ESU softball back in MIAA championship
Andy Marso
Saturday, May 2, 2009
OVERLAND PARK — What a difference a day made for the Emporia State softball team.
When the sun rose Saturday the Hornets were in the loser's bracket of the MIAA tournament, needing to win three games in a row to return to the championship for the seventh straight season.
By the time the sun set the third-seeded Hornets had beaten No. 8 Fort Hays State 9-2, No. 1 Central Missouri 2-0 and No. 2 Missouri Western 3-0. They will face No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha in the championship Sunday.
"I think we just had the right mindset the whole day," senior pitcher Megan Dennis said. "We were just determined to go out and win and we did."
Dennis, in particular, clung to her championship hopes like a bulldog with a bone. Every time opposing teams threatened, Dennis rose up and shut them down, combining with freshman Jenny Heerey to pitch 21 straight innings without allowing an earned run.
Meanwhile, the Hornets' vaunted offense was dominant in the morning game and adequate the rest of the day. Emporia State coach Kristi Bredbenner bunted and sent runners early against Fort Hays and it provided a spark. Abby Hughes broke the scoreless tie with a two-run single in a third inning that also included three stolen bases.
The power came the following inning, in the form of a three-run homer by Angela Mahan that put the Hornets up 5-0.
The Tigers threatened with two unearned runs in the fifth, the only blemishes on an otherwise dominant complete game by Dennis.
The Hornets answered immediately. They put the game away with four runs in the sixth inning, including a solo homer by Emporia native Jenna Potter. It was a breakout game for Potter, who snapped an 0-for-13 streak with two hits.
"It's been going on for some time now, maybe weeks," Potter said of her slump. "So that felt pretty good."
The win against Central Missouri was a classic pitcher's duel, with Dennis and Heerey combining to outshine Jennies' star Megan Leonard.
Leonard was excellent, but the Hornets got the one hit they needed off the bat of Abby Smith. With two outs in the fourth Smith lifted a clutch double just over the rightfielder's head to score both of the game's runs.
"I knew I needed to get a hit," Smith said. "I struggled last game, so I knew I needed to step up."
Heerey got the start against the Jennies. She struck out four in five-plus innings to earn her 20th win of the season. It was a memorable performance for a freshman, especially opposite the MIAA Pitcher of the Year, Leonard.
"Last night when she came in against (Missouri) Western she showed me she was ready for it," Bredbenner said. "I had full confidence going into today because she threw a shutout against Central last time and she just seems to have their number."
The Jennies never hit Heerey hard, but she was lifted in the sixth inning after a walk, an infield single and an error loaded the bases. Dennis came on and ended the threat with two pop-ups and then closed out the game easily in the seventh.
"They hadn't seen Megan yet today, so switching pitchers helped, just to mix things up," Heerey said. "She did an awesome job of getting us out of it."
Dennis did it again in the opening inning of the nightcap against Missouri Western. The Griffons put runners on second and third with no outs, but Dennis wiggled out of trouble and cruised the rest of the way.
Emporia State's top hitter, Miranda Campbell, provided all the offense the Hornets needed with a two-run homer in the first. Campbell had hardly seen a pitch within a foot of the strike zone the whole tournament, but reached out to catch an outside offering and hit a bomb the opposite way.
"I think it was off the plate, but I was just going up there trying to be aggressive," Campbell said. "I knew I wasn't going to get anything, so if it was anywhere close I tried to swing. After that they didn't give me anything even close."
Jennifer Dace gave the Hornets an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. She stayed in the game after fouling a ball off her ankle and dropping to her knees in pain earlier in the at-bat.
That kind of resilience was the key to the three-game run. The Hornets will have to beat Nebraska-Omaha twice Sunday to win their sixth straight MIAA title, but after the gauntlet they ran Saturday, that's not likely to scare them.
"We won three today," Campbell said. "We sent three people home today, so we can send someone else home tomorrow."
admireed (anonymous) says...
ESU beat UNO twice Sunday to win the Tournament Championship
May 3, 2009 at 5:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )