Dillon Hazlett | ESU Bulletin

Hazlett ‘great offensive player’ for baseball team

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 28 April 2011 08:05
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Emporia State senior Dillon Hazlett gets a hit against Nebraska-Omaha April 2 at Glennen Field. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Every successful team has to have their player that can make good things come out of tight situations and bring out the

best in the ball club.

For the Emporia State baseball team, that player is Senior Centerfielder Dillon Hazlett. Hazlett is a native Kansan but went to North Carolina University for his first years of collegiate baseball before transferring to ESU.

“Baseball is a mental game, and he brings that to the table each and every day,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli. “He can run, and he is a great offensive player. He does a lot of little things that make our team good.”

This season alone, Hazlett has earned the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice and has also been named the Regional and National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Hazlett became the first player from the MIAA to earn either award.

“It is nice to (get the honors),” Hazlett said. “As long as we keep winning is the main thing. I can get all those, but if we don’t win then it’s not so fun.”

Hazlett earned the hitting accolades after a particularly spectacular game against Lincoln University. With the score tied in the fifth, Hazlett singled to get on base then stole second and advanced on a hit to third before stealing home to score the go-ahead run.

“He is the guy (who) when we need a big hit he comes up with it (or) when we need to get somebody on base,” said Third Baseman Kevin Wempe. “He is a complete package as a baseball player and a great teammate as well.”

Known for stealing bases, Hazlett is 36 for 36 in stolen base attempts thus far in the season. Also adding to his offensive power is his .437 batting average and a high on base percentage of .489. This, coupled with his foot speed, makes him a capable player to score once he is on base. His speed also lends itself to his abilities as an outfielder.

“He can really run and has great baseball instincts,” Fornelli said. “He is not afraid to fail. He just competes, makes up his mind and goes.”

As well as being an outstanding baseball player, Hazlett is also a leader by example on the team always having a great attitude and working hard to reach team goals.

“He’s got a great attitude each and every day,” Fornelli said. “A lot of times, when your best player is one of your hardest workers, you’re going to have a good team that year. He definitely brings that everyday, works hard, competes, and on top of that, he is probably our best athlete in our baseball program that Emporia State has ever had.”

Chris Dvorak

ESU fun run: Hornets win by combined 23

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 21 April 2011 11:23
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The runs came early and often for the Emporia State Hornets on Sunday in their double header against the Blue Tigers of

Emporia State senior Jake Hosey takes an easy out against Lincoln Saturday afternoon at Glennen Field. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Lincoln University. ESU defeated Lincoln 14-3 in the first of two games and responded with a 15-3 victory in the second.

The first game for ESU saw six runs in the third inning, opening up a 12-3 lead.

“We knew we had to come out, put up some runs early,” said Centerfielder Dillon Hazlett. “It’s big to get runs early, that way you can just put a team away (in) beating them three games in a row.”

First Baseman Travis Whipple would continue the onslaught for ESU with his lead off home run in the fourth inning. The Hornets added one more run to the score and won handily 14-3.

In the second game of the double header, ESU found ways to score despite being out hit 7-1 through three innings. Aggressiveness in stealing bases kept the game knotted at three runs.

“We want to be aggressive on the bases,” Whipple said. We want to put pressure on them, make them do stuff they’re not comfortable doing. Whenever you can get guys running and movement in the middle you open up gaps, open up holes.”

A lead off home run by Joe Kornbrust followed by a home run by Rudy Weiser sparked what became a five run fourth inning for ESU, a run that cemented their lead for the game.

“People laid back, and we needed a little spark,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli of the back to back home runs. “At that time, they had seven hits, and we had one hit. Even though the score was three to three, we weren’t producing a whole lot, and I think that got everyone up.”

Hazlett would follow up with a two run home run in the fifth, and Shortstop Andy Cotton’s three-run homerun in the eighth inning would effectively end the game by run rule as ESU held a 15-3 lead.

The Hornets are now 33-4 overall and 29-4 in the MIAA. With the win, they clinch a spot in the upcoming MIAA tournament. ESU is currently ranked first in the conference and prepare for a four game series at second place Central Missouri this weekend.

“We’ve been pretty good on the road so far,” Fornelli said. “But we have our toughest weekend of the year next week. It’s up to us to compete, do the little things. No matter what we do, as long as we compete and play the game the right way, we can go out of there with our heads up.”

Brandon Schneeberger

ESU steals home to seal sweep

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 14 April 2011 08:22
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Holding their number one MIAA conference ranking, the #4 Emporia State University baseball team swept unranked

Emporia State senior J.D. Herman throws for an out at first base in the first game of a doubleheader against Missouri Western Tuesday afternoon at Glennen Field. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Missouri Western State University on Tuesday, winning the double header, 5-2 and 11-7.

