April 7, 2024 – Emporia State baseball rallied from an early 7-1 deficit but ultimately fell 13-10 against Missouri Western in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets were retired in order in the first before the Griffons used three hits, including a two-run triple to take a 2-0 lead through the first frame. An RBI single from
TJ Racherbaumer cut the deficit in half in the second inning, but after the Hornets were unable to tie the game, Missouri Western responded with five runs in the bottom half, building a 7-1 lead.
After two straight outs to begin the third inning, a
Mason Sturdy double and a walk from
Kadyn Williams set up
Patryk Hernandez who delivered a three-run home run to cut the deficit in half. The score remained 7-4 through the top of the fifth before the Griffons added two more runs to their total to lead the Hornets 9-4. Emporia State trimmed the Griffons lead to 9-8 with four runs in the top of the sixth on RBI singles from
Joe Daneff and
Mason Sturdy with the help of a fielding error to bring in two runs.
Following a scoreless bottom of the sixth for Missouri Western, Emporia State grabbed a run on a passed ball to tie the score at 9-9. The Griffons retook the lead with three runs in the bottom half. Both the Hornets and Griffons got a single run in the eighth and the Hornets were unable to mount a rally in the ninth, falling to Missouri Western 13-10 in the series finale on Sunday.
Mason Sturdy and
Dom Oliverio each had two hits in the game.
Patryk Hernandez drove in three runs while Sturdy,
Kadyn Williams,
TJ Racherbaumer,
Joe Daneff and
Andrew Rantz each tallied one RBI of their own.
Emporia State will return home for the final midweek game against Pittsburg State this season on Tuesday, April 9 at Trusler Sports Complex.
