Coming off of a six game winning streak, the 17-8 Emporia State softball team is preparing for their next game at home this Sunday.

According to Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner, winning the conference and being well represented in the region is something the team aspires to do to get to the World Series.

“We have been playing pretty well,” Bredbenner said. “We want to win the conference and focus on one game at a time.”

At this point in the season, Bredbenner said the team seems to be on track.

“We are over with our pre-season and I think we are peaking at the right time and getting better but we need to have a good performance,” Bredbenner said.

Although playing at home gives the Hornets an advantage, the weather could still be a factor.

“We cannot control those types of things so we have to go out there and put our best foot forward and have a good defense and offensive day and hopefully come out with four wins,” Bredbenner said.

After 25 accumulative hits in the double header last weekend against Incarnate Word, the Hornets are using the momentum to prepare for their game against Truman State.

“I think everyone is contributing one through nine in the line offensively and that is what needs to happen for us in order to be successful this year,” Bredbenner said. “We have to have everybody step up.”

Confident pitching has attributed to more success on the mound, helping the Hornets to succeed on game day.

“Our pitchers are getting better and better and that is the one thing you would like to see is your pitchers giving up less and less hits and runs every game,” Bredbenner said.

Getting more experience has helped the Hornets find their game.

“We are all doing much better making adjustments and playing with a lot more confidence,” Bredbenner added.

Although the team has had to deal was some injuries, the Hornets continue to adjust and prepare for their upcoming game.

“We have had some bumps and bruises earlier in the season that we could not recover from but right now we are not doing too badly,” Bredbenner said. “We have 15 players and feel that everyone is contributing and if someone gets hurt then we will have to deal with that when we do.”

The Hornets will play at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Trusler Sports Complex.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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