#22 Softball splits with Fort Hays

Kellen Jenkins / The Bulletin

Junior first baseman Jennifer Dace hits a ball into play at a recent home game. The Hornets split games with Fort Hays State over the weekend.

Emporia State’s softball team took a trip out west on Tuesday to meet the Tigers of Fort Hays State in a doubleheader.

The #22 Hornets brought an 11-1 conference record to Hays to face the 29-22 Tigers on their home turf.

The Hornets came away from the afternoon outing at the diamond with a split, one game apiece. The Hornets easily defeated the Tigers in the first game, 8-0, but couldn’t keep the offensive output the same in the nightcap as they fell 2-1. The games brought the Hornets conference record down to 12-2.

Hornet senior Sam Sheeley was on the mound for the first game, and pitched 6 complete innings for her team without giving up a run. The Hornets got the first run in the third inning, as junior Aubree Brattin and senior Jessie Wiard scored with the help of their teammates and Tiger errors. The Tigers brought three batters up to the plate, and all three were sent back to the dug-out by Sheeley and her in-field. In the fourth, the Hornets were led off by a home run by senior April Huddleston. Four more Hornets would cross the plate in an inning that saw hot bats and solid base running for ESU. The Hornets would score once more in the top of the sixth and won 8-0.

The second game of the series didn’t follow the script of the first. The Hornets were only able to manage two hits compared to the 11 they had in the previous game.

Neither team scored until the fourth inning when freshman Nicole Bergley advanced to home plate by fellow freshman Mandi Dennis being hit by a pitch with loaded bases. The Tigers answered in the sixth with a pair of runs. A Tiger stole home plate for the second run on a rare wild pitch by Sheeley, who came into the second game for relief work. The Hornets failed to answer in the seventh, losing their second game of the season to an MIAA opponent.

The Hornets still have a firm hold on the MIAA lead, with Central Missouri four games back. Emporia State defeated CMSU twice just last week in Warrensburg, with a combined score of 8-3 in the double header.

The next opponent the Hornets will face will be the Pittsburg State Gorillas on Friday in Pittsburg. The Gorillas are in the middle of the conference standings with a 7-6 record. Following the Friday games the ladies will be back in Emporia for the Turnpike Tussle with Washburn. These games will be the Senior Day games, and admission will be free to all fans wearing black and gold.