February 25, 2025 - Emporia State softball survived a pair of tight contests on day three of the Washburn Invitational, taking down Maryville 2-1 in eight innings and Rockhurst 9-7 in game two.
Game 1 (ESU 2, MU 1 - 8 innings)
Kinsey Perine scored from third on a strikeout in the bottom of the eighth to give Emporia State a 2-1 win over Maryville.
After both pitchers tossed hitless first two innings, the Hornets got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. With one out Haley Garnett worked a walk and went to second no a ground out. She came home on a Sydney Wagner double down the left field line to give ESU a 1-0 lead.
Gracie Rabe was perfect through the first ten batters before giving up a one out double in the fourth and took a shutout into the seventh inning. With one out in the seventh, Wagner doubled for the Saints and her pinch runner Metcalf went to third on a ground out. Bondurant tied the score with an RBI single. After giving up another single Rabe was able to get a strikeout to strand two Saints and keep the score tied at 1-1.
The Hornets were retired in order in the bottom of the seventh.
With the tiebreaker rule in effect, Rabe got one out in the top of the eighth on a sac bunt before giving up a walk. Jordan Harrison came on in relief and after a walk to load the bases left them loaded with a pop up to second and a strikeout to end the inning.
Perine was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth and was moved to second on a sac bunt by Garnett. On a 2-2 count Taryn Burkhardt struck out on a ball that got away from the catcher. When the catcher threw to first for the out Perine broke for home and was able to score the game winning run.
Game 2 (ESU 9, RU 7)
Emporia State jumped in front early before needed a pair of late runs to seal the win over Rockhurst on Thursday afternoon.
Both teams went hitless in the first, before the Hornets broke through with a five-run inning in the second. Mallory Moore reached on an error to start the inning, and after a bunt single by Ally Miller, Brooke Flewelling launched her third home run of the weekend to put Emporia State ahead 3-0. The Hornets rounded out the inning with a run from Leslie Ramos on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Sydney Wagner to score Kinsey Perine.
Hornet starter Jayda VanAckeren stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the second, and Emporia State would add two more to their total in the third. An RBI single by Perine followed by a fielding error extended the Hornets' lead to 7-0.
Rockhurst climbed back into the game with four runs in the third and two in the fourth, as the Hawks trimmed the Emporia State lead to 7-6. The Hornets would leave two on base in the top of the fifth, before Rockhurst pulled level on a Pierce home run.
In the sixth, Emporia State halted the Hawks' momentum, as a two-out, two RBI single from Leslie Ramos put the Hornets back in front 9-7.
Jordan Harrison was able to close out the game over the final two at-bats for Rockhurst, sealing the 9-7 win and day three sweep for Emporia State.
The Hornets went 5-1 in the three day Washburn Invitational to improve to 11-6 on the season. They will be back in action on Saturday, March 1 for the Midwest College Classic in Shawnee, Kan. First pitch of the game one rematch against Maryville will be at 11:00 a.m. followed by a 4:00 p.m. game against Minnesota State.
