Emporia State athletics stayed busy in several states over the weekend in several different sports.
The Emporia State track and field team was in Maryville, Mo. Friday and Saturday at the Bearcat Invite hosted by Northwest Missouri. The Hornets had several personal bests Friday but didn’t have a finisher higher than eighth place. ESU picked up six provisional qualifying marks and four top-three finishes Saturday. Connor Deters threw the shot put 56 feet to move into third in ESU history in the event. Max Neely placed second in the men’s pole vault with a provisional qualifier. Emmanuel Dukpe ran the second fastest 400m dash in ESU history to finish fourth. Israel Domeh had provisional times in the 200m and 400m dash. Abigael Reid won the women’s 600 yard run. ESU will send Hornets to Minnesota and back to Topeka next weekend.
After a strong start to the HSU Invitational, Hornet baseball is on a three-game losing streak after dropping two more games over the weekend with 5-3 losses Saturday to Southern Arkansas and Sunday to the host Henderson State. On Saturday the Hornets gave up a two-run homer to the Muleriders in the top of the ninth inning to take the loss. Cooper Schwindt went 2-for-4 with two RBI in defeat. On Sunday, the host Reddies scored three in the bottom of the fourth and never trailed. ESU tried to make a comeback with a ninth-inning homer by T. J. Racherbaumer but it wasn’t enough. It’s Opening Day for Hornet baseball Friday as they host Concordia-St. Paul at the Trusler Sports Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
The Lady Hornet Softball team finished 2-3 at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Ark. splitting two games Saturday and losing a game Sunday. ESU fell to #1 UT-Tyler Saturday 4-3. E-State trailed 3-0 before a three-run sixth inning tied the game as ESU plated three unearned runs on RBI singles by Kennedy Topping and Haley Garnett, but the Patriots came back with an unearned run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. ESU had their best offensive game of the year in a 14-10 victory over Arkansas-Monticello later Saturday with the Lady Hornets pounding 17 hits in the game. Juliana De Luna and Brooke Flewelling each led the way with three RBI’s while De Luna went 4-for-4. The bats went cold for the Black & Gold Sunday in a 6-0 loss to Southern Arkansas. The Lady Hornets loaded the bases in the seventh but couldn’t score. Another game against Missouri-St. Louis was cancelled due to weather. ESU (6-4) heads to Topeka for their third-straight tournament to open the year at the Washburn Tournament with two games Friday starting at noon against Concordia-St. Paul.
The Lady Hornet tennis team opened up their spring schedule with a 5-0 victory over Ottawa in their home opener at the Kossover Family Tennis Complex Saturday.. ESU dominated the Braves and didn’t drop a set. Lilie Bizourne and Paige Stranghoner won 6-2 at #1 doubles while Sheridan Wichman and Anastasia Pesic blanked OU 6-0 at #2 doubles. Giovana Ferreira, Yuliya Klimova, Bizouerne, and Wichman swept #1 through #4 singles in that order, all in straight sets. ESU (1-0) returns home for a rescheduled match Tuesday against McPherson College. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.
The Emporia State men’s tennis team also swept Ottawa in a 7-0 win at home on Sunday. The Hornets swept the doubles for a point then rolled through singles dropping just one set. Anton Sarunic, Hachem Fahem, Mostafa Elbasnaly, Diego Calvo, Gwendal Mazuay, and Alexis Mattenberger all picked up wins for ESU. Emporia State is back in action Thursday for an exhibition against Seward Community College.
Edit: Added ESU men’s tennis results.
