The Emporia State baseball team played well enough Saturday to extend its season one more week.
Now, the Hornets’ mission will be to do that one more time.
ESU advanced to the MIAA Tournament on Saturday, taking 6-0 and 17-6 victories on Senior Day against Truman.
With a 24-12 record in the conference, the Hornets moved themselves all the way up into second place in the MIAA standings. The top four teams all advance to the MIAA Tournament to be played this weekend.
“It was great to see the seniors go out like that,” ESU coach Bob Fornelli said. “We probably haven’t had the year we wanted, but it’s a pretty good accomplishment when you take second in our conference.”
ESU took care of business over the weekend, playing consistent baseball when it needed to against last-place Truman.
Two losses against the Bulldogs would have ended the Hornets’ season, as they would have fallen all the way to fifth place.
“The first game of the series was scary, and after that I thought we did some really good things,” Fornelli said. “Hopefully we can go out and compete and find a way to play for the next few weeks.”
Mickey Lara started things well for ESU on Saturday, pitching for the second time this week on three days rest.
He didn’t appear to be affected, pitching a complete-game shutout while striking out seven.
“Mickey’s been unbelievable, hasn’t he?” Fornelli said. “He’s been a workhorse for us.”
The senior has won three consecutive starts for the Hornets, all coming in a 10-day span.
Mark McBratney and Billy Sharp contributed RBI singles to give ESU a 2-0 lead in the third, and Matt Marasco provided the power after that.
The junior blasted a solo homer in the fifth, building ESU’s advantage to 6-0.
Conner Crumbliss and Sharp both had three-hit games for the Hornets.
ESU (35-21) saw its offense explode in Game Two, as the team scored 14 runs in the final four innings to enforce the run-rule.
Keith Hernandez and Marasco each homered and contributed four RBI.
Every Hornet in the lineup had at least one hit, and all but two had multiple hits.
Tim Barger, Crumbliss, Hernandez and Sharp all had three-hit performances.
Daniel Waggoner picked up the win in relief, allowing one unearned run in two innings pitched.
ESU will face third-seeded Northwest Missouri State at the MIAA Tournament in Warrensburg, Mo., on Friday.
The Hornets lost three of their four games against the Bearcats in the teams’ series in Maryville, Mo.
“We definitely haven’t peaked this year,” Fornelli said. “If you can get a late run now and play good in the tournaments when it really counts, it’d be a great way to finish up the year.”
ESU sits at No. 8 in the lastest Regional rankings, with the top six making the NCAA Tournament.
That means the Hornets most likely will need to win a few more games this weekend to once again lengthen their season.
“There’s no tomorrow,” Fornelli said. “We’ve got to go into next weekend thinking if we don’t win that tournament, our season could be over.”
Saturday at Emporia
Game One
ESU 6, Truman 0
Truman 000 000 0 — 0 6 1
Emporia State 022 110 X — 6 10 1
W — Lara. L — Thomas.
E — Truman: Cox. DP — Bulldogs 3; Hornets 2. LOB — Bulldogs 5; Hornets 6. 2B — ESU: Sharp; Anderson. HR — ESU: Marasco. HBP — ESU: Hernandez; Barger. SH — ESU: Barger. SF — ESU: Wolfe; Anderson. SB — Crumbliss; Sharp. CS — Barger.
Game Two
ESU 17, Truman 6
Truman 020 030 10 — 6 6 2
Emporia State 210 052 16 — 17 20 2
W — Waggoner. L — Brady.
E — TU: Eagen; Pearl; ESU: Barger 2. DP — Bulldogs 1. LOB — Bulldogs 6; Hornets 11. 2B — TU: Jones; Pearl; Thomas; ESU: Hernandez; Barger. HR — Hernandez; Marasco. HBP — ESU: McBratney; Evans; Barger. SH — TU: Schulte; ESU: Majors; Marasco. SF — TU: Macke; Cox. SB — ESU: Marasco; Sharp 3; Anderson.