Baseball | 4/16/2025 6:30:00 PM
Games 38-40
Emporia State Hornets (18-19, 11-15 MIAA)
at Northeastern State Riverhawks (12-28, 9-17 MIAA)
Thursday, April 17 • 5:00 p.m. • Tahlequah, Okla. • Rousey Field
Friday, April 18 • 12:00 p.m. (DH) • Tahlequah, Okla. • Rousey Field
Series History: ESU leads 20-16 •
Last Meeting: NSU 10, ESU 3 (3/23/24)
The MIAA Network •
Live Stats •
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Fort Hays State • April 17 • 4:00 p.m. • Hays, Kan.
QUICK HITS
- The Hornets are coming off a 9-2 win over Missouri Western in the midweek, securing their fourth MIAA series win of the season, the first time since 2022 with four or more.
- Emporia State is currently in ninth place in the MIAA standings, with spots 6-10 separated by just three games
- The Hornets are looking to pick up their first series win over the Riverhawks since the 2019 season.
- Emporia State is 6-9 on the road this season, and are looking to win more than six road games for the first time since 2021.
TEN TO GO
Emporia State's road trip to Tahlequah for a three-game series against Northeastern State begins the final ten games of the regular season, with seven happening away from Turnbull Field.
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State hosted Missouri Western in the finale of their midweek series against the Griffons. After splitting the first two games, the Griffons got an early lead over the Hornets in the first inning, but the Hornets answered back with a grand slam from TJ Racherbaumer to take a 4-2 lead. The Hornets added five more runs to their total while Gerardo Grijalva settled in for a quality start before making way for Graeme Rios who tossed three scoreless innings for his first career save.
A LOOK AT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 18-19 this season and 11-15 in the MIAA, as they are currently ninth in the MIAA standings, with teams 6-10 separated by just three games. The Hornets are led offensively by Noah Steele who is batting .361 which ranks 11th in the MIAA. The junior from Prairie Village has hit four home runs and driven in 13 runs over the last nine games. In addition to 11 home runs from Steele, four Hornets have six or more homers on the season. Logan Myers has drawn 21 walks this season, including ten in the last ten games. Myers has hit .500 over the last five games, including multiple hits in four games. TJ Racherbaumer has drawn a team-high 22 walks, and has 113 in his career, which is fourth in Emporia State history. On the mound, the weekend's have been highlighted by Cade Barton and Seth Stover who have 3.26 and 4.18 ERA's respectively. The pair have combined to strikeout 63 batters and allow just ten walks in 105.2 combined innings. Nick Woodcock has also continuously increased his role for the Hornets, including pitching a career-high 3.2 innings in his last time out against Washburn. The bullpen has seen eight pitchers make eight or more relief appearances, including Ryan Sauter who has a 3.86 across 11 appearances, while also not allowing an earned run in the last 8.1 innings. Ian Lanik has pitched in a team-high 13 games, and has six saves which is third in the MIAA and the most by a Hornet pitcher since 2017.
SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS
Northeastern State is 12-28 this season and 9-17 in the MIAA and are led by three hitters with an average of .333 or higher. Colton Ayres is batting .333 with 12 extra-base hits and 23 RBI this season. As a team, the Riverhawks have 85 stolen bases on the season, which ranks second in the MIAA and four players have double-digit stolen bases this season. The pitching staff has been led by Braxton Jones who has a 4.60 ERA in 11 appearances and a team-high 10 starts. Jones also has 61 strikeouts and is allowing a .270 batting average. Izac Sizemore has a 4.95 ERA in 12 appearances and three starts while recording two saves with 34 strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will travel to Fort Hays State on Tuesday, April 22 for the finale of their midweek series against the Tigers before returning home for the final series of the season at Turnbull Field as they take on Arkansas-Fort Smith on April 25-27.Â
CLIMB THE HILL
In 2024, Emporia State baseball not only improved their win total by three games from 2023 in the first season under head coach Brad Hill, but improved in a multitude of categories, both offensively and on the mound. The Hornets saw notable jumps in batting average, OPS, OBP and walks while dropping the number of strikeouts. On the mound, the Hornets put together a team ERA nearly 80 below the 2023 mark and dropped the opponent batting average against from .316 to .303.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
Emporia State's series win over Missouri Southern marked three consecutive weekend series wins for the Hornets after previously beating #23 Rogers State and Newman the two weekends prior. For the Hornets, the back-to-back-to-back series wins mark the first time since the 2019 season that Emporia State has won three consecutive series' over MIAA opponents.
