Baseball sweeps FHSU, extends streak to 25

Kellen Jenkins / The Bulletin

Senior shortstop Andy Anderson slides into home plate to beat the tag against Fort Hays State over the weekend. ESU swept the four game series and will head onto the road to Missouri Southern this weekend.

The streak hit 25 games as the #5 Emporia State baseball team swept Fort Hays State in four games last weekend. The Hornets' offense was hot as ESU put up 65 runs over the weekend. The wins put ESU at 18-0 in MIAA play and 32-3 overall.

The first game of the series was a single nine inning game that was played on Friday. The Hornets were able to put three ones on the board in the first inning after drawing walks early. After giving up two runs in the second to the Tigers, senior right fielder Eric Shortell hit a two run homerun which gave ESU a 5-2 lead in the third inning.

Shortell then hit his second homerun of the game in the sixth inning with two men on base to give ESU an 11-3 lead. Senior catcher Keith Hernandez then hit a homerun immediately following Shortell's to push the lead to 12-3. The Hornets then hung on to win the game 14-8. Tyler Applehans picked up the win for ESU to put him at 7-0 on the year as Aaron Burris got his fourth save of the season.

Shortell led the Hornets by going three for four with six RBI and three runs. Senior left fielder Brian Majors added three RBI on three for three hitting and four runs scored. Hernandez went two for four with two RBI and one run scored on the day.

Shortell thought the Hornet pitching has been able to help the offense get rolling fast.

"Lately our pitchers have been throwing zeros the first few innings and getting momentum going real well," Shortell said. "Lead off hitters have been key for us, Wempe he's been on quite a bit and now with Conner (Crumbliss) back it's unbelievable how many guys we get on and that just puts stress on the pitcher."

ESU and FHSU met for a pair of seven inning games on Saturday. In game one of the day, ESU exploded for a five run first inning to take a quick lead. Majors then hit a two run homerun in the second inning to give the Hornets a 7-1 lead.

In the third inning Shortell and Hernandez went back-to-back for the second time as both hit homeruns. Shortell hit a three run homerun and ESU took a 13-2 lead. Junior designated hitter Conner Crumbliss and senior shortstop Andy Anderson also added homeruns for ESU in the game. The Hornets took game one by a score of 23-8.

"I think we just went out there with a better plan hitting wise," Hernandez said. "They had some good pitching. Coach just told us to hit the ball hard and make them make plays so I think that helped out a lot."

Majors led the way with four RBI on three for four hitting and three runs scored as Anderson added three RBI on two for four hitting and two runs hitting. Shortell went two for five with three RBI and three runs scored. The Hornets had 16 hits on the day as senior Brock Nehls picked up his sixth win of the year.

In the second game of the double header junior Ryan Anthony took the mound for the Hornets and pitched five innings and had five strikeouts as he picked up the win. ESU was also able to hit four more homeruns in the game. Hernandez hit his second homerun of the day with a two run slam in the second inning to take a 7-5 lead. Senior Nick Wolfe then hit a two run shot in the second. Crumbliss added another homerun as he hit his in the fifth inning to give ESU an 11-5 lead. Hernandez then capped off the deep hitting with his second homerun of the game and third of the day in the fifth inning to put ESU up 13-5. The Hornets then went on to win 15-5.

"I felt good at the plate today," Hernandez said. "I told myself to be patient and to find some good pitches and luckily I got to the ball real well today and it felt real good."

Hernandez led the Hornets with seven RBI on four for four hitting and also scored three runs. Crumbliss also went four for four and he had three RBI and three runs scored as Wolfe went two for four with two RBI and one run scored.

ESU and FHSU capped off the weekend with a single game on Sunday. Senior Richard Timbrook got the start for the Hornets and put in seven innings of work, which became a complete game as the Hornets run ruled the Tigers. Timbrook had 10 strikeouts as he gave up nine hits and allowed only three runs. ESU got a quick start again and put up four runs in the first inning.

The Hornets then added five more runs in the third inning. The game ended on a two run walk-off double by Anderson in the seventh inning to give ESU the end advantage of 13-3.

Shortell and junior second baseman Anthony Dreiling each had a homerun in the game as each went three for four as Shortell had four RBI and Dreiling had three RBI.

Majors got a hit in each of the four games to extend his personal hitting streak to 26 games.

"I have been seeing it really well, and it's really nice to be able to do that and help out your team like that," Majors said. "I don't think about the streak too much anymore, I'm not too focused on it I just want to come out here and win games."