March 8, 2025 – Emporia State picked up the Saturday sweep against Northeastern State, outlasting the Riverhawks in a shootout 12-10 in game one followed by an 8-0 shutout win in game two.
Game 1 (ESU 12, NSU 10)
In a back-and-forth game one between the Hornets and Riverhawks, Emporia State scored in six of their seven at-bats, including one in the top of the first.
Ally Miller got her game started with an RBI single to score
Taryn Burkhardt and put the Hornets ahead 1-0. Northeastern State pulled back level in the bottom half to make the score 1-1.
Following the lone scoreless inning for the Hornets, Northeastern State took their first lead of the game, as they led Emporia State 2-1 through two frames.
The Hornets pulled level in the top of the third, as Miller again came through, this time with an RBI double to score
Sydney Wagner to make the score 2-2. The Riverhawks were held without a run in the bottom half, and Emporia State regained the advantage in the fourth, as
Haley Garnett homered to make the score 4-2.
Northeastern State followed the Garnett home run with their largest inning of the day, scoring four runs to retake a 6-4 lead. In the fifth,
Ally Miller added her third RBI as the Hornets trailed 6-5 going to the bottom of the fifth.
The Riverhawks added another run to double their lead before Emporia State retook the lead in the sixth behind three hits and five runs. After two walks to open the inning,
Brooke Flewelling doubled to right center to score two and tie the game 7-7. Later in the frame, with one out and the bases loaded,
Ally Miller rounded out her game with a bases-clearing double, giving Emporia State a 10-7 advantage and giving Miller a career-high six RBI in the game.
After two runs for Northeastern State to trim the Emporia State lead to 10-9 heading to the seventh, the Hornets added two insurance runs on a
Brooke Flewelling home run, taking a 12-9 lead. The Riverhawks picked up one more run in the bottom of the seventh but were kept from a comeback as Hornets sealed the 12-10 win in game one.
Ally Miller was 3-4 with a career-high six RBI and is the third Hornet with four or more RBI in a game this season.
Brooke Flewelling drove in four runs, her second game this season with four or more RBI.
Game 2 (ESU 8, NSU 0)
Emporia State again scored first in game two, this time around scoring six runs on five hits. The Hornets got RBI in the opening frame from
Sydney Wagner,
Kennedy Topping,
Leslie Ramos,
Haley Garnett and
Kinsey Perine to build the 6-0 lead.
Jordan Harrison got the start in game two, and she picked up a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the first as Emporia State held their 6-0 lead through one. In the second,
Juliana De Luna reached on an error to leadoff the inning, and then came in to score on an RBI single by
Kennedy Topping to increase the advantage to 7-0.
The score remained 7-0 through the fourth inning, with Harrison keeping the Riverhawks out of the hit column until the bottom of the fourth.
Emporia State would reach the eight-run lead in the top of the fifth, as an RBI bunt from
Kinsey Perine scored
Leslie Ramos. In the final at-bat for Northeastern State, the Riverhawks picked up just their second hit against Harrison with two outs, but she was able to stifle an attempt at a rally with a ball back to the circle to clinch the 8-0 run-rule win in game two.
Six different Hornets tallied a hit in game two with
Leslie Ramos and
Kennedy Topping each with two of their own. Topping,
Haley Garnett and
Kinsey Perine each drove in two runs.
Jordan Harrison picked up her eighth win of the season, and her sixth complete game as she allowed just two hits and picked up eight strikeouts. Harrison has tallied eight or more strikeouts in three of her last four starts.
Emporia State will break from MIAA action in their next time out, as the Hornets travel to the Sunshine State for six games in Clermont, Florida. The Hornets will begin the trip against Bemidji State on Friday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m.
