March 28, 2023 - Emporia State rallied from a three-run deficit to take down Pittsburg State 8-7 on Tuesday night from Glennen Field.
In the first, Hornet starting pitcher
Greg Ross held the Gorillas scoreless before Emporia State took the lead in the bottom half of the first.
Emporia State drew four walks through the first five batters with
Noah Geekie drawing a bases loaded walk to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead. Following an infield fly for the second out, designated hitter
Jake Daneff, making his first start of the season in the lineup, singled to right field to drive in two runs as Emporia State took a 3-0 lead over Pittsburg State through the first inning.
The Gorillas responded in the second with four runs on four walks and two hits as the Hornets fell behind 4-3.
Brenden Tauber tied the game in the bottom of the second as he homered to left field on the first pitch of the inning. The home run was Tauber's first of the season and second of his career.
Braden Meek and Pittsburg State reliever Boston Dowd held both teams scoreless in the third inning before the Gorillas scored two runs off Meek in the fourth inning.
Pittsburg State led off the fourth inning with a double before Austin Watkins homered to left field to give the Gorillas a 6-4 lead over the Hornets.
Meek tallied 3.2 innings pitched in relief and allowed just two runs as he kept the Gorillas off the scoreboard in the fifth inning.
Following a scoreless bottom of the fifth for Emporia State, Pittsburg State scored their final run with a solo home run to build a 7-4 lead.
Emporia State started the sixth inning with a base runner as
Brenden Tauber led off the inning with a hit by pitch before stealing second to enter scoring position.
Kadyn Williams scored Tauber as he tripled into the right center gap to trim the deficit to 7-5. Following a pair of strikeouts,
TJ Racherbaumer cut the Gorilla lead to 7-6 with a two-out double into center field to score Williams.
In the top of the seventh inning,
Brayden Tower entered the game for Emporia State and retired the Gorillas in order.
The Hornets maintained the momentum as
Quinton Carlberg drew a leadoff walk, his team-leading 22
nd walk of the season. Following a popup on the infield,
Andrew Rantz drew a walk to force a Pittsburg State pitching change.
Brenden Tauber followed the pair of walks with a bunt single to load the bases for
Kadyn Williams. Williams recorded a sacrifice fly to score Carlberg and tie the game 7-7 and bring
Chandler Bloomer to the plate. Bloomer came through with an two-out RBI single to score Rantz and give the Hornets the 8-7.
The Bloomer RBI single was the Hornets fourth run scored with two outs in the game.
Brayden Tower returned to the mound in the eighth inning as he retired the Gorillas in order for the second consecutive inning as he struck out the side.
Emporia State was unable to push across any insurance runs before Tower returned for his third inning of work in the top of the ninth. After allowing a leadoff double, Tower used a strikeout and a pair of ground balls to escape the inning as the Hornets clinched the 8-7 win over Pittsburg State.
Kadyn Williams and
Brenden Tauber both went 3-3 from the plate as Williams drove in two runs while Tauber recorded a solo home run.
Jake Daneff made his first start in the lineup and went 2-3 with a walk and two RBI.
Chandler Bloomer,
TJ Racherbaumer and
Noah Geekie each recorded one RBI of their own.
On the mound,
Brayden Tower recorded his second win of the season as he pitched the final three innings in relief. Tower allowed just one hit and one walk while tallying five strikeouts, a season-high in one outing.
Emporia State will return to action against Rogers State this upcoming weekend from Glennen Field as they host Rogers State. Game one of the series is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 31.
