Hornet baseball won game one of the Turnpike Tussle 14-8 on Friday, April 11 at Trusler Sports Complex, but failed to sustain a winning streak for the rest of the three-game weekend series.

Junior Graeme Rios started off as pitcher for the Hornets and worked around a pair of two-out base runners which rendered WU unable to score in the opening frame. Senior Peyton Lewis put the Hornets in the lead 1-0 after running home from third off of an RBI single by junior Cooper Schwindt.

Washburn would flip the script in the second inning and take the lead 3-1 following three runs scored off of four hits. Sophomore Logan Myers helped ESU shrink the deficit and score another run in the bottom half with a sac fly to bring the score 3-2. The Ichabods failed to score in the top of the third and the Hornets continued to move the score up 6-3 with a four-run frame 

The Ichabods added three runs in the fourth inning and tied with the Hornets 6-6 until the bottom of the fifth. The Hornets scored two runs on RBIs from Lewis and junior Noah Steele to take the lead 8-6.

Junior pitcher Nick Woodcock held the two point lead for the Hornets during the top of the sixth and ESU posted a second four-run frame at the bottom of the inning. 

A single up the middle by junior outfielder Elijah Reeves brought in two runs for the Hornets and increased their lead 10-6. They added two more runs on a single by Myers to build a 12-6 lead heading into the seventh. Junior pitcher Ryan Sauter held the lead for ESU at the top of the seventh, but the Hornets were unable to increase their lead at bat. 

In the eighth, Washburn shrunk the deficit to get within 12-8 after scoring two runs on a fielding error. The Hornets managed to obtain two more runs in the bottom of the inning and widen their lead 14-8. Washburn was rendered scoreless at the top of the ninth, resulting in a Hornet victory in game one. 

ESU fell short in securing a second victory during game two on Saturday and lost 14-13 to the Ichabods. By the top of the sixth Washburn built a 10-2 lead over the Hornets, though they rallied back in the bottom half as redshirt freshman Sammy Padilla brought in two runs to start off a Hornet comeback. 

ESU added four more to their score in the bottom of the seventh to bring them within 10-8, but neither the Hornets nor the Ichabods were able to score in the eighth. Washburn managed to bring in three home runs in the ninth increasing their lead 14-8 and ESU increased their score by four from homers by sophomore Jovanni Toledo and Lewis. A pop out ended the game as ESU went defeated 14-13 against the Ichabods.

The Hornets were unable to finish the final game of the series with a win on Sunday, April 13 as they fell 12-6.