Baseball | 3/29/2012 1:13:00 PM
FAN APPRECIATION
It will be fan appreciation day when ESU faces Fort Hays State on Saturday, March 30. The games will feature on dollar admission and one dollar hot dogs. Hornet players will sign autographs in their dugout following the baseball and softball games.
LAST AT BAT
The Hornets struck first as they took game two against Missouri Wetern by a score of 5-1. At the plate Joe Kornbrust went three for four in the game with three runs scored. Vaskas was three for five in the second game driving in a run and scoring a run. Zack Carlson, Beau Poston and Rudy Weiser each recorded a hit and added an RBI.On the mound Zach Gove allowed just five hits striking out six hitters over 7.0 innings to move to 2-2 on the season in his longest outing of the year. Ben Jacks came on the closed the door allowing just two hits over the final two innings.
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 366-138 in his ninth season at ESU and is 671-250 in his 16th year overall. He has led ESU to eight straight NCAA South Central Regionals. He led ESU to MIAA Championships in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. A 1991 graduate of ESU, Fornelli has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, and was the national runner-up in 2009 with ESU and in 2000 while at FHSU.
Steve Johnson is 38-35 in his second season with the Tigers.
THE SERIES
This will be the 187th-190th meeting between the two teams with ESU holding a 127-59 overall advantage. The Hornets have won 19 of the last 20 meetings and 10 straight meetings at home.
LAST TIME VS. FHSU
The Hornets scored nine runs in the fifth inning to roll to a 15-3 victory over FHSU on March 26, 2011. Kevin Wempe was two for four at the plate with three runs driven in while Dillon Hazlett was three for five and scored three runs. Derek Brooks pitched five innings to pick up his fifth win of the season while Zach Gove pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Fort Hays State is 10-12 and they are 8-9 this season in the MIAA. At the plate Sheldon Howell is leading the team hitting .429 with one home run and 13 runs batted in. Ryan Busboom is hitting .409 with a team high seven home runs and 31 runs driven in. On the mound Shawn Lewick is 2-1 with a 2.43 earned run average.
ON DECK
ESU will step out of league play for a week as Newman comes to town on April for a 5 p.m. first pitch. ESU will then face future MIAA foe Central Oklahoma on April 6-7 from Glennen Field.
