March 15, 2024 – Emporia State baseball, with the help of an eight-run fourth inning, took game one of their series against Rogers State 12-2 in eight innings.
In the first inning Rogers State drew a leadoff walk, but after
TJ Racherbaumer caught the Hillcats stealing, Emporia State starter
Cade Barton struck out the next two batters to retire Rogers State in order. The first hit for either team came in the bottom of the second as
TJ Racherbaumer singled to center field to put two runners on with one out. The Hornets were unable to grab their first run as a double play ended the second inning with the score tied 0-0.
Rogers State's first hit came in the third on a one-out triple, but Barton kept the Hillcats off the board with a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning. After a scoreless bottom of the third for the Hornets and a scoreless fourth for the Hillcats, Emporia State broke through with an eight-run fourth inning.
Three straight singles from
Kadyn Williams,
Austin Hamm and
Patryk Hernandez loaded the bases with no outs.
Dom Oliverio drove in a run with an infield single and was followed by a walk from
TJ Racherbaumer to put the Hornets ahead 2-0. Following the walk,
Joe Daneff lifted the first pitch for a grand slam to boost the lead to 6-0. A sacrifice fly from
Kadyn Williams and an RBI single from
Austin Hamm capped off the inning for Emporia State as they led 8-0 through four innings.
Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings as Barton allowed just one Rogers State hit. Rogers State finally broke through in the seventh inning with two runs on four hits but Barton limited the damage, forcing a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning and maintain the 8-2 lead for the Hornets.
In the bottom half of the seventh,
Kadyn Williams added another to the Emporia State total with a fielders' choice as the Hornets led 9-2 heading to the eighth.
Jake Shaults took over for
Cade Barton in the eighth and retired the Hillcats in order.
Emporia State grabbed three more runs in the bottom of the eighth, with two coming on a single from
Mason Sturdy, to clinch the 12-2 win over Rogers State in eight innings.
With the win on Friday, Emporia State baseball head coach
Brad Hill now has 899 career wins across his 25 seasons as a head coach.
Cade Barton picked up his second win of the season and went 7.0 innings with six hits and two runs allowed with a season-high eight strikeouts.
At the plate eight different Hornets recorded a hit with
Patryk Hernandez going 3-3 with two walks and two runs scored.
Logan Myers,
Austin Hamm and
Mason Sturdy each had two hits while
Joe Daneff had a grand slam, four RBI and two runs scored.
Emporia State takes on Rogers State in game two of the series on Saturday, March 16 at Glennen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
