After a weekend sweep of both Lincoln and Truman, the Emporia State softball team returned home to face the Central

Emporia State sophomore Katie Huffman hits a double against Central Oklahoma Tuesday afternoon at Turnbull Field. Kellen Jeknins/ The Bulletin

Oklahoma Bronchos in a doubleheader. The Hornets won the first game 7-1 but lost the second 5-4 in extra innings.

“They’re a really good team,” said Catcher Amanda Self. “I’m not happy about the loss, but I mean it’s a good team to lose to. We get them next week, and we’re going to work on it and come back and get them.”

In the first game, the Bronchos struck first scoring a run in the first inning, but three homeruns to left field brought in seven unanswered Hornet runs.

Right Fielder Alyssa Miller hit a three run shot followed by Self’s and Second Baseman Angela Mahan’s two run homeruns in the third and fourth innings.

“I felt really solid in it,” Self said of her homerun. “I had Abby Hughes at second base, kind of tell me inside and out, and that helped a lot. I was just looking to get a base hit, move Abby, maybe even score her. The homerun was just the cherry on the cake.”

Once again, it was the Bronchos who got on the scoreboard first in the second game. Right Fielder Kacie Edwards hit a three run homerun in the first inning to give the Bronchos an early 3-0 lead.

In the second, First Baseman Katie Huffman hit an RBI double putting the Hornets on the board. However, the Bronchos responded with a run in the fifth to keep a three run lead on ESU.

Central Oklahoma decided to help the Hornets out in the fifth after two wild pitches ended in a pair of runs for ESU. Mahan and Center Fielder Jessica Brewer both took advantage of the opportunity and scored the runs.

With two outs to go in the sixth, Left Fielder Andrea Piezuch drove in Designated Hitter Abby Smith to tie the game up at four runs a piece. The game would go into extra innings in which the Bronchos would pull away for good and win the game 5-4.

“Obviously, you always like to win every single game,” Bredbenner said “You know, I thought we made a great effort of coming back in that game.”

ESU is now 31-8 overall and will prepare for the MIAA Crossover this weekend in Kirksville, MO before returning home to take on Missouri Southern at 4 p.m. on April 22.

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Emporia State sophomore Taylor Reichard throws for an out at first base against Central Missouri Tuesday afternoon at Turnbull Field. The Hornets won the double header 2-1.7-6. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

After sweeping the University of Central Missouri 2-1 and 7-6 in a double header on Tuesday, the Emporia State softball team put itself into the lead of the MIAA conference. The Hornets are now one game up on The University of Nebraska-Omaha and broke their tie record with UCM.

“Our goal this year is to win conference and to kind of go on from there. Right now we are more focused on Lincoln this weekend than who is number one in the league,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner. “There are several good teams at the top of the (conference) right now…. We just have to focus on what we’re going to do this weekend… so we have to be ready for that first game on Friday.”

The first win the Hornets had over UCM was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning. After Abby Hughes hit a double and was advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, she eventually made it home after Kaitlin Martin hit an RBI single.

UCM did not respond with a run until the top of the sixth. The Hornets earned the win when Martin was up with two outs and hit a home run. ESU held the score for the seventh inning to win the game.

“I felt like I made good contact with (the ball). I just didn’t know if it had enough to beat the wind,” Martin said. “I was at least hoping that they wouldn’t catch it and I could get the double.”

With one win up on UCM, the Hornets looked to repeat the outcome and get another smooth win. However, the game was anything but easy as UCM tied the game four times, answering every run the Hornets made but never taking the lead. The Hornets won the game in the seventh inning as UCM was unable to advance their runners, stranding two.

“The biggest thing about the (second) game was it was an offensive showdown….  Neither team gave up the whole time. The biggest thing was that we got that extra run that they didn’t,” Bredbenner said. “Those games are fun, but I think I aged a couple years… When you come away with a win, those games are worth it.”

The playmaker for the Hornets was senior infielder Angela Mahan, who hit two big home runs in the game, one in the fourth and the other a lead-off home run in the sixth that broke the tie.