“They’re doing great. It’s an unbelievable club. I don’t know if we have the most talent in the country, but we’re finding ways to win,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli. “They always believe they’re going to win games and then they do that.”

Winning game one smoothly, the first Hornet run was from a triple by senior Parker Amos. After that, the Hornets scored three runs in the third inning and one more in the sixth.

The Griffons attempted a comeback scoring one run in the seventh and loading the bases, but left each runner stranded at the end allowing the Hornets were able to come away with the win.

“At times, we may get laid back a little too much,” said Senior Outfielder Dillon Hazlett. “But we always rein it back in and get the job done.”

The second game was a little rockier, with the Griffons threatening from the first inning, making one run. The Hornets had a rough start with starting pitcher Derek Brooks throwing 38 pitches and the Hornets making two errors. The Hornets offense came out, however, and took the lead with two runs in the first.

“Whenever (Brooks) is not down in the zone, he struggles a little bit,” said Senior Catcher David Allbritton. “But when he is down in the zone, no one can hit him.”

Brooks improved his pitching for the next three innings only allowing two hits and shutting down the Griffon offense. ESU then went on a hitting drought for three innings, allowing the Griffons to tie the game.

“We’ve got to come out and do a better job of closing the game,” Allbritton said. “Instead of giving up a few runs… but we got lucky and had built up more runs on them.”

Hazlett opened up the Hornet scoring by hitting a double and stealing third before stealing home on a wild pitch. The Hornets then had a five run eighth inning that giving them a little cushion going into the ninth that the Griffons could not overcome.

“We found a way to battle through it,” Fornelli said. “It’s a big opportunity for us to win two games, and we were able to do it.”

Chris Dvorak

Top MIAA team battles wind, gets win

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 07 April 2011 08:04
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With the wind playing a huge factor, the Emporia State baseball team finished a four game series against the Mavs of Nebraska-Omaha Sunday, defeating UNO 10-5. After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the Hornets rebounded winning the final two games.

“I think it’s a huge win for us this year,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli. “Because it’s the first time we’ve lost two in a row. To come out today and compete and give ourselves a chance to win is huge for the rest of the year.”

Neither team wasted time getting on the board as the Mavs opened up with one run in the first inning followed by two Hornet runs off an unearned run by Kevin Wempe and a run by Andy Cotton off of an RBI from Joe Vaskas.

The Mavs responded again in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to tie the game up at two runs apiece before Vaskas struck again with the first homerun of the game giving ESU a 3-2 lead.

“He threw me a breaking ball, and I put a good swing on it,” Vaskas said. “I knew the wind was carrying out well, so anything in the air had a chance to get out for anybody on the team.”

The Hornets added two more runs off a UNO error on what should have been a routine fly ball opportunity. ESU took the three run lead into the fourth and extended their lead to six runs after Dillon Hazlett’s homerun to right field brought Wempe home.

“When I hit it, right off the bat I was like, ‘that’s probably foul,’ and then I looked up and it was blowing back fair and it stayed straight… the wind helped me out on that one a little bit,” Hazlett said.

ESU added two more runs to the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Though the Mavs would respond with three runs in the top of the eighth, the Hornets held them off for the 10-5 victory.

For the series, the Hornets went 2-2 with the Mavs after dropping the first two games. ESU dropped the series opener on Friday 2-8 before splitting Saturday’s double-header. The Hornets lost the first game 2-5 but rebounded with an 8-6 victory in the second.

ESU is now 22-3 on the season and ranked first in the MIAA. They return to Glennen Field this weekend for another four game series against Missouri Southern. First pitch in the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Brandon Schneeberger

Baseball sweeps series at Pitt State

Written by Bulletin Staff
Tuesday, 08 March 2011 16:32
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The Emporia State baseball team swept Pittsburg State in a four game series over the weekend.

In Saturday’s double header, Dillon Hazlett went two of four and scored two runs and Joe Vaskas went three of four an added two RBI’s in the first game.

In the second game the Hornets were out hit 14-10 but pulled off the win by stranding 11 runners.

Sunday concluded the series with a 5-1 ESU victory followed by a 13-6 victory. The Hornets scored all five of their runs in the fifth inning in the first game. Zach Carlson’s triple drove in two runs to get ESU Started.

In the second game Sunday, the Hornets scored nine runs in the third as they cruised to the 13-6 victory.

The Hornets are now 7-0 on the season, and are currently ranked fourth in the nation.

