The Emporia State baseball team swept Newman in a three-game series with victories Saturday & Sunday at the Trusler Sports Complex over the weekend.
In game two on Saturday, the Hornets used another big inning and excellent pitching to stifle the Jets 8-0. The Hornets put up a six-spot in the bottom of the first that started with a bases-loaded walk by Noah Steele before the Jets hit the next batter to put another run on the board. Sammy Padilla kept the line moving with a run-scoring single before a Jet error got the Hornets on the board again. A sacrifice fly and Logan Myers single capped the scoring in the first for ESU. The Jets threw the ball away on a Padilla steal in the third that allowed him to stroll home and ESU added another tally on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Seth Stover (2-3) pitched seven innings and gave up just three hits while striking out five.
In game three Sunday, the Hornets never trailed on the way to a 10-5 victory. Myers led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot to right field and a Newman error allowed two ESU runs to come across. After a Hornet error allowed two Jet runs to tally in the fifth, E-State responded with three RBI hits in the fifth including doubles by Cooper Schwindt and Jovanni Toledo and a single by Brady Unrein. Unrein and Schwindt got the offense going again in the seventh with a towering two-run shot to left against the breeze by Unrein and a two-out double by Schwindt. The Navy & Red got three runs back on a bases-clearing double in the eighth, but Myers pushed another run across in the bottom of the eighth by beating out a throw to first for an infield single. ESU turned a double play on the way to shutting out NU for the series sweep. It is the first sweep of a series for the Hornets since 2021. Head coach Brad Hill says the team is starting to find consistency at the plate.
Cade Barton (3-0) lasted six innings for the Hornets and gave up three hits and no earned runs to pick up the win. He said the team’s confidence is building.
The Hornets (14-10, 7-6 MIAA) take a five-game winning streak on the road to face first-place Fort Hays State on Tuesday to begin their second midweek MIAA series of the season. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