“I was just trying, just trying to be more aggressive after the first game. I wasn’t so successful in the (first) game,” Mahan said. “We had a rough day on defense, but it’s nice to know that you can get a win and come back after that.”

The Hornets are now 26-7 overall and 7-1 in the MIAA. They look now to travel to Jefferson City, Mo., this Friday.

Chris Dvorak

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A crucial player for last year’s Emporia State’s conference champion team was sophomore pitcher Paige Landenburger.

Laudenburger

Landenburger, the starter for double-headers last year, was freshman of the year in the MIAA last season after having an ERA over two.

“Last year she was our lead pitcher… She definitely has a chance to be number one. That’s who she was last year,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner. “But every year is a new year, and you’ve got to be sure you can do it.”

This season Landenburger is one of four pitchers on the Hornets’ pitching staff that are creating a defensive depth that will keep most opposing offenses on their toes.

“We have a great time with good chemistry,” Landenburger said. “We have a full staff of good pitchers. We’ve got four of us, and we’re all really good so that if one person is not on then another can pick up the slack.”

Already this season, she is showing the benefit of pitching depth. In the first game of a double header against The University of Missouri-St. Louis, fellow pitcher Jennifer Heerey was having problems pitching against UMSL’s offense, and Landenburger was able to come in as a relief pitcher and hold the score. In the second game it was Karley Schmelzer who held her own for the entire game.

“We have four good pitchers. I have yet to think that one can claim that spot. They’ve all been contributing,” Bredbenner said. “We’re expecting the same kind of things from all of our pitchers. We want them to work ahead and focus… and have a good outing.”

Landenburger is also developing as a future leader for the team along with a solid sophomore class that will help build depth for the Hornets in later seasons.

“She is great to work with. She works hard every day at practice (and) takes criticism very well and improves (from it),” said catcher and fellow sophomore Amanda Self. “She has gotten a lot better from last year. She is definitely going to be a dominating force on the field like last year.”

A concern for young pitchers is being able to stay ahead of the competition and not be too predictable, allowing the opportunity batters need to get just the right hit.

“The biggest thing for our sophomores is that this is the second time these teams have seen them. There are no surprises and everyone knows what to expect,” Bredbenner said. “They have to be a little more creative and work a little ahead and keep the batters off balance.”

Landerburger has high hopes for herself and her team for the season.

“It is more about the team and playing hard every game,” Landerburger said. “We have some high goals definitely winning the conference tournament, but it’s just one game at a time and focus on winning every game.”

Chris Dvorak

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Senior Abby Hughes gets a hit during the first game of a double header against Texas A&M International Wednesday afternoon at Turnbull Field. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

On what was a beautiful day for softball, the Emporia State softball team played well defeating the Dustdevils of Texas

A&M International in both games in their double-header. The Hornets shut out the Dustdevils 3-0 in the first game before defeating them 4-2 in the second.

“We’re getting better,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner. “The season’s about a progression. We don’t want to be peaking, but we’re getting better with a lot of things. There’s still quite a bit we need to work on.”

The Hornets got things started off early in the first game behind an RBI double by Senior Shortstop Abby Hughes. The RBI was her 14^th of the season.

Hughes struck again in the sixth inning hitting her second homerun of the season giving the Hornets a three run lead with just an inning to play. Paige Ladenburger (6-0) earned her win through five innings allowing just two hits, one walk and striking out five batters.

The Hornets got the win, but Bredbenner wanted to see more runs after the first inning.

“We kind of settled a little bit after that first inning,” Bredbenner said. “We were happy that we got the lead, and we’ve got to make sure that we keep taking it to them the entire game.”

In the second game of the double-header, the Hornets were unable to strike as early as they had in the first game as the game was scoreless through two.

In the third inning, Jessica Brewer singled up the middle with Alyssa Miller and Angela Mahan on base. After an indecisive turn around third base by Miller, the play ended in a fielder’s choice and Miller was tagged out at home leaving two runners on second and third.

Despite the scoring opportunity, the Hornets were unable to cash in during the inning. ESU survived a scare of their own in the fourth as a potential Dustdevil homerun was waived foul.

