Rally lifts Hornets over Bearcats

Kellen Jenkins / The Bulletin

Senior left fielder Brian Marjors dives back to first base to beat a throw from the Northwest Missouri pitcher. The Hornets kept the winning streak alive by sweeping the four game series with NWMSU.

An RBI single by junior shortstop Andy Anderson sent the final game of the four game series between the Emporia State baseball team and Northwest Missouri to extra innings as the Hornets rallied to come from behind late in the game. Senior catcher Keith Hernandez came up to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning with two outs and hit a walk-off homerun on the first pitch he saw as ESU won the game 10-9 and swept the series against the Bearcats.

"I knew it was out. I hit it pretty well and the wind was blowing pretty well," Hernandez said. "When I hit it I knew it was out. I just told myself to get a good pitch and hit it hard."

Senior right fielder Eric Shortell hit six homeruns on Sunday with four of them coming in game one of the double header. The four homeruns tied the record of number of homeruns hit in a single game and it was the first time it had happened since 1997.

"Wow. What else can you say? It's a phenomenal day for him," Head coach Bob Fornelli said.

Hernandez said he was impressed with Shortell's hitting and thought it was fun to watch too.

"The bad thing is that I have to hit behind him. I see that and I want to do it and that got me in trouble," Hernandez said. "I love watching him hit and I think it's good for everyone else."

Game one got started off in fashion as Hernandez hit a two run homerun in the first inning to give the Hornets an early 2-0 lead. Defense dominated the second and third inning as both teams went scoreless. NWMSU then closed the gap with a solo homerun in the fourth inning. The Hornets then got a run in the fourth inning two in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning to take the ultimate 8-1 lead.

Junior Tyler Applehans took the mound for ESU and pitch five solid innings as he gave up only one run on four hits as he struck out five on the day. Senior Daniel Waggoner came in to relieve Applehans and put in two shutout innings giving up three hits and striking out one. The win gave Applehans his ninth win of the season to put him at 9-0 on the year.

Junior second baseman Anthony Dreiling led the way for ESU with three RBI on two for three hitting. Hernandez went two for two with two RBI and two runs scored as junior center fielder Conner Crumbliss added two RBI on one for three hitting. The Hornets had nine hits in the game which included four homeruns.

The second game of the Saturday doubleheader was much of the same for the Hornets as ESU scored one run in the first inning and five more in the second inning with the help of a two run homerun by senior left fielder Brian Majors to give ESU a 6-0 lead. The Bearcats answered with two runs in the third inning followed by two more in the fourth to close the gap to a 7-4 Hornet lead. ESU then broke the game open with an eight run fourth inning. Majors led off the inning with a homerun and then added a two RBI single later in the inning. The Hornets scored the eight runs on seven hits in the inning.

The fourth inning boost would prove to be enough as ESU went on to win the game 15-6. Senior Richard Timbrook got the start for the Hornets and pitched six innings. Timbrook struck out five and gave up five runs on six hits. The win improved Timbrook's record to 6-0 on the season.

Majors thought the team defense played a big part in ESU coming out on top in both games.

"Our defense is incredible. We have by far the best middle infield, you got Andy Anderson and Anthony Dreiling up the middle," Majors said. One of the best combinations up the middle I've ever played with."

Majors led the way for ESU in game two as he had five RBI on four for four hitting. Crumbliss added four RBI on three for three hitting and scored three runs in the game as Anderson chipped in two RBI on two for five hitting and also scored two runs. The Hornets racked up 19 hits in the game.

The two teams returned for a second double header on Sunday since the game that was scheduled on Friday was moved to Sunday. ESU opened the game up early by scoring 10 runs in the first inning thanks to three homeruns in the inning.

Shortell then his second homerun of the game in the third inning to give ESU an 11-0 lead. He added his third of the game in the fifth inning which was a two run shot as Hernandez hit one immediately following Shortell to give the Hornets a 15-0 lead. To finish off the game, Shortell hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make it his fourth homerun of the game which gave ESU a 20-3 lead which would be the finishing margin.

Junior Ryan Anthony put in 5.2 innings of work and struck out three on his way to allowing nine runs but only three runs. The win gave Anthony his fourth win of the season put him at 4-0. Junior Diego Soto game in on relief and struck out three in his 1.1 shut out innings.

Shortell dominated the game as he had seven RBI on four for four hitting, all of his hits being homeruns. Majors and Hernandez each added three RBI in the game. The Hornets had 17 hits in the game.

"The last couple days I've been way in front of the ball. Today in BP I was just like, 'go the other way', which is something I never do," Shortell said. "Just try to hit the ball solid and down the line and when you do that today, it's going to go out."

The final game of the series started off as the Bearcats took a 1-0 lead to start the game. The Hornets answered and the game remained close as ESU led 5-3 going into the eighth inning. The Bearcats took advantage and hit a three run homerun to gain a 6-3 advantage going into the bottom of the eighth inning. The Hornets immediately answered as Shortell hit a three run homerun, which was his sixth of the day, to take an 8-6 lead going into the ninth. The Bearcats came up with more clutch hits as NWMSU hit a two run homerun to tie the game at eight and then added one more run to take a 9-8 lead over ESU.

After junior Kellen Lane singled and then stole second base, Anderson hit him in to score the tying run to send the game to extra innings. ESU held NWMSU scoreless in the top of the tenth to keep the game tied at nine. Hernandez then came up with two outs and no one on base. He hit the first pitch he saw down the left field line to win the game 10-9.

Shortell said he knew that Hernandez would come up with a big hit for the Hornets.

"He struggled today and you could tell in that last at bat that he was comfortable," Shortell said. "I knew he was going to do it, he's the best clutch hitter on the team."

The win puts ESU at 42-3 on the year and extends the Hornets' winning streak to 35.

Fornelli thought playing a close game will really help ESU as the end of the regular season nears.

"Those games are good for us. In the long run we're going to have to win games like that, find a way to win. It was great to see the guys battle back and find a way to win," Fornelli said. "It's definitely going to help us out. We're going to play in games like that if we're going to win a championship."