April 23, 2024 – Emporia State dropped their non conference Turnpike Tussle against Washburn 9-7, despite a near comeback by the Hornets in the final two frames.
Both teams were quiet on offense through the first three frames, which including 1-2-3 innings in the second for starter
Seth Stover and in the third for reliever
Grant Huffman as the Hornets and Ichabods remained deadlocked at 0-0 heading to the fourth.
The scoring got started in the fourth with the bat of
Kadyn Williams. On the first pitch of the inning, Williams drove the ball to right field for his 11th home run of the season to put the Hornets ahead 1-0. Emporia State picked up a one-out single from
TJ Racherbaumer in the inning but were held to one run in the fourth. In the bottom half, Washburn loaded the bases with no outs before a one-out double by Jett Buck put the Ichabods ahead 2-1. Blake Scott boosted the Washburn lead to 4-1 with another double in the inning.
In the fifth, Emporia State grabbed another run in the fifth, this time on an RBI single by
Andrew Rantz as the Hornets trailed 4-2. Washburn continued to apply the pressure of the next few innings, as they scored two in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh as the Hornets trailed 9-2 entering the final two innings.
Emporia State got singles by
Drew Jennings and
Jake Bucovetsky and a walk from
Dylan Brisbois to load the bases with one out in the eighth.
Patryk Hernandez followed the Brisbois walk with a grand slam, his second of the season, as the Hornets cut the Washburn lead to 9-6.
Following a scoreless eighth frame by reliever
Jake Shaults, which included two strikeouts, Emporia State attempted to continue their rally. The Hornets got a leadoff walk from
Andrew Rantz and a one-out walk by
Drew Jennings before a
Jackson Truman single and an Ichabod error got the Hornets with two runs. Emporia State was unable to rally any further as they dropped their midweek Turnpike Tussle 9-7 against the Ichabods.
Andrew Rantz went 3-3 with an RBI and a walk. Seven more Hornets picked up a hit in the game, including
Patryk Hernandez who went 1-2 with four RBI on his eighth inning grand slam.
Emporia State returns to action in their final series of the regular season, a matchup with Newman. Game one of the series at Trusler Sports Complex is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
