The Hornet men took on Fort Hays State University last Thursday through Saturday. They played three games in three days at the Trusler Sports Complex. The men won two games and lost one, ending the weekend with a 2-1 record.
“We had a few big innings that produced some runs for us and our starters really took the bats out of their hands.” said junior second baseman Brian Grove, “I think from an offensive standpoint we are putting together more and more quality at bats. This is going to be critical when we face better pitching as the year goes on.”
The first of the three games played against Fort Hays State was played on Thursday. This game started out strong for The Hornets as they cored the first three runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning, while the Tigers did not put any runs on the board.
This streak continued into the following innings as the Hornets scored a run in the second inning and another in the fifth inning while the Tigers were still scoreless.
The Tigers were eventually put on the board in the top of the eighth inning, scoring one point. However, the Hornets responded doubly, scoring two more runs. The Tigers scored four runs in the ninth inning, but this was not enough to top the Hornets, who won the game 7-5.
The second game of the weekend also proved promising from the beginning for the Hornets. After a dry first inning, the Hornets scored two runs to take the lead in the game, 1-2.
Continuing on this progress, the Hornets scored four runs in the next two innings while the Tigers kept the same score, not gaining another run until the top of the fifth inning. The Hornets continued to run away with the game as they scored six more runs, four of which were in the seventh inning, while the Tigers scored only two more runs for a total of four runs, ending the game 12-4, Hornets.
The third and final game proved to be a lower scoring game for the Hornets as they took a loss. Fort Hays took the lead in the beginning of the first inning, scoring three runs in the first two innings while Emporia State saw a dry spell until the bottom of the fourth inning where they tied the game, 3-3.
The Hornets would only score one more run until the conclusion of the game as the Tigers proceeded to score four more runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The Hornet Men fell in the final game of the weekend with a final score of 4-7.
“We did a pretty good job taking care of business on Thursday and Friday,” said senior pitcher Layne Downing. “(We) lost focus on Saturday and it cost us a game.”
The men’s baseball team will be back in action this Saturday as they will take on the University of Nebraska Kearney at the Trusler Sports Complex. The first pitch will be thrown at 1:00 p.m.
