April 27, 2025 – Emporia State baseball used a pair of big innings to pick up a 10-3 win on Sunday afternoon at Turnbull Field, securing the series win over Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Nick Woodcock got the start for the Hornets and quickly retired the Lions in order in the first with a pair of strikeouts.
Noah Steele doubled with two outs in the bottom half but was left stranded. Arkansas-Fort Smith drew a leadoff walk in the second, but Woodcock stifled the next three batters to keep the game scoreless, before the Hornets rallied for five runs in the bottom of the second.
Following the first out, the Hornets had six straight batters reach base, which included consecutive RBI doubles by
Sammy Padilla and
Logan Myers to build a 3-0 advantage.
Peyton Lewis followed Myers with a single and after stealing second, both runners scored on single up the middle by
Noah Steele to complete the five-run frame.
Both teams were kept scoreless over the next two innings, before Arkansas-Fort Smith broke through with a run in the fifth. The Lions used a leadoff single, hit by pitch, wild pitch, and a groundout to make the score 5-1. In the bottom half,
Jovanni Toledo singled to begin the frame, and eventually came in to score on a single by
Brady Unrein to restore the five-run lead for Emporia State.
The Lions would inch closer in the seventh, scoring two runs on one hit and a throwing error by the Hornets to make the score 6-3. Emporia State held their three-run lead to the bottom of the eighth, where the offense put together another big inning, scoring four runs to build a seven-run advantage.
Logan Myers homered with one out to make the score 7-3, and later in the inning with two outs,
Jovanni Toledo homered to drive in three runs and settle the score at 10-3.
Ian Lanik who entered in the eighth in a save scenario, wrapped up the save in the ninth as the Hornets sealed the series win over the Lions.
Six different Hornets tallied multi-hit games, with
Jovanni Toledo and
Sammy Padilla each recording three of their own. Toledo had three RBI on his eighth inning home run while Padilla,
Logan Myers and
Noah Steele drove in two runs.
Nick Woodcock earned the no-decision behind three no-hit innings while recording five strikeouts.
Coby Rogers picked up his second win of the season as he allowed one earned run with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings.
Ian Lanik pitched 2.0 shutout inning to pick up his seventh save of the season.
Emporia State's final series of the regular season will be in Maryville, Mo. against Northwest Missouri on May 1-3. First pitch on May 1 for game one of the series is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
