April 6, 2025 – Emporia State baseball put together a seventh inning rally on Sunday in Warrensburg but fell 6-5 in ten innings against top-ranked Central Missouri.
In the first, the Hornets led off the game by drawing two walks against the Mules' starter Jack Kreisman but were unable to get the scoring started. Central Missouri used four two-out hits in the bottom half, as they built a 3-0 lead over Emporia State through the first frame.
Both teams went down in order in the second and Emporia State again put a runner in scoring position in the third inning but were kept off the scoreboard.
Hornet starter
Seth Stover again faced trouble in the bottom of the third but stranded two runners in scoring position with a strikeout.
Noah Steele put Emporia State on the board in the top of the fourth, lifting his ninth home run of the season, and second in as many games, to right center to make the score 3-1.
The Mules restored their three-run advantage in the fifth inning, as two hits and sac fly made the score 4-1. Following a scoreless sixth, Emporia State put together a seventh inning rally for the second consecutive game. Steele got the inning started with double and then scored on an RBI single from
Cooper Schwindt.
Dominic Felix made it three straight hits to begin the inning, which forced a move to the bullpen for Central Missouri.
Following the pitching change,
Jovanni Toledo lifted a 1-0 pitch to left field for a three-run home run, his fourth of the season, to put the Hornets ahead 5-4.
Emporia State would maintain their 5-4 lead into the ninth, before Central Missouri would grab a run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. The Hornets were retired in order in the tenth, and after a leadoff single for the Mules, the runner would come around to score to give Central Missouri the walk-off win.
Noah Steele went 2-4 with a home run, his second straight multi-hit game.
Jovanni Toledo drove in three with his seventh inning home run and
Cooper Schwindt drove in a run of his own.
Logan Myers drew three walks, the first time a Hornet has drawn three in a game this season and the second time for Myers in his career.
On the mound,
Seth Stover allowed four across 5.2 innings and struck out two batters to earn a no-decision.
Ryan Sauter pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, his fourth relief outing this season with no earned runs allowed in at least 1.0 innings.
Ian Lanik allowed just one earned run in 2.0 innings.
The Hornets and Mules are slated to play the series finale on Monday, April 7 with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
