March 7, 2020 – It took until the third inning for a team to break through and it came from the Bearcats. Caden Diel drew a leadoff walk and after moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, was scored on an RBI single from Jacob Pinkerton.
The Hornets would answer back in the fourth.
Connor Hurst reached on a dropped third strike and then advanced to second on an errant pickoff to first.
Josh Norlin drove in Hurst with a single down the right field line to tie the game.
Emporia State took the lead in the sixth inning with two outs.
Josh Norlin singled up the middle. After Norlin advanced to second on a wild pitch, Paul Claasen reached on an infield single to third that brought Norlin around to make the score 2-1. In the top half of the seventh, the Bearcats would tie the game again thanks to a two out solo homerun from Donovan Warren.
In the eighth inning, Northwest would go to the bullpen and
Connor Hurst immediately drew a leadoff walk. Two consecutive groundouts moved Hurst around to third. With two outs, Hurst scored on a wild pitch to give the Hornets the lead 3-2.
After a strong eighth inning in relief,
Mason LeClair ran into trouble after Matt Gastner hit a leadoff triple to right center. After striking out the next batter, LeClair gave up a pinch-hit RBI single to Trevor Dooley that tied the game 3-3. Following an error at shortstop, the Bearcats had two runners in scoring position with only one out. The Hornets would go to
Coleton Crisp out of the bullpen. Crisp would shut the door on the Bearcats including a strikeout with two outs to end the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, with one out,
Jack Maki hit a double off the center field wall. Two batters later, with two outs,
Cooper Minnick was hit by a pitch which would set up
Sam Chaput. With two strikes, Chaput delivered a single to right field that would score Maki and give the Hornets the walk off 4-3 win.
Crisp took the win for the Hornets after his relief performance in the ninth giving him his first win of the season.
Jared Kengott went 7.0 innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits while striking out nine.
Jack Maki was two for four with a double and one run scored.
The Hornets look to take the series victory over the Bearcats in game three on Sunday afternoon. First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Glennen Field at Trusler Sports Complex.
