Baseball | 3/5/2026 4:00:00 PM

Games 17-19
(RV) Emporia State Hornets (13-3, 4-2 MIAA)
vs. #3 Pittsburg State Gorillas (17-0, 7-0 MIAA)
Friday, March 6 • 1:00 p.m. • Turnbull Field • Emporia, Kan.
Saturday, March 7 • 2:00 p.m. • Turnbull Field • Emporia, Kan.
Sunday, March 8 • 1:00 p.m. • Turnbull Field • Emporia, Kan.
Complete Notes in pdf • The MIAA Network • Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: ESU leads 91-51 • Last Meeting: ESU 11, PSU 7 (2/24/25)
Last ESU Series Win: 2021 (2-1) • Last ESU Series Sweep: 2017
Last PSU Series Win: 2025 (3-0)
John Martin (at ESU): First Meeting
John Marting (Career): 18-15

RANKINGS
Emporia State - ABCA - RV; NCBWA 15/3; D2 Baseball - RV
Pittsburg State: ABCA - 3; NCBWA - 2/1; D2 Baseball - 4

QUICK HITS

• Emporia State is off to a 13-3 start this season with a 4-2 record in the MIAA.
• Colby Deaver has put together the best start to a season in the D2 era for Emporia State, posting a 0.00 ERA through 31.0 innings in his first five starts.
• The Gorillas are leading the MIAA in team average and team ERA while the Hornets rank third in average and fourth in ERA so far this season.
• Noah Steele for the Hornets and Dagen Brewer for the Gorillas were both named to the NCBWA Preseason Central Region Team and as D2 Baseball Preseason All-Americans.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State has opened the season 13-3 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA and are looking to bounce back from narrowly dropping the series to Northwest Missouri in the last time out. The Hornets are receiving votes in the latest ABCA Coaches Poll and the D2 Baseball poll, while being ranked #!5 by the NCBWA. Despite a slow offensive weekend against the Bearcats, Emporia State is still hitting .314 with a team OBP of .462 through the first 16 games.
The offensive catalysts for Emporia State have been Logan Myers and Noah Steele who are both hitting .379 to open the year with OBP's of .586 and .566 respectively. Myers has six doubles, 11 RBI and 22 walks, which is fourth in the nation. Steele is also no stranger to the free pass, drawing 17 walks of his own along with eight hit by pitches, and has supplemented that with two home runs and 19 RBI for a team-high 1.152 OPS. Myers and Steele are just two of seven players with double-digit RBI this season, with freshman Evan Abbott leading the way with 26 of his own which included 15 in the first five games of his Hornet career.
On the mound, Colby Deaver has made his case as one of the best pitchers in the nation, as he has posted a 0.00 ERA through 31.0 innings in his five starts, while striking out 41 batters and allowing just two walks. His 41-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best mark in the nation. Seth Stover has made the first start for the Hornet each weekend and Quinton Chindamo has made the last two Sunday starts, striking out eight and allowing one earned run over 10.0 innings the last two weekends. In the bullpen, six pitchers have made five or more relief appearances, highlighted by Grant Huffman who has a 0.00 ERA to go along with a win and two saves this season.

SCOUTING THE GORILLAS
Pittsburg State has opened the season with a 17-0 record and a 7-0 mark in the MIAA, and are ranked third in the latest coaches poll, while being ranked fourth or better in all three polls. The Gorillas are one of the best offenses in the nation, ranking first in runs per game (14.2), batting average (.388) and OBP (.508), while ranking fourth in slugging percentage (.615). Dagen Brewer leads the Pittsburg State offense with a .567 batting average, the best mark in the nation among players with ten or more games played. Brewer has ten doubles, eight home runs and 41 RBI through the first 17 games and is the reigning MIAA and NCBWA Central Region Hitter of the Week.
In addition to the high-powered offense that Pittsburg State has put on the diamond this season, their pitching staff is among the nation's best also. The Gorillas have a team ERA of 2.38, the third-best mark in the nation. Zach Voss and Preston Giltner have been standouts in the starting rotation, posting 1.64 and 2.86 ERAs through 22.0 innings and five starts each. They have combined for 40 strikeouts and just seven walks. The bullpen has been equally efficient, with Ty Blecha, Bradyn McClure and Cason Long all with sub-3.00 ERAs in double-digit relief innings.

ABOUT THE COACHES
John Martin is 13-1 in his first year with the Hornets. He is in his 11th season at the NCAA level after spending the previous ten at Central Oklahoma and has a 331-184-1 career record. 
Brock Buckingham is 17-0 in his first season at the helm of the Gorillas baseball program.

