freshman, primarily at third base. Flewelling is hitting .300 through 11 games and has tallied a team-high 11 RBI with two doubles, one triple, two home runs and four runs scored.
Infielder Sydney Wagner (Fr./Buda, TX) has started 10 games at shortstop for the Hornets and is batting .313 with ten hits and seven runs scored while also going 6-6 on steals.
Outfielder Taryn Burkhardt (Jr./Silver Lake, KS) is in her first year with the Hornets and has made a quick impact through the 11 games, starting all 11 games in centerfield and posting a .371 batting average. Burkhardt has a team-high ten runs scored with three RBI, 13 hits, nine walks and seven stolen bases.
Outfielder Juliana De Luna (So./San Antonio, TX) played in 30 games as a freshman last season and has started ten games for the Hornets in the corner outfield positions to start 2025. De Luna has seven RBI, three walks and five runs scored this season.
Outfielder Kinsey Perine (Fr./Rossville, KS) has started all 11 games for the Hornets, rounding out the trio in the outfield. Perine has four hits, two RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.

IN THE CIRCLE
Senior Gracie Rabe (Sr./Rossville, KS) is in her fourth season with the Hornets and has pitched in nearly 350 innings for Emporia State. Rabe has started 2025 strong, posting a 1.69 ERA in 16.0 innings and has a 2-1 record in the circle. She has posted 11 strikeouts and allowed just four walks while opponents are hitting .217 against her.
Senior Jordan Harrison (Sr./St. Mary's, KS) is in year two at Emporia State and after pitching 88.0 innings last season, has totaled 15.2 innings through the first weekend of 2025. Harrison has allowed just two runs and two walks while striking out 11 batters and allowing a .186 opponent batting average. 
Senior Jayda VanAckeren (Sr./Omaha, NE) has made 59 career appearances in the circle for the Hornets and set multiple career-bests in the 2024 season. VanAckeren has started 2025 with a 4.82 ERA and has allowed just a .263 opponent batting average across 9.1 innings pitched. She closed the Branson Lead-off Classic with a one-run complete game against Minnesota Crookston.

OFF AND RUNNING
The Hornets have led or finished inside the top three in the MIAA in stolen bases in eight of the last nine seasons and are off to a similar start this season. Emporia State is 23-27 on the base paths through the first 11 games, with their 23 steals ranking third in the MIAA to this point. 

HORNET HISTORY
Emporia State has finished as the NCAA Division II National Runners-up twice, in 2006 and 2008. The Hornets have qualified for NCAA Regional play 13 times. The Hornets won the NAIA National Championship in 1983 and 1984 and won the AIAW National Championship in 1980.
The Hornets were MIAA regular season champions four straight years from 2005-08 and MIAA Tournament champions seven straight years running from 2004-10. In the 21st Century, Emporia State has claimed the regular season title eight times (2005-08, 2010-12, 2014) and the tournament title nine times (2004-10, 2012, 2018).