March 5, 2023 – Emporia State used a strong start to propel themselves to a 15-4 run-rule victory over Fort Hays State on Sunday afternoon from Glennen Field to clinch the series win.
Emporia State fell behind Fort Hays State in the top of the first inning as the Tigers lifted a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead over the Hornets. Emporia State answered the opening run with seven of their own in the bottom half.
Chandler Bloomer started the scoring for the Hornets with an RBI double to score
Kadyn Williams. Following the Bloomer double,
Quinton Carlberg and
Andrew Rantz both recorded RBI singles to give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.
The lead grew to 5-1 as
Kase Johnson and
Brenden Tauber were hit by a pitch in back-to-back at-bats before a wild pitch and an RBI groundout from
Kadyn Williams capped off the seven-run first inning for Emporia State.
Fort Hays State cut the deficit in half with a three-run home run make the score 7-4 in the top of the second inning.
Both teams went scoreless through the third and fourth inning as Geekie settled in on the mound for Emporia State.
The Hornets added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Patryck Hernandez started the scoring with a two-run home run over the left field wall before
Kadyn Williams recorded his second and third RBI of the game with a two-out single to right center as Emporia State led 11-4 through five innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning,
Andrew Rantz led off the inning with a solo home run and was followed by back-to-back singles by
Kase Johnson and
Brenden Tauber.
Following the Tauber single,
Kadyn Williams homered to center field to clinch the 15-4 run-rule victory for Emporia State.
Kadyn Williams led the way for the Hornets as he went 2-4 with a home run and a career-high six RBI.
Andrew Rantz,
Brenden Tauber and
Quinton Carlberg each recorded multi-hit games with Rantz going 3-4 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored.
Noah Geekie pitched all seven innings and allowed three hits and four runs with six strikeouts.
Emporia State will return to action on Friday, March 10 from Glennen Field as they take on Central Missouri. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
