Megan Dennis would have had center fielder Jenna Potter to blame for blowing her perfect game against Newman. Instead, she has Potter to thank for it.
Dennis threw five perfect innings on Tuesday at Trumball, and Potter finished the Hornets’ 9-0 run-rule win with a diving catch of Stephanie Harshberger’s blooper in shallow center field.
“We had all just been talking about it the pitch before. ‘Oh, it’s a perfect game. It’s a perfect game.’ You’re not supposed to speak about it and it was going through my head when I was going to catch it,” Potter said. “If I would have been an inch shorter, I don’t think I would have got it.”
Harshberger’s blooper was the only real challenge Dennis provided her defense all afternoon. Facing the minimum of 15 batters, she forced nine groundouts, had two strikeouts and needed only 58 pitches to complete the perfect game, which took only 55 minutes.
“I had a goal going in that I wanted to give up no more than two hits, and I definitely reached that point,” Dennis said. “I would say that I didn’t have the no-hitter, our whole team did, because without the defense it wouldn’t have happened.”
In her last two starts, Dennis has been pitching with a chip on her shoulder. On Saturday at Pittsburg State, ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner decided to flip the pitching rotation for the first time this season, starting Jennifer Heerey in the opener instead of Dennis.
Dennis (13-5) responded with a three-hit shutout and was back as the Game One starter on Tuesday.
“It definitely made me more determined to kind of prove a point,” Dennis said. “I was just determined more than ever to prove myself.”
Emporia State completed the two-game sweep of Newman in Game Two with a 9-2 victory.
Heerey (15-6) nearly matched Dennis, starting the game with a no-hitter through four innings. Newman finally got its first hit of the day in the fifth inning when Kayla Vosberg led off with a double, and the Jets scored their only two runs in the inning.
Newman’s two-run fifth made the game interesting at 4-2, but the ESU offense started to get going after that. Jennifer Dace drove in a run in the sixth to add to the lead, and the Hornets scored four in the sixth on their way to an easy win.
Abby Hughes started the scoring in the sixth inning with a three-run homer. Miranda Campbell followed with a triple and Dace drove in her second run of the game with another single.
After scoring only 13 runs in their last four games, the Hornets got back on track against Newman. The Jets are 2-35 this year and provided the perfect chance for the ESU hitters to swing the bat.
Campbell was the offensive star for the day, going 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIs in the opener. She followed that up with a perfect 3-for-3 performance in Game Two.
“I think this doubleheader against Newman was a real good confidence- builder, especially going in about to face Central and SBU, who’s surprised a couple people in our conference,” Campbell said. “I think this was a game to definitely build our confidence back up.”
Hughes also had a big day at the plate. She went 2-for-3 with a double and scored three runs in the opener, and she had two more hits in the finale, including her three-run homer. Jill Peters also homered in the opener.
Emporia State improved to 28-11 with the sweep and returns to conference play on Friday with a doubleheader at home against Central Missouri, followed by another doubleheader against Southwest Baptist on Saturday. First pitch on Friday is at 2 p.m.
Tuesday at Trusler
Game One
Emporia State 9, Newman 0 (5 innings)
Newman 000 00 — 0 0 4
Emporia State 430 2X — 9 8 0
WP — Dennis. LP — Thummel.
E — NU: Schneider, Stasiewicz, Bockman 2. LOB — ESU 1. 2B — ESU: Hughes 2. HR — ESU: Campbell, Peters. SF — Campbell. SB — Hughes 2, Brattin. CS — Campbell.
Game Two
Emporia State 9, Newman 2
Newman 000 020 0 — 2 4 1
Emporia State 101 214 X — 9 13 0
WP — Heerey. LP — Dillon.
E — NU: Langley. LOB — NU 3, ESU 5. 2B — NU: Vosberg; ESU: Campbell, Dace, Potter, Smith, Ketter. 3B — ESU: Campbell. HR — ESU: Hughes. SH — WU: Thummel; ESU: Hughes, Peters. SF — ESU: Campbell. SB — ESU: Hughes; WU: Carpenter. CS — ESU: Campbell.