With one runner on and one out, Taylor Reichard hit her second homerun of the season giving the Hornets a two run edge. The Hornets added another run in the fifth before Hughes was brought home off an Abby Smith single to make the score 4-0.

“I was up in the count,” Reichard said about her homerun. “I was just expecting a pitch down the middle, and Amanda (Self) had also just gotten a hit, so the energy was up, and my confidence was up after that.”

The Dustdevils answered in the sixth with a two-run homerun by Victoria Beltran, but the Hornets would hold on to win 4-2.

The Hornets improve to 14-5 on the season and will now enter conference play this weekend in the MIAA Crossover. The next home game for ESU is at 3 p.m. on March 26 at Turnbull Field against Southwest Baptist.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Emporia State softball took on the Riverhawks of Northeastern Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon in a double header. The Hornets faired well in both games winning a low scoring battle 3-1 followed by an extra inning 5-4 victory.

“We didn’t show up today to have our best game,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner “And to still come away with two wins says a lot about our program.”

The first game of the double-header went the Hornets way after Northeastern State got things started in the top of the second inning with what would be their only run of the game.    Amanda Self answered with a single in the bottom of the inning and would score to tie things up. The Hornets added runs in the third and fourth innings behind RBI’s from Abby Hughes and Taylor Reichard.

Pitcher Paige Ladenburger earned her fifth win in as many games allowing just three hits and one run in five innings.

Northeastern State again struck first blood in the second game of the double-header in the first inning but was answered with another RBI from Hughes with a groundout to second base. The Hornets went on to strand runners at second and third in the inning.

In the fourth inning, Northeastern State got on the board again off of a bunt that squeezed between two Hornets ending in a Riverhawk run making the score 2-1. The Riverhawks continued their scoring in the fifth inning off an RBI double to earn a two run edge over ESU.

Angela Mahan’s two run homerun in the bottom of the sixth tied things up for the Hornets.

“When (Angela) hit that homerun, I knew we were going to win the ballgame,” Bredbenner said. “We finally came to life. I thought both games were just really lethargic in our dug out… That was the little spark we needed to get going.”

Despite a lead-off triple by Hughes in the bottom of the seventh followed by two walks, the Hornets were unable to bring in the winning run as they stranded three runners with no outs.

After Northeastern State scored in the top of the eighth, the Hornets responded with a run and once again had three runners on base with no outs. This time, the Hornets would bring their runner home off a Hughes single to right.

“(I was) just trying to hit the ball on the ground, up the middle,” Hughes said. “Got really anxious in that situation but there’s not much you can do about that.”

ESU is now 12-5 on the season and plays there next game at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Turbull field against Texas A&M International.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Competing on a great Friday afternoon, the Emporia State Hornets swept their first double-header of a weekend series and home opener against The University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Hornets won their first game 7-4 in a come from behind win. They scored the first run at the bottom of the second, but UMSL answered with four runs at the top of the third setting in a 4-1 deficit that the Hornets would not overcome until the bottom of the fifth.

The Hornets scored two runs an inning for the last three innings to take back the lead and overcome UMSL.

“We got behind 4-1 in that first game and did a good job at chipping away at that lead and taking advantage of defensive mistakes and being aggressive on our offense,” Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We did a good job of picking it up and fighting back. I’m proud of the team to come back from a… four-one deficit.”

The Hornets pulled out the stops in the second game and finished in five innings after scoring six runs in the fifth to bring the score to 10-2 and winning off the run rule.

“(Bredbenner) was on us all game about having this pound, pound, pound mentality,” Senior Shortstop Abby Hughes said. “She drills it into us that it doesn’t matter what the score is. We need the insurance runs all the time. The more runs the better. That last inning everyone changes their mentality.”

The offensive power shown by the Hornets was exemplified by their 12 hits in game two and 11 in game one. The leading contributors were seniors Abby Hughes and Angela Mahan and sophomore Jessica Brewer all with four hits – two in each game.

“We’re hitting the ball well because instead of trying to get the big hit we’re trying to get base hits,” said Bredbenner. “We’re putting all the pressure on ourselves and being overly anxious instead of just trying to get base hits and putting it up the middle. We’ve been doing a much better at just getting the base hits.”

