TOPEKA — Emporia State pitcher Megan Dennis overheard Washburn’s coach declare that it was going to be a slugfest before Wednesday’s doubleheader.
Dennis took exception to Lisa Carey’s statement, nearly threw a no-hitter, and along with Jennifer Heerey and the Hornet offense, Emporia State made sure it was a one-way slugfest, sweeping Washburn 4-1 and 8-0.
“Their coach said it was going to be slugfest, but it was a strikeout-fest,” Dennis said.
Dennis and Heerey didn’t really need any motivation. After Tuesday’s split with Missouri Western, ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner had a long talk with her two pitchers and catcher Aubree Brattin.
Bredbenner thought her pitchers had lost their focus and lost sight of their game plan in a 7-6 Game Two loss. Heerey started and got the Game Two loss, giving up five runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Dennis finished the game and erased any positive thoughts she had from her shutout that proceeded the Griffons’ Game Two offensive outburst.
“It was definitely motivation, but Washburn alone is always motivation to come out and play well,” Dennis said.
Add in a little pregame smack talk and the Lady Blues and their bats were helpless from the start.
Dennis (16-6) struck out the side in the first and went back to the dugout and told her teammates that Washburn’s coach was mistaken.
“Little things like that get her motivated, which is great,” Bredbenner said. “She’s got to find those little things that keep her going.”
Dennis’ dominance continued. She had two more strikeouts in the second inning. She worked a perfect third inning, forcing the Washburn batters to take defensive swings that produced weak grounders and lazy infield pop-ups.
“My changeup was working real well today, especially against their better hitters,” Dennis said. “They were just off balance the whole time, and that’s what I wanted.”
Dennis fielded two straight comeback grounders to the mound to start the fourth and finished it off with her fifth strikeout.
With two outs in the fifth, Whitney Tapp ruined her perfect game by drawing a walk, but Dennis kept the no-hitter going, forcing Maggie West to ground out to end the inning.
Dennis worked another one-two-three sixth inning and appeared headed for her second no-hitter in two weeks — she threw a five-inning perfect game last week against Newman.
The Newman game was a nice memory, but this would have been one to tell the grandkids about.
“Newman’s not that great, but Washburn is our rival,” Dennis said.
Lindsey Himpel ruined the storybook finish with a slow-rolling grounder to second base. Himpel beat out Angela Mahan’s throw to first base by a step to end the no-hitter.
“I was a little bummed, but it’s all right,” Dennis said. “We still won. We won the game, and that’s what matters overall.”
Brattin gave Heerey a nice cushion to help her bounce back from Tuesday’s performance. The senior catcher hit a two-run homer in the first to spot Heerey a 2-0 lead. Tha t’s all she needed.
Heerey (18-7) started out mimicking Dennis, working a perfect first inning with two strikeouts. The Lady Blues got a hit in the second inning, but they would only get two more, never more than one per inning.
“I was motivated from my game yesterday,” Heerey said. “I needed to bounce back and prove a point.”
Heerey also needed to learn from her mistakes, and she did just that. Instead of trying to throw pinpoint perfect pitches, as she tried to do Tuesday, she worked the strike zone and forced the Lady Blues to put the ball in play.
“Obviously with her being a freshman, a lot of times when she has a bad game you’re worried that that’s really going to affect her,” Bredbenner said. “We talked a lot yesterday about not being a freshman and not letting the other team get to you or being afraid to give up a big hit because you’re going to upset someone. Today, she really did a great job of hitting her spots and pitching to their weaknesses, getting ahead in the count.”
Heerey threw her fifth complete-game shutout this season. Dennis and Heerey combined for 12 strikeouts and held the Lady Blues to one insignificant run.
Hornets move up one spot in regional rankings
Emporia State moved up from No. 10 to ninth in this week’s South Central regional rankings to remain on the outside looking in for the
regional tournament.
The conference tournament champions from the Lone Star, Heartland and MIAA get automatic bids to the regional tournament, and the remaining five slots go to the highest ranked teams in the region. The Heartland currently has no teams ranked in the top 10.
If the Hornets do not win the MIAA tournament, they could miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2003.
“Right now it’s just all about winning the conference tournament,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We’ve been there, done that. We’ve got to win our games on Friday at Fort Hays and we just need to take care of business. We’re a capable team of winning the conference tournament and you do that and you don’t have to worry about the regional rankings.”
South Central Region rankings
*Overall In-region
1. Southeastern Oklahoma 48-8 47-8
2. Angelo State 38-8 37-8
3. Abilene Christian 39-11 38-11
4. Nebraska-Omaha 34-10 31-9
5. Central Missouri 29-9 24-7
6. Midwestern State 29-15 29-15
7. Missouri Western 38-7 31-7
8. West Texas A&M 32-15 32-15
9. Emporia State 31-12 28-12
10. Cameron 30-16 29-15
*Overall record is against Division II opponents.
Wednesday at Washburn
Game One
Emporia State 4, Washburn 1
Emporia State 100 200 1 — 4 9 0
Washburn 000 000 1 — 1 3 1
WP — Dennis. LP — Long.
E — WU: Podschun. DP — WU 1. LOB — ESU 4, WU 3. 2B — ESU: Mahan. HR — ESU: Peters. SH — ESU: Hughes. SB — ESU: Hughes, Campbell.
Game Two
Emporia State 8, Washburn 0
Emporia State 410 000 3 — 8 9 0
Washburn 000 000 0 — 0 3 1
WP — Heerey. LP — Farris.
E — WU: Himpel. LOB — ESU 3, WU 6. 2B — ESU: Mahan, Dace, Brattin; WU: Moore, West. HR — ESU: Brattin. HBP — ESU: Hughes. SH — ESU: Peters.