Baseball to take on Washburn

The Emporia State baseball team will wrap up the regular season with a four game series against rivals Washburn in the Turnpike Tussle. The series will start with a single nine inning game on Friday in Emporia. The Turnpike Tussle continues with a double header in Topeka and will then conclude with a single game in Emporia.

The two teams have met earlier this year with an early scheduled non-conference game. ESU came out on top 8-3 in the March game.

The Hornets got on the board early with three runs in the first inning. Nick Wolfe hit a two run single in the inning to get ESU the bulk of the early runs. After allowing WU three runs in the first three innings, the Ichabods were blanked for the remainder of the game. ESU then scored one run in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and a final in the seventh to take the final 8-3 lead.

Wolfe led the way for the Hornets at the plate with three RBI on two for four hitting. Second baseman Anthony Dreiling had one RBI and one run scored on one for two hitting. Brock Nehls got the start for ESU and pitched seven strong innings and had 12 strikeouts as he gave up only three runs on seven hits. Ty Reese relieved Nehls and struck out one as he gave up only two hits in two shutout innings.

The four game series will be the final tune-up for the Hornets before ESU heads on the road to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament. The Tournament will be held at CommunityAmerica Ballpark which is located in the Legends. The Hornets and Central Missouri are the two teams in the MIAA that have clinched a spot in the post season tournament. ESU will likely have the top seed as the Hornets clinched the MIAA regular season championship on Sunday.

The MIAA Tournament will begin on May 9 with the noon game featuring the second seed versus the third seed. The game will be followed by the top seed taking on the fourth seed at 6 p.m. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, May 11.