Pitching power for the Hornets was also helping on the defensive side. In game one sophomore Paige Landenburger came in for relief in the fourth inning and helped contain UMSL’s offense by holding them to one hit.

In game two, sophomore Karley Schmelzer pitched the whole five innings allowing two runs and striking out seven.

“I hit my spots and the defense behind me made a lot of great plays,” Landenburger said. “We know that not everybody is going to have a great day everyday, and it is good to have people baking you up.”

The Hornets look for another double-header sweep against Northeastern State University from Oklahoma on Saturday before taking on Texas A&M International on Wednesday at Turnbull Field. The Hornets are unranked nationally and are 10-5 on the season.

Chris Dvorak

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How will the team’s youth affect this team?

Bredbenner

Youth wise the (five) freshmen have a lot of growing up to do, a lot of improvements to make, but they’ve been working their butts off and working really hard. The one thing that was nice is a lot of our youth last year that are sophomores got to play quite a bit. We return our whole pitching staff which is three sophomores and one junior, and I think that that’s going to hopefully continue to grow, and they’ll get better every year and stronger. What they got to accomplish last year in their experiences should only make them better coming into this year. Hopefully a couple of people step up that are a little bit younger and that can contribute. Overall, we’re returning a pretty good core of girls that played every game for us last year.

How do you feel about the pressure of being the returning MIAA champs?

I think that we want to make sure that we continue to stay above par. I don’t feel like it’s one of those things that puts a lot of pressure on us as much as it’s one of those things that we just have to keep that tradition going and playing hard and playing to that level.

What newcomers do you see impacting?

Taylor Reichard is going to be filling some big shoes. She’s going to be playing third (base) for us most likely this year which is where Miranda Campbell played for the past three years and was national player of the year last year. So obviously defensively she’s got some big shoes to fill, and we don’t expect her to fill Miranda’s shoes quite as much offensively, but we are looking for her to step up and really make a big contribution to our team as a freshman. Tricia Vogel, another freshman, swings a great bat. Utility wise she can play third, first or catcher for us. If she continues to hit like she’s been hitting in practice, we’re going to find a place for her in our lineup. Andrea Piezuch is an outfielder for us. (She has) great speed, puts the ball in play (and) can be a dangerous person up at the plate because she can drop a bunt, slap and also hit a homerun out of the park at the same time.

What goals do you have for this team?

Our goals are always the same. We want to win the conference, win the conference tournament, be a competitive team in the regional and hopefully make it to the World Series. I think we’ve got some great senior leadership on this team that want to get there. This is our last group of kids that have been to a World Series, so they know what it’s like. They’re pretty determined to have a good season this year.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Senior first baseman Jennifer Dace hits a single against the Fort Hays State defense Friday afternoon at Turnbull Field. The Hornets won both games of the double header, 6-0 in the first and 7-1 in the second. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

In a Senior Day doubleheader against Fort Hays State, the Emporia State softball team wrapped up regular season play at home, sweeping the series 6-0 in game one and 7-1 in game two.

Prior to the game, the Preston family was recognized for the scoreboard they donated to Turnbull Field.

In game one, the Hornets got ahead early after junior Miranda Campbell hit a single up the middle to allow sophomore Abby Hughes to run in the first point of the game.

Both teams held on defense until the bottom of the fifth inning, when senior catcher Aubree Brattin hit a double to left field to allow senior infielder Jennifer Dace to run in another point for the Hornets. ESU gained the momentum as junior outfielder Jenna Potter capitalized on a fielding error to first base to allow Brattin to run in to make it a 3-0 ball game.

The Hornets continued to hold on defense and followed with more hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Campell hit another single to center field to allow junior Linda Ketter to score. Dace followed with a double up to center field to run in Campbell and sophomore Angela Mahan.

Senior Megan Dennis threw her sixth shutout of the year and is fifth in the MIAA in strikeouts per 7.0 innings and wins, ninth in ERA and 10th in opponent batting averages.

“I came out to try and get ahead of everyone to keep it low and it helped getting the strikeouts,” Dennis said.

Offensively, the Hornets posed a threat at bat with runners in scoring position every inning.

