WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Emporia State’s early surge in the Central Regional consolation championship would have been enough to knock a few teams back on their heels.
Unfortunately for ESU, Central Missouri had seen it all before. And also knew exactly how to respond.
The Hornets struck first but couldn’t overcome a relentless Mule offensive attack, falling 9-2 in the losers bracket of the Regional on Saturday.
ESU ended its season with a 41-24 record.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” ESU coach Bob Fornelli said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of people that thought we’d make it this far after starting 23-17.”
ESU grabbed the early momentum, as Brian Majors singled with one out in the top of the first and later scored on a Keith Hernandez line drive to left.
Matt Marasco made it 2-0, lifting a double to the warning track in left to score Hernandez.
It was the seventh time in the teams’ nine meetings that the Hornets scored runs in the opening frame.
“We’re used to it,” UCM outfielder Clay Weatherford said. “They’ve scored in the first inning nearly every time. Our dugout stayed up, and we stayed confident.”
The Mules didn’t waste any time to even the score against ESU starter Brett Brandon.
Gered Mochizuki led off with a looping single to left, and one batter later, Iain Dykins knocked a two-run homer just over the left-field wall to tie it at 2.
ESU hadn’t given up a run in the first inning in its previous 16 games.
“If we could have followed through and put up a ‘0’ in the bottom of the first, I think the pressure would have been in the other dugout,” Fornelli said. “Instead, the pressure was back on us.”
UCM continued the hot hitting in the second. Luis Perez reached on an error, Weatherford singled, and Mochizuki doubled to left to give the Mules a 4-2 lead and knock Brandon out of the game.
Blaine Rutledge greeted ESU reliever Kellen Mitts with an RBI triple to right field past sliding Majors.
Nick Jaros contributed an RBI groundout to push the lead to 6-2.
Meanwhile, UCM starter Ron Martin settled down, allowing no runs his final 5 1/3 innings.
Though he entered with a 9.95 earned-run average against ESU in three appearances this season, Martin struck out nine and walked just one to pick up his sixth win.
“I had a lot of confidence knowing coach gave me the ball in a pressure situation,” Martin said. “I just thought if I could keep it close, we would squeak one out.”
Three UCM relievers held ESU scoreless in the final 2 2/3 innings.
Seven different players had a hit for ESU.
On Sunday, sixth-seeded Nebraska-Omaha defeated UCM in the championship, 9-4, to advance to the Division-II World Series.
Meanwhile, ESU’s season came to a close after a frantic finish help the team to its fourth consecutive Regional appearance.
The Hornets went 16-5 in their final 21 games, finishing second in the regular-season conference standings before winning the MIAA Tournament championship.
“We turned it around,” Brandon said, “and really came together as a family.”
“They could have quit so many times from me just being hard on them,” Fornelli said, “but they didn’t.”
It was the final game for 11 seniors, including all-MIAA selections Mark McBratney, Tim Barger, Mickey Lara, Billy Sharp and Trent Lare.
ESU 8, Minnesota
State-Mankato 7
For a half-second, ESU’s baseball season looked to be over in the first game Saturday against No. 8 Minnesota State-Mankato.
After MSU’s Zach Danelson raced to the left-center gap to wrap his glove around Conner Crumbliss’ line drive with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth, all hope seemed to be lost — at least for a moment.
When Danelson finished his dive, however, the ball slipped out and onto the outfield grass, giving Crumbliss a two-run double and ESU a dramatic 8-7 victory to advance in the losers bracket of the North Central Regional.
“I didn’t know if it was going to get down,” Crumbliss said. “I thought he caught it, but I was pretty happy that he didn’t.”
ESU’s improbable rally — the Hornets trailed 7-5 heading into the ninth — was even more unlikely considering it was against All-Region closer Nick Fellman, who hadn’t blown a save all season.
After leading the nation in saves last year with 18, Fellman had 14 this year, coming in with a minuscule 0.88 earned-run average.
The Hornets still found a way to get it done in their final at-bat.
With one out, Matt Marasco lined a double to left-center, and Billy Sharp followed with a walk. It was Fellman’s seventh base on balls in 34 innings pitched this season.
Nick Wolfe contributed his fourth hit of the game — an RBI single off shortstop Scott Kemp’s glove — to make it 7-6.
With an 0-2 count, Andy Anderson knocked a line-drive single to right field to load the bases with one out before Chris Evans lined out to second baseman Nick Gonzalez for the second out.
Crumbliss received three straight balls in his at-bat before Fellman came back with two straight strikes to make it 3-2.
“I got excited. I thought he was going to walk me,” Crumbliss said. “Luckily, I hit it just hard enough.”
The shot to left-center hung in the air just long enough for Danelson to catch up to it, but the force of his glove hitting the ground knocked it loose.
After dropping it, Danelson buried his head into the grass and waited almost a full minute before finally getting himself up.
“They made so many great catches, you just never knew if they were going to make that one, too,” ESU coach Bob Fornelli said. “When I saw that squirt out, it was pretty fun for us.”
ESU rallied after falling behind 6-0 in the second inning.
NCAA Central Regional
Saturday at Warrensburg, Mo.
Game One
ESU 8, MSU-Mankato 7
Minnesota State 051 000 100 — 7 11 1
Emporia State 000 004 103 — 8 13 1
Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
W — Mitts. L — Rodriguez.
E — MSU: Atkinson; ESU: Marasco. DP — Mavericks 1. LOB — Mavericks 6; Hornets 12. 2B — ESU: Crumbliss; Marasco. 3B — MSU: Voigt. HBP — ESU: Barger. SH — MSU: Worrell; ESU: Sharp. SB — MSU: Smith; Hill; ESU: Crumbliss; Marasco; Anderson.
Game Two
UCM 9, ESU 2
Emporia State 200 000 000 — 2 7 2
Central Missouri 240 110 01X — 9 14 1
W — Martin. L — Brandon.
E — ESU: Crumbliss; Hernandez; UCM: Jaros. DP — Hornets 1; Mules 1. LOB — Hornets 6; Mules 8. 2B — ESU: Marasco; UCM: Mochizuki; Paul; Weatherford. 3B — UCM: Rutledge. HR — UCM: Dykins; Perez. HBP — ESU: Majors; UCM: Dykins. SF — UCM: Paul. SB — UCM: Jaros.