April 1, 2023 – Emporia State tallied 13 hits and drew 10 walks as they erased an early six run deficit to take down Rogers State 16-10 on Saturday afternoon from Glennen Field.
Rogers State quickly started the first inning with two outs before rallying to score three runs with two outs as they built a 3-0 lead over Emporia State in the first frame.
The Hornets were retired in order in the first inning and following a scoreless second for the Hillcats,
Mason Sturdy recorded the first hit of the game for Emporia State in the bottom half. Sturdy was left stranded as the Hornets were held scoreless.
The Hillcats expanded their lead in the third inning as RBI from Gavin Mestas and Bennett Henderson gave Rogers State a 5-0 lead.
Following a quiet bottom of the third from the Hornets, Rogers State added another run in the fourth inning, on a groundout from Jesse Holguin, to build their largest lead of the game as they led Emporia State 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Emporia State finally broke through against Hillcat starting pitcher Giancarlo Cortez. With two outs and two runners on,
Kase Johnson singled into left field to score
Chandler Bloomer as the Hornets trimmed the Hillcat advantage to 6-1 through four innings.
Despite a pair of hits from the Hillcats in the top of the fifth, Hornet reliever
Will Hann kept Rogers State from extending their lead.
In the home half of the fifth, Emporia State used a leadoff double from
Andrew Rantz, a hit by pitch drawn by
Brenden Tauber and a walk by
Kadyn Williams to quickly load the bases against Cortez.
Chandler Bloomer doubled into the left center gap to drive in two runs and close the deficit to 6-3.
Following the Bloomer double,
Palmer Hutchison and
TJ Racherbaumer drew back-to-back walks which allowed Williams to score and trim the Hillcat lead to 6-4. With the bases loaded,
Mason Sturdy, who made just his fourth start of the season, recorded his second hit of the game with a two RBI double off the wall in left center to tie the game 6-6.
The Hillcats were able to get the first out of the inning with a strikeout but fell behind on a pinch-hit, two RBI double down the left field line as the Hornets capped off a seven-run fifth inning to take an 8-6 lead.
In the sixth inning, Rogers State used four hits and a Hornet defensive error to respond with three runs to regain a 9-8 lead over Emporia State.
The back-and-forth between both teams continued as the Hornets regained the lead with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth.
Kadyn Williams drew a leadoff walk before a fielder's choice and a strikeout. With two outs,
TJ Racherbaumer recorded his second RBI of the game and third career triple, as he drove a ball off the wall in the right field corner to score
Chandler Bloomer from first base. After
Mason Sturdy drew a walk,
Kase Johnson recorded his second RBI with an infield single to give the Hornets a 10-9 lead.
Rogers State tied the game in the top of the seventh as they scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the inning.
The Hornets started the bottom half with a hit by pitch drawn by
Brenden Tauber, his second of the game, and a third consecutive walk by
Kadyn Williams. Despite the strong start to the inning, Emporia State left the bases loaded as the score remained tied 10-10.
In the eighth, the Hillcats threatened to take the lead as Gavin Mestas led off the inning with a double. Following a one-out walk, Rogers State had runners on first and third as the Hornets made a pitching change, bringing in
Braden Meek. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Meek forced a groundball to
Andrew Rantz at shortstop that the Hornets turned into a double play to keep the Hillcats off the scoreboard.
Kase Johnson started the bottom half with a hit by pitch before advancing to third on a failed pickoff attempt.
Patryk Hernandez drew a walk which came on the first of five wild pitches in the inning which allowed Johnson to score from third. A two RBI single from
Kadyn Williams and an RBI single from
Chandler Bloomer extended the Hornet lead to 14-10 before a pair of wild pitches capped off the six-run inning as Emporia State led 16-10 heading to the ninth.
In the ninth,
Braden Meek allowed just one hit and kept the Hillcats scoreless to clinch his first win of the season and the 16-10 win for Emporia State in game two of the series on Saturday afternoon.
Eight different Hornets recorded a hit with
Chandler Bloomer leading the way as he went 3-5 with three RBI and four runs scored.
TJ Racherbaumer,
Mason Sturdy and
Kase Johnson all recorded two hits and two RBI for the Hornets.
Braden Meek picked up his first win of the season as he pitched 1.2 innings in relief and allowed just one hit.
Emporia State will take on Rogers State in the series finale rubber match on Sunday, April 2 from Glennen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
