March 22, 2024 – Emporia State split their Friday doubleheader against Northeastern State at Trusler Sports Complex. The Hornets fell 2-1 in 10 innings before taking down the Riverhawks 10-0 in 7 innings in game two.
Game 1 (NSU 2, ESU 1)
Emporia State starter
Cade Barton and Northeastern State starter CJ Briley settled into a pitcher's duel early in game one as both teams went without a hit in the first three frames. Northeastern State got a one-out single against Barton but were held scoreless. Emporia State broke through in the bottom half of the inning to take a 1-0 lead. With two outs and
Mason Sturdy on third,
Dom Oliverio tripled to right field to score Sturdy and put the Hornets ahead through four.
Following a scoreless fifth, Northeastern State broke through with a run on two hits in the sixth as the game was tied 1-1 entering the late innings. The Hornets got a lone hit in the seventh innings and in the eighth, got a hit and drew two walks to load the bases with one out. A pop up and a fielder's choice ended the scoring threat. The Hornets and Riverhawks went scoreless in the ninth before Northeastern State got a two-out double to take a 2-1 lead. Emporia State was retired in order in the bottom half as the dropped game one 2-1 to to the Riverhawks.
Cade Barton got the no decision with 7.0 innings pitched and one run allowed with four strikeouts. At the plate,
Dom Oliverio went 2-4 with an RBI and
Jovanni Toledo had a pinch-hit single.
Game 2 (ESU 10, NSU 0)
In game two,
Graham Brunner got the start on the mound for the Hornets and retired the Riverhawks in order with two strikeouts in the first. In the bottom half,
Logan Myers drew a leadoff walk and then came in to score on a one-out triple from
Kadyn Williams. Williams then scored on a wild pitch to double the Emporia State lead. With two outs in the inning, a
Mason Sturdy RBI single followed by a two RBI single by
Dylan Brisbois extended the Hornet lead to 5-0 through the first.
After scoreless innings from both teams in the second and third, Emporia State added to their total in the fourth. The Hornets drew three consecutive walks to open the inning before
Joe Daneff was hit by a pitch to push a run across. Following the first out of the frame,
Patryk Hernandez singled to score two more runs.
Jovanni Toledo capped off the four-run fourth with an RBI sacrifice fly to score Daneff and give the Hornets a 9-0 lead.
Brunner continued his strong outing as he stranded a hit in each of the next two innings to keep the Riverhawks scoreless. In the seventh, Brunner added two more strikeouts to his tally with Emporia State still leading 9-0. The Hornets were able to grab the final run in the bottom half as
Konner Hatfield led off the inning with a double before later coming into score on a wild pitch to seal the 10-0 run-rule win in game two.
Graham Brunner tossed seven shutout innings with just two hits allowed and seven strikeouts.
At the plate, seven different Hornets recorded a hit with
Patryk Hernandez and
Dylan Brisbois each tallying two RBI.
Emporia State will wrap up their series against Northeastern State on Saturday, March 23. Game time for the rubber match is set for 1:00 p.m at Trusler Sports Complex.