RANKED MATCHUPS
Emporia State's ranked win over #23 Rogers State at the Trusler Sports Complex was the first series win over a ranked opponent for the Hornets since 2019 when Emporia State took two of three games from #18 Central Oklahoma on the road in Edmond. The three scheduled games between the Hornets and Mules will mark the first time since 2021 the Hornets will play more than six ranked games in a season.
POWER SURGE
On the season, the Hornets have a team total of 54 home runs, which currently ranks third in the MIAA this season. Five Hornets have hit six or more home runs this season, including junior Noah Steele who has a team-high 11 which also ranks sixth in the MIAA. As a team, Emporia State has homered three or more times in a game ten times this season, with a season-high six in an 18-11 win over Maryville (3/7).
TOP TEN TJ
Catcher TJ Racherbaumer (Sr./Herrmann, Mo.) is in year four with the Hornets and has played in 182 career games, as he passed Tim Barger for seventh-most in Emporia State history. In addition to career games played, Racherbaumer ranks fourth in walks (112), fourth in at-bats (627), seventh in base hits (183) and tied for ninth in doubles (36) and home runs (24). He also 128 runs scored in his career, which is near the top ten.
MY OH MYERS
Infielder Logan Myers (So./Pittsburg, Kan.) is hitting .314 this season with five home runs, 25 RBI and 34 runs scored. Myers is coming off a 10-17 week at the plate where he recorded multiple his in all four games for the Hornets, pushing his season total to 14 multi-hit games. He has also hit .309 in his 80 career games played for the Hornets in his first two seasons.
BRADY BOMBS
Shortstop Brady Unrein (Fr./Wichita, Kan.) has become a consistent starter at shortstop for the Hornets in his first season, and along with strong defense, has brought a power element to the lineup. Unrein has eight home runs and has seven in his last 17 games played, including a walk-off, two-run homer in the tenth inning of the series finale against Rogers State.
FIRST IN A DECADE
Infielder Peyton Lewis (Sr./Kansas City, Mo.) is in year one with the Hornets and has made an immediate impact on the Emporia State lineup. Earlier this season, Lewis went 2-4 against Maryville (3/9), beginning a six-game streak of multi-hit games, becoming the first Hornet since Justin Harris in 2015 (7 games) to record more than five in a row. Lewis is batting .317 with seven homers and 23 RBI this season.Â
KING FELIX
Utility Dominic Felix (Jr./Tucson, Ariz.) has played both corner infield positions this season and has a .300 batting average in 33 starts. Similar to Lewis, Felix had a stretch of consecutive multi-hit games earlier this season, as he rattled off five in a row, including three games with three hits. Felix has also reached base in 30 of his 33 starts while doing so in each of the last 11 games.
SPEEDING SAMMY
Utility Sammy Padilla (R-Fr./Tucson, Ariz.) has found his way into the lineup in his second year with the Hornets after redshirting in 2024, and has a .265 average and .431 OBP this season. Padilla has played second base and all three outfield positions and has four stolen bases while also being one of two players with multiple triples on the season.
COOP AND A BLAST
Outfielder Cooper Schwindt (Jr./Shawnee, Kan.) has started 36 games for Emporia State in his first year with the Hornets. Schwindt has six home runs, eight doubles, 27 RBI and a .273 average while also being second on the team in RBI and tied for the team lead in doubles.
TAKE ME TO THE ER
Outfielder Elijah Reeves (Jr./Casper, Wyo.) has played in 31 games and while he is hitting .270 in 74 at-bats, Reeves has drawn 13 walks and been a ball-magnet, being hit by a pitch eight times en route to a .427 OBP. Reeves has also stolen eight bases this season. In the opener against Washburn, Reeves went 4-5 with four RBI, marking career-highs in both in the 14-8 win against the Ichabods.
STEELE TRAP
Outfielder/First Basemen Noah Steele (Jr./Prairie Village, Kan.) is hitting .361 this season in the heart of the Hornet batting order and has a team-high 11 home runs while also leading Emporia State with 48 hits, 41 RBI and a 1.098 OPS. Steele has also reached base in 32 of 35 starts this season and has 12 multi-hit games. He has also recorded an RBI in eight of the last nine games with 13 total in that span.
HOLY TOLEDO
First Basemen Jovanni Toledo (So./Tucson, Ariz.) has six home runs, five doubles and 23 RBI this season. Toledo's biggest hit of the season was a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth of the series finale against Rogers State, as the Hornets rallied to win the finale 9-8 in ten innings, securing the first ranked series win since 2019. Toledo hit .500 last week, going 7-14 with two homers, four RBI and six runs scored for the Hornets.
