EMPORIA STATE BASEBALL DEFEATS MISSOURI WESTERN AND PITTSBURG STATE TO AVOID ELIMINATION IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT

May 12, 2018- Emporia State Baseball takes two wins on day three of the MIAA Tournament to avoid elimination. The Hornets defeated Missouri Western 6-4 in the first game of the day and took down Pittsburg State 4-0 in the second game.
 
Emporia State vs. Missouri Western
The Hornets got on the board early with three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Brian Grove started things off for the Hornets with a walk and advanced to third on a single through the right side from Mack Gowing. Grove scored on a sacrifice fly from Bryce Fischer. Mason Brown singled to left center field and advanced to second on the throw advancing Gowing to third. Kaden Shaffer drove Gowing home and advanced Brown to third with a sacrifice fly. Trevor Turner walked before Kyle Lopez singled through the right side to advance Turner to third and bring Brown home to give the Hornets the 3-0 lead.
 
Teams exchanged outs in the next four complete innings before the Hornets extended their lead with three runs in the top of the sixth. Grove started off the inning with a single through the right side and advanced to second as Gowing grounded out and Fischer was intentionally walked. With runners on first and second, Brown hit a 2 RBI triple to center field to drive home Grove and Fischer. Brown was driven home by Shaffer on a single through the left side to give the Hornets a 6-0 lead.
 
The Griffons got on the board in the bottom of the eighth with one run on three hits. In the bottom of the ninth the Griffons closed the gap to 6-4 with three runs on one hit and two Hornet errors before the Hornets closed out the game with the final out.
 
The Hornets had ten hits in the game with five different players getting at least one hit. Mason Brown led the Hornets with three hits, two runs and two RBI followed by Brian Grove with two runs on two hits. Mack Gowing and Kyle Lopez each added two hits while Kaden Shaffer had one.
 
Seth Holman started on the mound for the Hornets and pitched 8.0 innings allowing just one run on six hits with nine K's. Nathan Gieber came in to start the ninth inning and pitched 0.2 innings allowing three runs on one hit before being relieved by Trey Taylor for the final out.
 
Emporia State vs. Pittsburg State
After allowing two hits and stranding two Gorillas runners in the top of the first, the Hornets took the 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Brian Grove started things off with a single through the right side before being picked off. Mack Gowing walked and advanced to second as Bryce Fischer grounded out to the pitcher. Gowing advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven home by Mason Brown with a single to left field.
 
After exchanging outs in the second inning the Hornets extended their lead in the bottom of the third with three runs on three hits. Fischer walked to start the inning and advanced to third on a single up the middle from Kaden Shaffer. Trevor Turner singled to third base to advance Shaffer to second and bring Fischer home for the score. With runners on first and second, Kyle Lopez grounded out to second base to advance the runners. Shaffer and Turner scored on a single to the short stop from Tate Kastens to give the Hornets the 4-0 lead after three innings. The teams exchanged outs for the remainder of the game.

Despite allowing six hits in the game the Hornets were able to keep nine runners stranded on base to keep the Gorillas scoreless. The Hornet's defense was able to back up their pitchers with no errors in the win.
 
The Hornets had seven hits in the game from seven different players. Tate Kastens led the Hornets with one hit and two RBI while Brian Grove, Mason Brown, Kaden Shaffer, Trevor Turner, Kyle Lopez and Brandon Bachar each added one hit.
 
Hornet pitchers took a combined shut-out in the game against the Gorillas. Taylor Thompson started on the mound for the Hornets and pitched 6.0 innings allowing five hits and no runs with 2 K's before being replaced by Layne Downing. Downing pitched 2.2 innings allowing just one hit in ten batters faced before Trey Taylor came in to pitch the final out getting one K.
 
The Hornets will be back in action on Sunday as they take on Pittsburg State in the semi-final elimination game on day four of the MIAA Tournament.