April 29, 2023 – Emporia State fell behind early and struggled to keep pace with Central Oklahoma as the Hornets fell 20-6 against the Bronchos on Saturday afternoon from Glennen Field.
The Hornets retired the Central Oklahoma leadoff hitter before running into trouble. The Bronchos eventually loaded the bases with two outs before a two-out single from Seth Gray gave Central Oklahoma a 2-0 lead through the top of the first.
Emporia State threatened in the bottom half with a pair of one-out singles by
Noah Geekie and
Patryk Hernandez, but the Hornets were held scoreless in the first.
Trouble continued for Emporia State in the second inning as the first four runners for the Bronchos reached in the inning. Central Oklahoma was able to tally four runs on two hits and three walks allowed as they took a 6-0 lead over the Hornets.
Following a scoreless bottom half from the Hornets and no runs from the Bronchos in the top of the third, Emporia State broke through for their first runs of the game in the bottom half.
The Hornets rallied with two outs as
Noah Geekie singled for his second hit of the game before scoring on a two-run home run from
Patryk Hernandez as Emporia State trailed 6-2 through three innings.
Central Oklahoma used four hits and a defensive error to add three more runs in the fourth as their lead expanded to 9-2.
Emporia State's third run came on a solo home run by
Kadyn Williams in the bottom of the fifth. The solo homer was Williams' eighth of the season.
The Bronchos built on their lead with a seven-run sixth as they took a 16-3 lead over the Hornets.
TJ Racherbaumer got the bottom half started with a single up the middle before scoring on a two-run home run by
Gibrian Pena to trim the deficit to 16-5. Emporia State added one more run in the inning as
Jake Bucovetsky followed a
Chandler Bloomer double with a pinch-hit RBI single.
Central Oklahoma wrapped up the scoring with four runs in the seventh and Emporia State was unable to extend the game into the eighth as they fell 20-6 against the
Bronchos.
Noah Geekie,
Patryk Hernandez and
Chandler Bloomer each tallied two hits of their own while Hernandez and
Gibrian Pena each recorded a home run and two RBI on the day.
Kadyn Williams homered for the second consecutive game to push his season total to eight.
Emporia State will wrap up the season with the series finale against Central Oklahoma on Sunday, April 30 from Glennen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with Senior Day recognition taking place before the game.
