HORNET SOFTBALL SPLITS DAY TWO IN FLORIDA

February 9, 2019- Emporia State Softball splits day two in Florida against Barry on Saturday. The Hornets won game one 15-1 in five innings before falling 9-1 in game two.
 
Game One
After exchanging runs for the first two innings, the Hornets got on the board with five runs in the third. Kailee Odegard singled through the left side and advanced to second with one out on a single from Kenzie Garvin. Runners advanced on a double steal before Brittanie Shepherd walked the bases full. Kelsey Phillips reached on an error by the short stop to score Odegard before Hannah Steeby sent a Grand Slam shot over the center field fence to cap scoring in the inning as the Hornets led 5-0.
 
After stranding one Buccaneer runner on base in the bottom of the third, the Hornets extended their lead in the top of the fourth. Maddie Lavelle walked and advanced to second on a Garvin single. Runners advanced on Shepherds single to left and Lavelle scored on an error by the third baseman. Phillips singled to left to advance runners and score Garvin. Steeby grounded out advancing runner with an rbi to bring Shepherd home before Destiny Ojigoh double down the line to bring in another run making the score 9-0. Cassidy Beem singled to right center to bring Ojigoh home before advancing to second on a passed ball. Rachel Kauss was walked and runners advanced on a wild pitch before Odegard reached on an error that scored Beem. Kauss stole home to end the scoring for the Hornets with a 12-0 lead after four.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Bucs scored one run on two hits and left two stranded before the Hornets capped off scoring with three runs in the top of the fifth. Steeby, Gabby Biondo, and Brylie Bassett each scored for the Hornets in the inning.
 
Kenzie Garvin, Brittanie Shepherd, Kelsey Phillips, Hanna Steeby and Destiny Ojigoh each had two hits for the Hornets. Steeby brought in five RBI including her Grand Slam shot while Ojigoh recorded three RBI.
 
Montana Mesler got the win in the circle pitching five innings allowing one run on just two hits. She threw seven K's in the game.
 
Game Two
After the Hornets were retired in order in the top of the first, the Bucs scored two runs on two hits to take the 2-0 lead after one.
 
The Hornets answered with a solo home run from Hannah Steeby in the top of the second to cut the score to 2-1 in favor of the Bucs. In the bottom of the inning, the Bucs extended their lead to 4-1 with two runs on three hits leaving one on base.
 
After exchanging outs for two and a half innings, the Bucs broke the drought with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, extending their lead to 5-1 before capping off their scoring with four runs in the bottom of the sixth with four runs on two Hornet errors. With these runs, the Bucs took the run-rule win 9-1 after six innings.
 
The Hornets had four players with one hit each led by Hannah Steeby with the lone run for the Hornets. Sydney Righi started in the circle for the Hornets and received the loss. She pitched five innings allowing seven runs on eight hits with two K's.
 
The Hornets will be back in action on Sunday as they take on Lynn University in double header action starting at 11:00 a.m. ET.