Hornets not feeling pressure of maintaining winning streak
By Jesse Newell
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
There’s not much talk in the Emporia State dugout about the longest winning streak in MIAA history.
The Hornets know it’s there. They understand the significance of their 29 straight victories.
They just don’t pay much attention.
“The most surprising thing is that we don’t really put pressure on ourself,” ESU senior Keith Hernandez said. “I think that’s the biggest thing.”
The Hornets are having too much fun right now to worry about being nervous.
ESU hasn’t lost since March 8 — a span of 39 days. For some perspective, that was the same day the ESU men’s basketball team defeated Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament.
Since then, the Hornet baseball team has claimed an MIAA record and also started the conference season a perfect 22-0 heading into tonight’s doubleheader against Pittsburg State.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of teams and a lot of wins,” ESU coach Bob Fornelli said, “but this team right now is playing as good as I’ve ever had a team play.”
The Hornets haven’t had it easy, either.
Perhaps overlooked most is that ESU has not been a healthy team throughout most of this season.
Two of the Hornets’ best bats — Hernandez and Conner Crumbliss — missed significant time early in the year. Regulars Chris Dobler, Nick Wolfe and Nick Carlson also have spent time out of the lineup with injuries.
“If someone would have wrote our lineup there for a few games when everyone was hurt and showed me that lineup before the season and said, ‘This is going to be your lineup,’ I would have said, ‘We’re done. We’re in huge trouble,’” ESU senior Brian Majors said. “But we just kept winning.”
ESU has prevailed even when facing tough matchups.
In one series, an MIAA team saved its best pitcher for the last game against ESU, hoping to have him go against the Hornets’ weakest starter.
It still didn’t help. ESU won anyway.
“Right now, our mindset is that we should be winning every game,” Hernandez said, “and there’s nobody that should come in here and beat us.”
At this point, there’s no one that’s come close to competing with ESU offensively.
The Hornets have scored more than twice as many runs as its opponents (443-217). No other team in the MIAA has hit the 300-run plateau.
ESU also has five starters hitting over .400, and two more are above .390.
In 23 of its 39 games, ESU has scored at least 10 runs.
“You think you’re going to have off days sometimes (offensively),” Majors said. “I guess we’ve had a few, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve had a whole lot.”
ESU has had some remarkable individual stats to go with it.
Eric Shortell has 11 home runs, 64 RBI, 61 runs scored and 21 stolen bases. He leads the conference in RBI and runs.
Majors just had an ESU-record 29-game hit streak snapped on Sunday. Meanwhile, Crumbliss is hitting .493, and Hernandez has nine home runs and 45 RBI in just 29 games.
It’s also helped that the Hornet hitters always seem to pick each other up.
An example came last weekend. In ESU’s final game against Missouri Southern, No. 1 and 2 hitters Crumbliss and Majors combined to go 1-for-11.
The Hornets still won the game, 15-2.
Crumbliss said he wasn’t one of those who was shocked by his team’s success.
“At the beginning of the year, I really thought we could win every game, because I thought this team was that good,” Crumbliss said. “It’s not a surprise to me. I think we’re that good.”
ESU’s pitching has been solid as well.
Tyler Applehans is 8-0 with a 2.60 earned-run average, while Aaron Burris (1.60 ERA) and Daniel Waggoner (3.10 ERA) have been strong out of the bullpen.
Consequently, ESU’s 36-3 record is not only impressive — it’s among the best in the nation.
No other team has three losses or fewer, and the Hornets have moved all the way up to No. 4 in the latest National poll.
Just after his team broke the MIAA record for wins, Hernandez said his roommates briefly talked about the all-time Division-II winning streak, which is 46 games.
He said the conversation didn’t last long. The guys mostly laughed the topic off.
“I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility, but it’s definitely out of something we should really be thinking about right now,” Majors said. “That’s a long way away.
“I definitely think we’re good enough to do it, but is it something we’re thinking about? No, it shouldn’t be.”
It’s another streak the Hornets just don’t want to talk about that much. Especially because there’s still a conference title, a regional title and a national championship to be won.
“We’ve got to finish it off,” Crumbliss said. “We can’t be happy with half a year’s work.”
“None of it really matters,” Majors added, “unless we can get to that World Series and keep going.”
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