The Fort Hays State baseball team suffered two more setbacks against 28th-ranked Emporia State on Saturday (Mar. 31), falling by scores of 17-5 and 6-5 in 10 innings. The second game took three extra innings in what was just a scheduled seven-inning contest. FHSU is now 10-15 overall and 8-11 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Emporia State 17, Fort Hays State 5
Just like on Friday evening, the Tigers took the lead first, only to see it slip away once again. FHSU went up 2-0 in the third inning on an RBI single by Mace Krol followed by an RBI groundout by Ryan Busboom.
That lead didn’t last long as Emporia State struck for eight runs in the bottom of the third and took control of the game. ESU led off that inning with a home run, then proceeded to record four singles and a walk over the next five batters. ESU capped that flurry with a 3-run home run by Joe Vaskas to go up 7-2. The Honets picked up one more run on a single later in the inning.
Five of the eight runs in that inning were charged to FHSU starter Alex Ellison, who threw tw0 scoreless frames before not being able to record an out in the third. Tayler Davis surrendered the final three runs of the inning.
Davis went on to surrender seven runs (five earned) in the game, giving up the other four in another eight-run inning for the Hornets, which occurred in the fifth. Chase Newman recorded just one out in the fifth and surrenderd the other four runs in the inning. Andy Hammeke recorded the final two outs of the inning without allowing a run. Ethan Weber surrendered ESU’s final run in the sixth, working an inning of relief.
The Tigers looked to be making a run at the Hornets after falling down 8-2 through three innings. FHSU cut the lead to 8-4 in the fourth on a Shane Wade RBI single and Nash Smith RBI sacrifice fly. JC Ochoa hit a solo home run in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-5, which would turn out to be the last run for FHSU.
Ellison dropped to 0-4 on the year with the loss. Derek Brooks moved to 5-0 on the year with the win for ESU. He allowed all five runs to FHSU.
Game 2: Emporia State 6, Fort Hays State 5 (10 innings)
The Tigers held one-run advantages in heading to the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings in extra frames, but Emporia State tied the game each time to force the game into the 10th.
After FHSU capitalized on errors by the ESU third baseman to score single runs in the eighth and ninth innings, Emporia State responded in the bottom half of each inning with solo home runs off FHSU closer Brett Macari to extend the game. The home run by Dorain Williams in the eighth came with two outs when it looked as though FHSU was going to escape with a split. Joe Kornbrust led off the ESU ninth with his home run.
FHSU was one out away from getting out of the ESU 10th, but a throwing error by shortstop Sheldon Howell earlier in the inning came back to bite the Tigers. The throwing error allowed the winning run to reach second after getting on by single. After Macari got the second out on a flyout, Ashton McCoy delivered the game-winning RBI single.
Emporia State led 3-1 after two innings, the only run for FHSU on a Brandon Hoefler home run. The Tigers finally tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth with a Luke Kordsmeier solo home run and Nash Smith RBI double. The rest of the scoring came in extra innings for both teams.
Jesse Hart allowed the first three runs to ESU, going 2.0 innings in a start with three hits and two walks allowed with one strikeout. Connor Beer and Kyle Leroy provided four innings of scoreless relief for FHSU, Beer lasting 1.1 innings and Leroy 3.2. Both allowed just two hits each. Macari moved to 2-1 with the loss. Two of the three runs he allowed were earned, the unearned being the game winner. He struck out three and allowed five hits over 2.2 innings.
– FHSU Sports Information –