It was yet another busy weekend for Hornet and Lady Hornet athletics over the weekend both at home and on the road in several different sports.
The Emporia State track & field team kicked off the weekend Friday hosting the Midwest Classic under rainy and windy conditions at Welch Stadium in Emporia. The Lady Hornets led the way finishing second while the #13 Hornets were third. The teams combined for five event titles on the day with the women picking up their lone win with Abigael Reid capturing the 400m women’s hurdles championship. Max Neely was first place in the men’s pole vault while Luke Grace won the long jump. ESU’s team of Cooper Schroer, Luke Gleason, Sam McDavitt, and Jace Reves won the men’s 4x400m relay in the final event of the afternoon. The women finished two points behind MIAA rival Fort Hays State while the Hornets were third behind FHSU and the #12 Ichabods. The Hornets stay busy this weekend beginning Thursday when they travel to Wichita to the KT Woodman Invitational hosted by Wichita State at Cessna Stadium.
The Emporia State tennis teams fell in a doubleheader to Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at the Grundy Tennis Center in Kearney, Neb. The Lady Hornets fell in morning action to the #15 Lopers 5-2. E-State was swept in doubles to go down 1-0 to open the day and were down 2-0 following the first singles match before Paige Stranghoner got ESU on the board with a win at #6 singles. Giovanna Ferreira leveled the dual at 2-all with a straight-sets upset at #1 singles over her ninth-ranked opponent but ESU fell in the final three matches with two going to three sets. ESU (6-7, 1-2 MIAA) is in action Monday facing Fort Hays State on the road beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Meanwhile in a battle of ranked teams, the #28 Hornets fell 4-3 to the #43 Lopers Friday afternoon. Like in the women’s dual, the UNK men swept doubles to go up 1-0. The Lopers gave up a point at #6 singles by forfeit as their player was not in the scoresheet. #16 Anton Sarunic picked up a win by default at #1 singles leading with match point when his opponent picked up a point penalty due to a code violation. Roko Kacer took a three-set victory at #5 singles to tie the dual but the Lopers prevailed in the final match to win. ESU (9-4, 1-1 MIAA) returns to action Wednesday on the road at Washburn in the Turnpike Tussle beginning at 2:00 p.m.
The Emporia State baseball team fell in two close games to lose their delayed series at #1 Central Missouri with a 13-10 loss Saturday and a 6-5 loss in 10 innings on Sunday. The Mules jumped on the Hornets early in game one and led 7-0 through two and 13-4 through six before E-State erupted for a six-run seventh inning. The teams committed nine total errors and the Hornets took advantage with four unearned runs in the comeback. Noah Steele went 4-for-6 with 4 RBIs in the game. The second game was the same story as the first with the Mules leading early after three runs in the first and the Hornets doing most of their offense in one at bat, this time a four-run seventh inning to take the lead with three runs scoring on a Jovanni Toledo home run, but UCM singled home a run in the ninth to tie it and a Hornet throwing error in the outfield led to the winning run coming across for the Mules in the 10th. ESU (16-15, 9-11 MIAA) tries to salvage one game in the series today with first pitch at 2:00 p.m.
In another delayed matchup due to weather, the Emporia State softball team couldn’t slow down the #6 Broncho bats in a doubleheader sweep defeat on Sunday. The Lady Hornets fell 7-1 in game one as UCO jumped out to a 7-1 lead through four innings. Sydney Wagner had the only RBI for ESU. In the second game, ESU had control early but UCO scored nine of the game’s final 11 runs to come from behind and sweep the Lady Hornets 11-6 in game two. ESU built a 4-2 lead through three thanks to freshman Brynley Smith’s first career home run and a double steal leading to another run while Sydney Wagner plated another run with an RBI single. But the ‘Chos plated three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh to win the game. ESU (25-16, 6-8 MIAA) tries to get back to level in the MIAA hosting Central Missouri today. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. at the Trusler Sports Complex.
The Lady Hornet disc golf team finished as the national runner-up in the ladies team competition Saturday at the Collegiate Disc Golf National Championships in Rock Hill, S. C. The Gold team of individual national champion Atlanta Krueger and teammate Madeline Joiner had the best round of the day on the final day of the tournament shooting -3 but couldn’t catch up to Liberty who won the event at -21. The Lady Hornets finished in second at -15. ESU’s Black team of Maya Ringgold and Rebekah Thompson finished in the top ten at +13. On the men’s side, the DI Hornet team of Justin Farrell, Cade Kohlmeier, T. J. Reel, and Micah Tatro finished tied for 11th while shooting -18 for the weekend. ESU’s DII team finished -18 as well and tied for 14th in the country.