Campbell went two for three at bat and Dace went two for four, both with two RBI. Brattin went one for three with one RBI.

Dace hit within one double of the ESU career record for doubles.

“It was a big day for all of us,” Dace said. “For the seniors it was all about thanking the community and thanking Emporia for all they have done for us and we just wanted to come out here and put on the best show we could.”

In game two, the Hornets started with another early lead in the bottom of the first inning when the Tigers fumbled the ball at first base to allow Hughes to advance from second base to score the first point of the game.

Neither team would score until the bottom of the third inning when Campbell hit a home run to left field, getting her eighth home run of the year. Potter put the Hornets up 3-0 after hitting a ground ball to second base to allow Dace to score.

After holding the Tigers in the top of the fourth inning, the Hornets continued to make plays at bat with Peters hitting the second home run of the game out to left field.

Fort Hays got their first and only run of the game in the top of the fifth inning when catcher Cortney Brown hit a home run to left field to bring the count to 4-1.

After holding in the top of the sixth inning, the Hornets continued to make offensive runs, scoring three more points.

Campbell led the Hornets on offense in game two, going two for three with two RBI. Peters was perfect at bat, going three for three with one RBI.

“Offensively we did great,” Dennis said. “We saw the ball well and we put it in play. They made the errors and we got the hits we needed.”

On defense, Dennis allowed two hits in game one and freshman Jennifer Heerey allowed three hits in game two.

“Everyone did their part today,” Brattin said. “Our pitchers threw phenomenal and our defense was tight today.”

Allowing one run on three hits, Heerey got her 19th run of the year.

“I just thought it was a great team effort,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner. “We came out, we hit the ball well, we had great pitching, we played great defense and I think that is what it is all about right now.”

Taking the series 2-0, the Hornets’ seniors said they felt it was a good way to end their last game at home.

“We definitely wanted to go out with a bang and we did,” Dennis said. “It is the last time we will get to play out here and I am glad we did it like that.”

The Hornets have had success at home for the majority of the season, winning 22 of their last 25 games at the Trusler Sports Complex.

“We have been a little up and down with our consistency,” Brattin said. “But we are ending strong going into our post-season play and that is all that matters.”

The seniors are not the only ones who feel the wins were bittersweet.

“It is always sad to see your seniors go but they have had a successful career here and you just want to see them succeed and do well and you replace what you can and you move on from there,” Bredbenner said. “But they are a good group and I have had a lot of fun with them and they have achieved a lot here over the last couple of years and so hopefully they will keep on going here in the next couple of weeks.”

The Hornets ended the regular season with an overall record of 36-13 and went 15-5 in the MIAA. The Hornets led the MIAA in team batting average at .319 while the closest team behind them is hitting a .290 average. The Hornets also lead in slugging percentage at .484, while Washburn trails in second with a .452 average.

ESU is now preparing for post-season play in the MIAA Tournament.

“We are taking a couple of days off,” Bredbenner said. “We really have not had any time off these last couple of weeks because we have a lot of games. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will practice hard and then get ready for Thursday because we have to play two that night.”

The Hornets will play in the first round of the MIAA Tournament at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 30 in Overland Park, Kan.

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Outfielder Jenna Potter hits a line drive Tuesday afternoon against the Missouri Western Griffons at Turnbull Field. The Hornets split the double header 3-0, 6-7. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

The Emporia State softball team split the series 1-1 against Missouri Western on Tuesday at the Trusler Complex. The Hornets won game one 3-0 and lost game two 7-6.

“I thought pitching wise we did not show up in game two,” said Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner. “We got too behind in the count and gave up too many hits, especially hits with runners in scoring position.”

On defense, senior Megan Denise led the Hornets in the circle with four strike-outs and no walks, throwing her fifth shutout of the season in game one.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when sophomore Abby Hughes hit a home run to score two, getting her tenth home run of the season. Junior Miranda Campbell hit a home run right after, getting her sixth home run of the season.

Senior Jennifer Dace, sophomore Abby Smith and senior Jill Peters all got one hit. Hughes went 1-2 at bat with two RBI and Campbell went 2-3 at bat with one RBI.

