March 2, 2024 – Emporia State baseball outlasted Washburn 14-11 in a back-and-forth battle that featured five lead changes as the Hornets took game two of the Turnpike Tussle.
For the second consecutive game, Washburn scored multiple runs in the top of the first, as a solo home run from Peyton McHarg and an RBI groundout from Ike Book gave the Ichabods a 2-0 lead.
Logan Myers opened the game with a hit-by-pitch for the second straight game and after a one-out walk from
Austin Hamm and a passed ball to advance the runners into scoring position,
Patryk Hernandez delivered a two RBI single to tie the game 2-2.
Washburn retook the lead in the second with a one out triple and a wild pitch. After a scoreless bottom of the second for Emporia State and a scoreless top of the third for the Ichabods, the Hornets would tie the game in the bottom of the third.
Logan Myers again reached base again to lead off the inning and came around to score on an RBI double from
Kadyn Williams.
The Ichabods again retook the lead in the fourth with three hits, including a two RBI single from Easton Bruce, as the Hornets trailed 5-3. The first Emporia State lead came in the bottom half of the inning, as
Logan Myers doubled off the wall to bring in
Drew Jennings and
Konner Hatfield to tie the game 5-5. Myers would score on the next at-bat, this time on an RBI single from
Kadyn Williams to give the Hornets a 6-5 lead.
The runs continued to add up, as Washburn would add two in the fifth to retake the lead. A two-run home run by Jett Buck put the Ichabods ahead 7-6 at the midway point of the game. In the bottom half,
Dom Oliverio hit his first career home run to knot the score at 7-7 as the game headed to the sixth in a deadlock.
After a scoreless relief inning for
Hayden Baumwart in the sixth, Emporia State delivered the third lead change with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Following a pitching change with one out and
Kadyn Williams on first,
Austin Hamm delivered a two-run home run, his third of the weekend to push the Hornets out in front 9-7 heading into the late innings.
In the seventh, Washburn scored four runs on a pair of two-out, two-run home runs to retake the lead 11-9 heading to the bottom half. After a strikeout to open the inning, a walk from
Konner Hatfield, a single from
Drew Jennings and a walk from
Andrew Rantz loaded the bases with one out. After a strikeout for the second out,
Kadyn Williams stepped to the plate, and after watching a first pitch ball, lifted a grand slam over the left field wall to give Emporia State the lead back for the final time, as they led 13-11 over the Ichabods.
Tanner Dawe delivered a scoreless eighth inning in relief to bring the Hornets back to plate looking add more runs to their total. With two outs and the bases loaded, a pitch in the turf nearly skipped away, prompting an errant pickoff throw to second base that allowed
Konner Hatfield to score from third and extend the Emporia State lead to 14-11. Dawe came back out for the ninth and retired the Ichabods in order to clinch the 14-11 win for Emporia State as the Hornets evened the Turnpike Tussle at one game each.
Kadyn Williams went 3-5 with a home run, six RBI, a walk and two runs scored. Five more Hornets each recorded a hit while
Logan Myers,
Austin Hamm and
Patryk Hernandez each recorded two RBI.
On the mound,
Hayden Baumwart picked up his second win in relief this season while
Tanner Dawe recorded his first career save after two scoreless innings to close the game.
Emporia State will take on Washburn in the rubber match of the Turnpike Tussle on Sunday, March 3 at Trusler Sports Complex. Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