CONSISTENT CADE
Pitcher Cade Barton (Sr./Omaha, Neb.) is in year four with the Hornets and has 46 appearances and 31 starts in his Emporia State career. Barton is posting a 3.26 ERA in 49.2 innings this season as he has worked back from an injury suffered in the final month of the 2024 season. Barton has gone 6.0 or more innings in each of his last five starts, including 7.1 shutout innings against Missouri Southern and 8.1 innings while allowing just three hits against #1 Central Missouri. His start last time out against Washburn marked the 13th start for Barton of at least 6.0 innings pitched in the last two seasons.
HOT OFF THE STOVE
Pitcher Seth Stover (So./Columbus, Kan.) has made nine starts this season and is up to 21 starts and 23 appearances in his two seasons with the Hornets. Stover is off to a strong start through the first half of the season, posting a 4.18 ERA in 56.0 innings, while striking out 36 with just eight walks allowed. He currently ranks inside the top ten in the MIAA in innings pitched and walks allowed. Stover has also pitched 5.0 or more innings in seven of his nine starts this season and has pitched 7.0 innings in three starts.
LATE INNING LANIK
Pitcher Ian Lanik (Sr./Eagle, Neb.) is in year three at Emporia State, and after tallying 29 starts over his first two years with the Hornets, has transitioned to the bullpen in 2025, where he has been a consistent arm at the back end. Lanik has a team-high 13 appearances, and has converted six saves. His six saves are the most in a single season by a Hornet pitcher since Nathan Whitcomb recorded 11 saves in 2017.
SOUGHT AFTER SAUTER
Pitcher Ryan Sauter (Jr./Olathe, Kan.) has pitched 18.2 innings across 11 appearances and has a 1-1 record with one save and 15 strikeouts. Sauter has seven strikeouts and just three earned runs allowed over his last 12.0 innings, including no earned runs and three strikeouts in a three inning save in the opener against Washburn, the first save of his career.
CHOPPING WOOD
Pitcher Nick Woodcock (Whitby, Ontario) is in year one at Emporia State and has seven appearances. Woodcock struck out eight in three innings in a win against Maryville and struck out three against Missouri Southern in the series finale to seal the series win and earn a five-out save. Woodcock has also struck out three or more batters in five of his seven appearances.
GUTTY GRAEME
Pitcher Graeme Rios (Jr./Houston, Texas) has 11 appearances and six starts in his first year with Emporia State, including starts in each of the last four Friday games. Rios holds a 4-2 record and has 21 strikeouts on the season.
G2 TUESDAY
Pitcher Gerardo Grijalva (Jr./Tucson, Ariz.) is in his first year at Emporia State and has five starts this season, including the nod in each of the five MIAA midweek matchups. Grijalva has 17 strikeouts in 26.0 innings while allowing just a .250 opponent batting average.
HOW SWEEP IT IS
In addition to winning the series against Newman at the end of spring break, the Hornets' 10-5 win in the series finale against the Jets clinched the first series sweep for Emporia State since the 2021.
HORNET HISTORY
Emporia State is playing their 74th season of baseball in 2025 and have won over 2100 games in the program's history. Since 1994, the Hornets have advanced to the MIAA Tournament in 25 of 30 seasons (excluding COVID shortened season in 2020), including 19 straight trips from 2003-2022.Â
The Hornets have also won the MIAA Regular Season Title on six occasions with the most recent coming in 2017 and the first happening in 1993. Emporia State has also won the MIAA Tournament twice with wins in 2007 and 2014. The Hornets have also been runners up in the MIAA Tournament on four occasions.Â
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
In addition to the success in the MIAA, the Hornets have had a presence in the NCAA Tournament throughout their time in Division II. The Hornets have 14 NCAA regional appearances, including two Regional Championships which allowed Emporia State to advance to their two NCAA D-II College World Series Appearances. The first appearance happened in 2006 and the second happened in the 2009 season. In 2009, the Hornets advanced to the College World Series final where they fell 2-1 against Lynn.Â
NAIA NATIONAL PRESENCE
Prior to their transition to the Division II level in the early 1990's, Emporia State had sustained success at the NAIA level. From 1969 under Jack Smitheran to 1991 in year four under Brian Embery, the Hornets were NAIA District 10 Champions 20 times, including 15 of 16 from 1975 to 1991.Â
The success continued through the NAIA Area Tournament, as Emporia State won seven Area 3 Championships, advancing to the NAIA College World Series seven times. After advancing to the NAIA College World Series semifinals for the first time in 1976, the Hornets returned in 1978 as they won the NAIA College World Series with an 8-6 win against Missouri Southern.