In game two, the count was 0-0 until the third inning when MWU took the lead off of an RBI double on Kasey Smith.

ESU would tie up the game in the bottom of the third from an RBI single from Dace.

At the top of the fourth inning, the Griffons took a 5-1 lead after hitting three doubles. Keri Franks led the offensive front with a two RBI double.

The Griffons scored three runs before ESU made a pitching change to substitute Jenny Heerey for Denise. MWU would score one more run before the bottom of the fourth.

The Hornets cut the deficit to 4-2 with a home run from Smith, which barely missed the left foul post.

Denise allowed one hit and no runs in the top of the fifth inning.

The Hornets continued to get consistent at bats. Campbell hit her second home run of the series with two RBI to make it a one point game.

ESU was unable to stop the Griffons at bat in the top of the sixth inning. Denise allowed three hits and two runs to put MWU up 7-4.

For Denise, coming in halfway through the game and adjusting on the mound was difficult.

“Game two I think I should have loosened up more than I was prepared for,” Denise said. “When I went in there was runners on, I was a little overwhelmed. Aubree (Brattin) was trying to adjust from Jennifer (Heerey) to me because we throw different games so she has to call different plays and they just caught up with us.

The Hornets did not go quietly. In the bottom of the seventh, ESU kept the fans on their feet with two more runs to make it a one point game. With two out and two runners on base, Smith was last at bat for the Hornets. Smith hit a short grounder out the second base but was thrown out at first base to end the game.

Although the Hornets had nine hits in game two, Smith said they just were not hitting to the right spots.

“We put the ball in play, we just were hitting the ball right at people which makes it hard to score runs,” she said.

The Hornets swept Washburn Wednesday 4-1 in game one and 8-0 in game two.

Emporia State moves up one spot to number nine in this week’s NCAA Division II South Central Regional Softball Poll and are one spot behind West Texas A&M.

With only one more regular season match up, the Hornets are preparing for post season play.

“I know we have a great chance to win the conference tournament because these teams that we are losing to we are like this and making mistakes,” Denise added.

ESU will finish up the regular season at 2 p.m. Friday against Fort Hays State at the Trusler Complex.

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Junior infielder Miranda Campbell led the hornet offense Tuesday afternoon in a double header against Newman University at the Trusler Sports Complex. Campbell scored two runs with five RBI and a home run in the first game and got two more runs and another RBI in the second. The Hornets won the double header 9-0, 9-2. PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION DEPT.AT ESU

The Emporia State softball team swept a double header at home against Newman University on Tuesday. The Hornets won the first game, getting the run rule in the fifth inning 9-0 and finished off game two 9-2.

Senior Megan Denise threw a perfect game one, only allowing two balls to pop up to the outfield. Of Denise’s 58 throws, she allowed three batters to get three balls.

“I was hitting my spots and I had a goal coming in that I wanted to give away no more than two hits,” Denise said. “I wanted to keep it on our side to let us hit. We did and it was more comforting knowing we had nine runs and even if they did hit it that our defense would make out.”

Offensively, the Hornets dominated game one with junior infielder Miranda Campbell hitting two for two with five RBI. Senior Jill Peters hit a home run to score two.

“I have been hitting and being consistent,” Campbell said. “Hitting wise, I just needed to make contact and hit the ball hard and that was what I needed to focus on. This was a good series to do it because the pitching was perfect to get my swing back.”

In game two, the defense stayed strong as freshman Jennifer Heerey almost pitched a scoreless game, only allowing two runs on four hits in the fifth inning.

On the offensive side, the Hornets were lead by sophomore outfielder Abby Hughes who went two for three with one home run and three RBI. Campbell was three for three with one RBI.

“Offensively we had hit balls right at them and we weren’t getting them into the gaps,” said head coach Kristi Bredbenner. “We didn’t stress or anything, we just kept having quality at bat and focused on hitting the ball solid.”

According to Bredbenner, defensive improvement has been a factor to the team’s success.

“We have to get better every game and learn from our mistakes and working on fundamentals,” Bredbenner said. “The main focus has been fundamentals, getting the ground balls when we need to and just getting the job done in the game.”

