The Emporia State softball team opens the MIAA season this weekend in a rare role: Underdog.
Although Emporia State was picked to finish first in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, the Hornets occasional struggles and a 24-game winning streak by Missouri Western has placed the Hornets as the chasers instead of the chased.
The first Regional rankings came out this week and only confirmed that fact. Emporia State was ranked eighth, Nebraska-Omaha seventh and Missouri Western sixth.
The Hornets will get a chance right away to show that they’re still the class of the conference. After opening on Sunday at home against Truman — a doubleheader that may not be played because of the weather — Emporia State welcomes Missouri Western to town for a doubleheader on Monday.
“I think they’re more nervous than we are because they have that 24-0 record, something to stand on,” ESU pitcher Megan Dennis said. “And we’re just ready to play them no matter what their record is, no matter if they’ve won every game, they have not played Emporia State yet this year.”
As Dennis makes apparent, the Hornets like their chances going into the conference season. They’ve won six straight and they’re looking more and more like last year’s team.
Last season, ESU also struggled early, opening the season 3-7. This year’s 21-7 record can hardly be considered struggling, but the Hornets had their problems earlier in the season, losing four of six at the Southeastern Oklahoma tournament Feb. 20 through 22.
“Obviously, your first three weekends out, you go down and you play a lot of regional competition and maybe you’re not really as ready as they are because you haven’t been outside,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We flubbed a little bit when we went down to Southeastern Oklahoma’s tournament, and we’re playing much better softball now because of that.”
One of the biggest reasons the Hornets are playing better is their pitching. In the four losses at the Southeastern Oklahoma tournament, the ESU pitchers gave up 32 runs. During the six game winning streak, Dennis and Jennifer Heerey have combined to throw two shutouts and three one-run games.
Heerey, a freshman, has seen her ERA drop and her confidence go up start by start.
“Being a freshman, it was kind of nerve racking coming in,” she said, “but I’ve settled down a lot and gotten more experience under me.”
Heerey and Dennis have also benefited from accumulating innings and getting to practice outside the past few weeks. Other than the last two days, the Hornets have been able to spend more time outside.
“When you’re not pitching off the mound and in the dirt, and you’re pitching on a gym floor, there’s a big difference,” Bredbenner said. “It takes them awhile to get conditioned, and get their footwork back and their confidence back. And I think that’s one thing I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks is our pitching has gotten a lot more confident.”
For the Hornets to have a chance at getting back to the World Series and even make the postseason, they will have to keep improving. Only eight teams make the Regional and none of the Heartland schools are in the top eight right now, and one Heartland team will get a automatic bid, which would leave ESU out if the Regional tournament started today. But that’s no concern for the Hornets, because they know, like last year, they will only get better as the season progresses.
“I think a lot of times you see those Lone Star teams peak at the beginning of the year and then they don’t get any better by the end of the year,” Bredbenner said. “Whereas you see our conference, especially our team I feel like, when you’re blowing people away at the beginning of the year, you don’t really have anything pushing you.
“I think our goal is to prove they weren’t quite ready at the beginning and now they’re pushing themselves to be prepared and be ready at the end of the year when we want to be peaking.”