SIXTH SINCE '73
John Martin was named the head coach of Emporia State Baseball on August 25th, 2025 and is the sixth head coach of the Hornets since the 1973 season. Martin spent the previous ten seasons at MIAA foe Central Oklahoma, where the Bronchos won two MIAA championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on five occasions. The Emporia State alum went 318-181-1 in his tenure in Edmond, Okla. A native of Shawnee, Kan., Martin played one year at Hutchinson CC before coming to ESU for his three-year career as the starting catcher. During his senior season he hit .303 with 30 RBI and from his catcher position threw out 17 would be base stealers was the 2006 Roger Newell Award Winner. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 24th round of the draft. 

BEHIND THE PLATE
Dylan Brisbois (R-Jr./Omaha, Neb.) is in year four with the Hornets and has broken into the lineup consistently in a big way to begin 2026. Brisbois is batting .353 in 15 games played and is tied for second on the Hornets with 19 RBI this season. He has tallied five multi-hit games, including three in the first four from Tucson to open the season. In addition to his strong start at the plate, Brisbois has thrown out five runners this season, including three in the first two games of the Steve Anson Classic.

AROUND THE DIAMOND
Logan Myers (Jr./Pittsburg, Kan.) has played in 108 career games through his first two-plus seasons with the Hornets and has 14 home runs, 27 doubles, 83 RBI and a .329 batting average in his career. Through the first 16 games of 2026, Myers is hitting .379, with a .586 OBP due in large part to his 22 walks, which ranks fourth in the nation. He has scored 23 runs and has seven extra-base hits from the lead off position. Myers has also already equaled his career-high from last season with four steals. 

Noah Steele (Jr/Prairie Village, Kan.) hit .368 last season in the heart of the Hornet order and posted a team-high 15 home runs, while also leading the team with 64 hits, 53 RBI and a 1.144 OPS. Entering the 2026 season, Steele was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by D2 Baseball while also being named to the NCBWA All-Central Region Preseason Team. Steele has seemingly picked up where he left off last season from a run production standpoint. He leads the Hornets with 25 runs scored and has 19 RBI of his own, the second-best mark on the team. Also like Myers, Steele has a .600 OBP as he has drawn 17 walks and been hit by eight pitches. Steele was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week after going 6-10 with two homers and ten RBI against Arkansas-Fort Smith (2/20-22).

Brady Unrein (So./Wichita, Kan.) has started 53 games in his Hornet career, with the first 45 coming at shortstop before lining up in centerfield in the last two games at the Steve Anson Classic. Unrein made his presence known as a freshman last season, tallying eight doubles and eight home runs while posting a .993 fielding percentage at shortstop. This season, Unrein is hitting .328 and has a .474 OBP through the first 16 games on his way to scoring 23 runs of his own.

Nathon Cruz (Jr./Oranjestad, Aruba) is in his first season with the Hornets and has made 14 starts at the hot corner while posting a .309 batting average. Cruz has two doubles, two triples, one home run, nine RBI and 13 runs scored so far this season.

Dominic Felix (Sr./Tucson, Ariz.) is in year two at Emporia State and after playing both corner positions throughout the 2025 season, has added catcher to his list of positions this season. Felix has nine starts this season, with at least two at all three positions. He is hitting .286 with three doubles, eight walks and seven RBI through nine games.

Tyler Coffin (Fr./Kansas City, Mo.) has played in five games for the Hornets in his first season, including starting the final two games of the Steven Anson Classic. Coffin is 3-8 with a walk and two runs scored in the early stages of his Emporia State career.

OUT IN THE FIELD
Sammy Padilla (R-So./Tucson, Ariz.) played a multitude of positions for the Hornets in 2025 after redshirting in the 2024 campaign, but has started 13 games in centerfield this season. Padilla is one of many with double-digit RBI, driving in 14 so far this season, just two shy of his total last season. He is hitting .250 with five doubles and seven walks. 

Frankie Santiago (Jr./Cayey, Puerto Rico) has started 15 games and played in all 16 this season in his first year with the Hornets. The Puerto Rican native has 16 hits and 16 walks this season, while driving in 17 runs behind two doubles, one triple and a team-high five homers. In the MIAA opening series against Arkansas-Fort Smith, Santiago homered in all three games, and went 3-4 with four RBI in the series finale against the Lions.

Evan Abbott (Fr./Kansas City, Mo.) has opened his Hornet career with seven multi-hit games through the first 16 while driving in 26 runs. The freshman had 16 RBI through the first five games of the season, which passed Eric Shortell (2008) for the most in the first five games of a season in the D2 era for Emporia State. On the season, Abbott is hitting .312 with five doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI, and has five games so far with three or more RBI. In the series finale against Arkansas-Fort Smith, Abbott launched his first career grand slam.

