DAVE BURROUGHS
Both Emporia State and Cowley get started with College World Series action Saturday — the Hornets at the NCAA Division II event in Cary, N.C., and the Tigers at the NJCAA in Grand Junction, Colo. And get this — both teams have already faced their first-round opponents this season.
No. 17-ranked ESU faced No. 13 Grand Valley State and lost 12-11 in Pittsburg — but good news — MIAA MVP Conner Crumbliss went 3 for 4 with three runs in the loss. Here’s a link to the full package of CWS preview stuff from the ESU sports info department. They play at 4 p.m. Saturday and you can get live stats through www.ncaa.com and audio through www.kcove.com. If they don’t work, remember, I’m not on the hook. But let me know.
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ESU COACH BOB FORNELLI
Emporia State is headed back to the NCAA Division II College World Series for the first time since 2006 after beating host Central Missouri 15-6 today in Warrensburg, Mo., to win the South Central Regional. The CWS is in Cary, N.C., this year and the Hornets open up against Grand Valley State on May 24. Here’s the release on today’s win from ESU’s Josh Slaughter:
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CONNER CRUMBLISS
The question now is: who was the team that bumbled its way through the MIAA Tournament? Was it a John Locke-style zombie version of the Emporia State baseball team rolling around? Doesn’t matter now. But I’m guessing a pep talk from Bob Fornelli couldn’t have hurt because right now, they’re rolling. And their timing couldn’t have been better.
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KEVIN WEMPE
Three of our area teams were in play today at national tournaments, and two came off with big wins, including Friends University picking up its first national tournament win, 6-5 over Park (Mo.) in Decatur, Ala. More on that later because I just got off the phone with some guy who was impersonating the SID at Friends, and wanted to call the score in. Except for Friends doesn’t have an SID. And he didn’t know much about the game, so he wasn’t doing a good job of faking it.
As for ESU … The No. 17 Hornets beat No. 16 Angelo State 23-0 in the first round of NCAA Division II Tournament South Central Regional in Warrensburg, Mo. No typo. They’re really having it in Warrensburg. Just kidding … yes, that was Twenty-three to nothing. A couple of Hornets had really big days in this berserker outing, with Kevin Wempe and Kenny Burkhead both going 5 for 5 with one home run apiece and 7 RBIs apiece. MIAA player of the year Conner Crumbliss was 4 for 6 with 3 RBIs and 5 runs. They’ll play Nebraska-Omaha Friday at 7.
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JILL PETERS
First up is this: it was 102 degrees at the start of today’s NCAA Division II Tournament softball game between Emporia State and Nebraska-Omaha in Angelo, Texas. Man. That is hot.
Didn’t seem to bother the Hornets. And especially not Wichita Northwest product Jill Peters, who went yard for a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to give ESU a 3-2 win over the Mavs in the first round of the South Central Regional. Peters finished 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a double to go with her game-winner That’s the third time in a row that ESU has beaten UNO, including a sweep last Sunday for the MIAA Tournament title. The Hornets play the Angelo State-St. Edward’s winner today in the championship of the winner’s bracket.
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ESU SOFTBALL: MIAA CHAMPS
The Emporia State and Cowley softball teams both affirmed their places as the top teams in their respective leagues — once again — by winning the MIAA and Region VI tournaments. It was the Hornets’ sixth straight MIAA title and sends ESU to San Angelo, Texas, for the South Central Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament where they’ll face … wait for it … No. 25 Nebraska-Omaha! Yes, the same team they had to beat twice to win the MIAA tourney. That starts May 15. And I’m obliged to shout out NW alumni … as usual (unless, of course, you’re Chris Harper bagging on U of O chicks) with ESU’s Jill Peters hitting a home run in Game 1 of the title bout. Here’s another stat to mull over … ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner is 24-2 all-time at the MIAA tourney and 18-1 as ESU coach. That ain’t bad, people.
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JOHN MCCOY
Thought a little spring football update was in order, now that Emporia State and Pitt State have both wrapped things up … but first lemme let everybody know that Sunflower Slate has gone national — our post on Phillipsburg’s Dylan Frantz got picked up on a Cornell (that’s in NY, people) basketball blog. So we’re shining on the East Coast. Gotta love Cornell … one of my all-time fave authors, Thomas Pynchon, went to school there, and so did his homeboy Richard Farina. Imagine those two, circa 1958, taking a writing class from Vladimir Nabokov? Man.
Here we go:
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BOB FORNELLI
They might not get to play Wichita State on Wednesday anymore, but fresh off of their first series win — ever — over No. 16 Central Missouri on Sunday (the Hornets won 3 of 4 games), Emporia State moved up to No. 3 in the latest ABCA NCAA DII national poll. That’s a nice bump for the Hornets and coach Bob Fornelli, who just might know what he’s doing. Yeah, you think? FYI, ESU hadn’t beaten the Mules since joining the MIAA in 1992.
Dude can coach.
FORNELLI & CONNER CRUMBLISS
ESU is 22-5 overall and 12-2 in the MIAA, which gives them a two-game lead over second-place Nebraska-Omaha.
Ark City’s Conner Crumbliss is doing his thing right now for the Hornets. In a big way. CC leads the MIAA in batting average (.458), hits (49), runs (44), doubles (18), total bases (82) and slugging percentage (.766). He’s also in the top 10 in OBP, stolen bases, triples and RBI. I smell a feature.
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DAVID KING
David King is definitely in the house.
The Southwestern center and Maize product really did his thing the past two games, and he’s the KCAC player of the week for his efforts — the 6-foot-11 junior averaged 22.2 points and 6 rebounds in wins over KCAC frontrunners Sterling (75-66) and Ottawa (79-76). That’s big. King is averaging 16.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season. Now only if the Moundbuilders, winners of three straight, hadn’t lost all-KCAC guards Alwyn Jordan and Justin Diggles to season-ending injuries earlier this year… MAN!
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I think I may have been a little remiss (or is it feeling remiss?) not to have mentioned the Emporia State baseball team to this point. I thought they were one of the great stories of last year with that huge winning streak — and it looks like they’ve set themselves up for more success this year. Here’s a release from ESU on their win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the season opener. OH, the Hornets are ranked No. 8 in the country if you need them:
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