March 7, 2026 – Emporia State baseball struggled to generate offense against the Gorillas on Saturday, falling 6-2 in game two of their series with Pittsburg State to set up a Sunday rubber match at Trusler.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second straight game, Pittsburg State got their leadoff hitter on and moved into scoring position, but Hornet starter
Colby Deaver worked around it to keep things scoreless.
The first run of the afternoon didn't come until the second inning, with
Noah Steele leading off the frame with a solo home run, his third in two games, to put Emporia State ahead 1-0.
Following a scoreless third where Deaver worked around a one-out walk,
Nathon Cruz delivered with two outs in the bottom half to double the Emporia State lead to 2-0.
In the top of the fourth, the Gorillas became the first team to break through with an earned run against Deaver, picked up two earned and one unearned as Pittsburg State took a 3-2 lead over the Hornets.
Over the final six chances at the plate for Emporia State, the Hornets managed just one hit while the Gorillas picked up single runs in each of the last three innings to increase their advantage to 6-2.
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Colby Deaver allowed three runs and two earned over 5.0 innings pitched.
Noah Steele had two of the five hits for the Hornets, including a solo homer in the second. Pittsburg State had 15 hits as opposed to the five for Emporia State.
UP NEXT
The rubber match between the Hornets and Gorillas is set for Sunday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m.