Cooper Schwindt (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) started 47 of 48 games for the Hornets in 2025 during his first season at Emporia State and has started the last nine after an injury early to open the season. Schwindt has made ten starts at both designated hitter and in left field, and is hitting .263 with nine runs, three doubles, five walks and two homers. His two homers both came in the 5-0 win in game two of the series against the Bearcats the last time out.

Gus Keller (So./Pittsburg, Kan.) has two starts and has appeared in nine games for the Hornets, with both starts coming in left field while making appearances in centerfield and as a pinch runner and hitter. Keller is 3-11 at the plate with a pair of walks while driving in five runs. He also three stolen bases and five runs scored. 

ON THE MOUND
Seth Stover (Jr./Columbus, Kan.) made 13 appearances in each of his first two seasons, with 24 being starts, while seeing a major improvement in both ERA and innings pitched as a sophomore. Stover has started the first game each weekend so far in 2026. His first outing of the season in the season opener went 5.0 shutout innings against Adams State in Tucson.

Colby Deaver (So./Blue Springs, Mo.) has opened the season on a heater, posting five consecutive outings without an earned run, pushing his streak to 31.0 inning to open the season. In his first two outings, he struck out eight batters in 5.0 and 7.0 innings respectively, which earned him MIAA Pitcher of the Week honors after his first outing. Against Sioux Falls at the Steve Anson Classic, Deaver struck out ten in 6.0 scoreless frames. His 23.0 innings without an earned run are the most to begin a season in the D2 era for the Hornets, and his 35 strikeouts in four outings passed Jake Barton (34, 2020) for the most to open a season. In D2, Deaver ranks first in strikeout-to-walk ratio (41-2), second in strikeouts (41) and fourth in WHIP, and is second in walks per nine innings (0.58) among pitchers with 20 or more innings pitched.

Grant Huffman (R-Sr./Lee's Summit, Mo.) is in his fourth year with the Hornets and is off to his best start yet. The Lee's Summit native has pitched 12.2 scoreless innings across six relief appearances, racking up two multi-inning saves and a win so far this season. Huffman has nine strikeouts while allowing just eight hits and two walks. At the Steve Anson Classic, Huffman picked up a 2.0 inning save against MSU-Denver, and then followed that with 4.0 scoreless and the win in the 10-9 win over the Roadrunners on Sunday, who were ranked #23 in the NCBWA poll.

Grayson Barnes (R-Fr./Tuttle, Okla.) has made three starts and one relief appearance this season after transferring in from Central Oklahoma. In his four outings, Barnes has five strikeouts, including four in 4.0 innings against Southeastern Oklahoma at the Edmond First Pitch Classic.

Jake Khasaempanth (Jr./Riverside, Calif.) has made a team-high eight relief appearances in his first season with the Hornets. Khasaempanth has six strikeouts in 8.1 innings and has held opponents to a .250 batting average. His first Hornet outing came against Minot State in Tucson (1/31), as he entered with no outs and the bases loaded and pick up two strikeouts to help strand all three runners. 

Owen Ruge (Fr./Emporia, Kan.) has made seven appearances in the first 16 games for his hometown team and has a 2.57 ERA in 7.0 relief innings. Ruge has allowed just two hits so far this season and is allowing just a .091 opponent batting average.

Nick Woodcock (RS-Jr./Whitby, Ontario) is in year two with the Hornets and came onto the scene for the Hornets in 2025 before suffering an injury later in the season. Woodcock posted eight strikeouts in multiple outings last season, including eight in 3.0 shutout innings against Maryville early in the season. His first start of the year came against Northeastern State, where he pitched a career-high 4.0 innings and struck out another eight batters. The Ontario native struck out three or more batters in seven of his nine appearances last season. In 2026, Woodcock has seven appearances with ten strikeouts in 8.2 innings.

Graeme Rios (Sr./Houston, Texas) made 15 appearances in his first season with the Hornets in 2025, making six starts and another nine appearances out of the bullpen, and already has five appearances in the early stages of the 2026 season. Rios has pitched 5.0 innings and picked up his eighth career win and sixth with the Hornets.

Quinton Chindamo (Fr./Parkville, Mo.) has made seven appearances in his first season at Emporia State and has 12 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched. The freshman from Parkville opened the season with 3.0 scoreless innings in two outings in Tucson on opening weekend. Chindamo has also started the last two Sunday's and has eight strikeouts while allowing just one earned run in 10.0 innings of work.