March 29, 2024 – Emporia State baseball built an early six-run lead but ultimately fell 11-7 on the road against Central Oklahoma on Friday afternoon.
Emporia State got the scoring started in the first frame as the Hornets capitalized on their opportunities to put together a six-run first inning. A pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch opened the inning as the Hornets loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout,
Dom Oliverio delivered a two RBI single to give Emporia State the 2-0 advantage.
TJ Racherbaumer singled to load the bases again before
Joe Daneff hit a sacrifice fly to score
Kadyn Williams and extend the lead to 3-0. With two outs,
Austin Hamm singled up the middle to score a run and was followed by a Central Oklahoma fielding error which pushed two more runs across as Emporia State's lead increased to 6-0 through the top of the first.
The score remained 6-0 through the third inning as Emporia State starter
Graham Brunner posted five strikeouts heading to the fourth. After a scoreless top of the fourth for the Hornets, Central Oklahoma broke the seal, scoring three runs on four hits to cut the Emporia State advantage in half. The Hornets got a runner in both the fifth and sixth innings but went scoreless while the Bronchos grabbed a single run in each inning as the game entered the seventh with the Hornets clinging to a 6-5 lead.
After another scoreless inning for the Hornets in the top of the seventh, Central Oklahoma put together their largest inning of the game, getting five runs on five hits to take a 10-6 lead over Emporia State.
Both teams would get one more run in the eighth inning to make the score 11-7, with the run for Emporia State coming on a solo home run from
Mason Sturdy, his first of the season. The Hornets went down in order in the ninth, as they fell 11-7 against the Bronchos on Friday afternoon.
At the plate, seven Hornets recorded a hit with
Kadyn Williams going 1-3 with two walks and a run scored.
Dom Oliverio drove in two runs for the third time this season and the second time in the last three games.
Graham Brunner tallied six strikeouts in 5.2 innings on the mound for the Hornets.
Emporia State will take on Central Oklahoma in the series finale on Saturday, March 30 in Edmond. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
