February 6, 2015- The #6 Hornets had 17 hits, including five homeruns, in a 17-6 win over Metro State on Friday afternoon at Trusler Sports Complex. The Emporia State pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts while only allowing 8 hits.
Emporia State started hot with Shawn Talkington retiring the side in order in the first. Justin Harris led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on Cody Bobbit's sac fly to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead. Marcus Bean tied it for the Roadrunners in the second when his fly ball to deep left center bounce off the top of the fence and over for a solo home run. The Hornets retook the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second when Metro State short stop Jake Thurston threw the ball into the Hornet dugout when trying to complete a double play.
Each team got lead off homers in the third inning with Alex Walker taking one out to right field for the Roadrunners and Price Jacobs hitting the top of the hill beyond left center for the Hornets. A sac fly in the fourth pulled Metro State within 4-3 before Emporia State exploded for five runs in the fifth inning. Tory Bell knocked a three run homer and Harris had a solo shot during the frame.
The Hornets put the game out of reach in the sixth when they erupted for eight runs on seven hits. Dean Long led off with homer to center field that cleared the hill on the fly. Bell would hit his second three-run homer of the game later in the inning before Long hit a two run double off the fence in right center. He would come around to score on Jacobs single and the Hornets led 17-3 going to the seventh.
In a planned move Talkington went the first four innings and gave way to Jarrod Miller. Talkington gave up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and only one walk. Miller struck out the side in the fifth and got the first two batters of the sixth to go down swinging before the Roadrunners finally put the ball in play with a ground out to end the sixth. He would retire seven straight before Thurston reached on an error when Jacobs dropped a high fly ball at second. Miller sandwiched two more strikeouts around a home run by Walker that scored two unearned runs and ended his outing with seven strikeouts in 3.0 innings to get the win.
Bell was three for five with six RBI and three runs scored while Jacobs went five for five with three runs and two RBI. Long was two for six with three RBI while Harris went two for three with three runs and two RBI.
The Hornets and Roadrunners will meet again on Saturday at Trusler in the second game of the three game series. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. on Glennen Field.
