May 8, 2026-The long ball proved to be the difference as Emporia State fell 6-1 to #7 Missouri Southern in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Trusler Sports Complex.
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Both teams had multiple base runners to start the game but the first run would not cross the plate until the third inning. Dailey Dillon singled with one out and with two outs Katie Gray hit a homer down the left field line to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Carsen Tinkler followed with a single and came home on an Emily Perry double to make it 3-0.Â
Morgan Tomlinson then came on in relief of starter
Hannah Butterbaugh and got a strikeout to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth
Kinsey Perine led off with a triple and came home on a
Taryn Burkhardt single up the middle to get the Hornets on the board. That forced a pitching change as Emily Davis replaced Kiki Pickens and got the next three outs to end the inning.
Southern added three more runs in bottom of the fifth, all coming on home runs with two outs. Maddie Rolfs hit a two run homer to left and Avery Sue Davis followed with a solo shot down the left field line to give the Lions a 6-1 lead.
Izzy Sloan relieved Tomlinson and gave up a single, walk and hit batter to load the bases but was able to get a fly out to end the inning with the bases loaded.
The Hornets would get two runners on in the top of the seventh inning but cold not get them home as their bid for a trip to the MIAA Championship Game came up short.
Taryn Burkhardt,
Sydney Wagner and
Brooke Flewelling all had two hits and
Kinsey Perine added a triple for the Hornet offense.
The Hornets are now 29-18 and will need to wait until Monday morning to have their NCAA postseason fate confirmed. Emporia State was ranked tenth in the latest NCAA Central Regional Rankings. The three automatic qualifiers from the MIAA, GAC and NSIC along with the next five highest ranked teams in the region will advance to the regional.
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