For their next game against the University of Central Missouri, the Hornets are preparing for Megan Leonard, who has pitched eight consecutive shutouts and extended her consecutive scoreless innings string to 76.

“We are going to have to be aggressive when she throws a strike and lay out the rise ball,” Bredbenner said. “We need to go there with a lot of confidence and focus on hitting the ball just like any other day.”

The Hornets view the challenge at bat with optimism.

“I think it will be good for us because it will be a challenge and I think it will make us want to hit her even more just so that we can break that streak,” said sophomore infielder Angela Mahan.

The Hornets are ranked ninth and are 28-11 overall and 10-1 at home.

“It was a great game, a great series and great team work to pull it out,” Peters said.

ESU will play a double-header against UCM at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Trusler Complex.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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The Emporia State softball team swept a double-header against Truman State last Tuesday, winning game one with a score of 9-3 and game two with a score of 12-2.

In game one, the Hornets took the lead early when sophomore Angela Mahan drove two runners in, putting ESU up 2-0 in the first inning.

Truman did not go quietly, scoring on an unearned run in the second inning and a home run by Dani Mayer at the top of the fourth inning.

ESU capitalized at bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring six runs to put the score to 9-2.

The Hornets attempted to score one more to run rule and the Bulldogs would score only one more at the top of the seventh.

ESU senior Aubree Brattin ran in a score and went 2-3 at bat with four RBI. Junior Miranda Campbell ran in two scores and went 1-1 with one RBI. Mahan also ran in two scores and went 2-3 at bat.

On the defensive side, senior pitcher Megan Dennis led the Hornets on the mound. Dennis struck out six and did not allow any walks.

In game two, ESU would continue to get the lead early. Mahan and Campbell both ran in to score in the first inning.

In the second inning, Mahan hit her second home run of the year to score two more for the Hornets, making the score 4-0.

The Hornets scored two more in the fourth inning and shut down Truman on defense the entire game, only allowing the Bulldogs to score two runs in the top of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, ESU scored eight runs to get the run rule to win the game. Manley hit a two run homer, sophomore Abby Hughes hit two runners in, sophomore Abby Smith scored on a fielder’s choice and junior Jenna Potter would finish the game with a home run hit to the left wall to score three, bringing the score to 12-2.

Leading ESU on the mound in game two, freshman pitcher Jennifer Heerey got three to strike out and only allowed two runs on six hits.

“I think my defense does a great job of backing me up,” Heerey said. “Hitting my spots and my changeups has been working a lot better lately to throw the batters off balance.”

According to Heerey, having a strong offense has helped on defense.

“I think we have just come together as a team and we have gotten hits when we needed them,” Heerey said. “They have put base hits together and when they run they game it is really nice for the pitcher to be out there on the mound and be up by that much.”

Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner said that, with conference play getting closer, the Hornets need to continue to get important wins.

“It is going to be a tough conference this year and it is going to come down to who loses the games they should have won,” Bredbenner said. “We are going to have Central and Missouri Western here which is nice but we just got to keep focusing one game at a time and beat the teams we need to beat and take it to Missouri Southern.”

According to Bredbenner, the team’s strength at bat will help capture more wins.

“Right now we are just focusing on hitting the ball up the middle and making power contact with the ball,” Bredbenner said. “We have to be able to adjust our hitting style a little bit to the pitching style. When it is slow and low we have to make sure to wait and stay low through the ball and when it is a little quicker we have to have quicker hands and get our barrel through.”

On the defensive end, Bredbenner said pitching with more experience is key to shutting down other teams at bat.

“Our pitchers have been learning from their mistakes,” she said. “Granted, we are still making some here and there, but they are fine tuning a little more and not having as many of them.”

With the next game away against Missouri Southern, Bredbenner said the team needs to focus.

“Missouri Southern right now has won more games than they did all last year already,” she said. “They are a team no one can look past and I think a couple people have and it has come back to bite them a little bit.”

The Hornets are now 24-9 in regular season play and are 5-1 in the MIAA. They will play at 2 p.m. Saturday in Joplin, Mo.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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