GameStop shares tumble on Walmart game deals

AP Online December 2, 2009 GameStop Corp.’s shares took a hit Wednesday after an announcement from Walmart that the big retailer is offering deals on popular video games and the Nintendo Wii leading up to the holidays.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is lowering the prices of 25 of the most popular video games _ such as “Halo 3:ODST” and “Left 4 Dead 2″ _ until Christmas Eve by 15 percent to 20 percent.

It’s also running a promotion from Saturday through Dec. 12 giving shoppers who buy the $199 Wii game console a $50 gift card.

Investors sent GameStop shares sharply lower Wednesday amid worries that the Walmart deals could undercut GameStop’s holiday sales.

“This news is clearly a negative for (GameStop) which generates the bulk of its sales during the holiday season and may be forced to reduce prices to stay competitive,” said Janney Capital Markets analyst Tony Wible in a note to investors. “We would note that many of the (GameStop) stores overlap in close proximity to a (Walmart) store as (GameStop) as historically sought to benefit from (Walmart) foot traffic.” On Wednesday, GameStop’s Web site listed “Left 4 Dead 2″ as selling for $39.99 _ down from its regular price of $59.99. “Halo 3″ ODST” was listed at $39.99 as well, down from $49.99. this web site walmart price match

These are lower than the $50 that Walmart is asking for the games, but it was not clear whether GameStop’s deals were in response to the Walmart price cuts.

A GameStop representative could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. go to website walmart price match

Other games, such as “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games,” are cheaper at Walmart, and GameStop isn’t offering a gift card for a Wii purchase.

Even so, GameStop has been optimistic about the holidays, and in November it reaffirmed its guidance for the fourth quarter.

Games are not the only category Walmart is discounting as it tries to lure shoppers to its stores. Online, the retailer along with rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. have been locked in a price war on highly anticipated books and DVDs.

GameStop, like most video game companies, makes a big chunk of its annual revenue during the holiday season. Walmart’s decision to focus on video games with its holiday price cuts takes advantage of the sector’s popularity as gifts.

Games are unlikely to do as well this year as they did last year, when Americans spent more than $21 billion _ a record _ on game software, hardware and accessories, according to NPD Group. This year there have been fewer hit games and the recession has led customers to be more selective about what games they buy.

Shares of GameStop fell $2.18, or 9.1 percent, to $21.66 in afternoon trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $20.02 and $32.82.

Make-up game ends in victory

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 03 March 2011 08:43
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The Emporia State baseball team took on the Ottawa Braves yesterday afternoon at Glennen Field in a game that was

Senior Andy Cotton throws to first base Wednesday afternoon at Glennen Field. The Hornets beat Ottawa 5-3. Jon Coffey/ The Bulletin

scheduled earlier in the week due to lost games over the weekend. The Hornets were able to get runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to earn a 5-3 victory.

“We still don’t know a whole lot about our baseball team,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli. “At least we got an opportunity to get out and play somebody else in a different uniform. Ottawa did a good job and came out here and played hard.”

Things picked up for ESU (3-0) in the third inning as Senior Second Baseman Andy Cotton hit a home run off the first pitch of the inning to give the Hornets a one run lead. After stealing second, senior infielder Jacob White scored for the Hornets off a second double by Senior Shortstop Dillon Hazlett to center field.

“That was a fastball,” Cotton said about the home-run. “I’m not a very big guy. I’m looking to go the other way up the middle… It got in on me a little bit. It was just one of those swings. I put a good swing on the ball, and it carried out for me.”

Hazlett himself scored in the inning off a David Albritton single up the middle.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hazlett continued his good day with his third hit as he led off with a single. Hazlett was advanced to third off a line out to center by Travis Whipple. Albritton again brought Hazlett home with an RBI single up the middle to give the Hornets a 4-0 lead.

Ottawa finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth after a two-run home run by Right Fielder Dustin Balmer with two outs in the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Joe Kornbrust reached base on a fielder’s choice. Kornbrust went on to steal second and third before being brought home off an RBI bunt by White giving ESU a 5-2 lead.

The Hornets survived a scare in the eighth inning. With one out in the inning and two runners on base, ESU secured two outs off a fielder’s choice and a fly out to left field. The Hornets held on in the ninth, allowing only one more run to get their third win of the season.

“We’ve played three games now in it seems like three, four weeks – a month,” Fornelli said. “This weekend’s going to be a big part to our season. Because we’re going to get an opportunity to play four games in a row, and it’s our job to out there and get better day in and day out.”

The Hornets are finished with the non-conference season and will begin the conference season this weekend. A three-game series will be held March 4-6 at Pittsburg State.

Brandon Schneeberger