At the end of the day Sunday, Emporia State baseball coach Bob Fornelli was happy that his team was able to pick up another two victories over Truman in a pair of seven-inning games to sweep the four-game weekend series from the winless Bulldogs.
Now, if the coach could only get his team to look good doing it.
Battling some early-afternoon sleet, chilly temperatures and a blustery wind, the Hornets had to rally in the final inning of Game One to sneak past Truman, 4-3, while in Game Two, ESU jumped out to a five-run lead before holding off the Bulldogs, 8-5.
“We were very happy just to get out with a couple wins, but we weren’t very good today,” Fornelli said. “We’ve got to get better, and today, we didn’t get better. That’s a concern.”
Poor execution and an inability to deliver the knock-out punch were two problems that plagued the Hornets in Sunday’s twinbill. ESU (16-3, 4-0 MIAA) committed a combined six errors and allowed Truman (0-14, 0-4) to make things interesting late in Game Two after the Hornets got out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning.
“We’re a little disappointed with the way we won,” said left fielder Brian Majors, who combined to go 4-for-8 with two RBI and two runs scored, “but when it’s all said and done, we won, and a month from now, it’s now going to matter as long as we keeping winning these games. We’ve got a lot to work on, though, if we want to keep winning.”
In Game One, after both teams struck for single runs in the third inning, Truman took the lead with a two-run fourth that put ESU in comeback mode. The Bulldogs’ two runs in the frame were helped by failed double plays and a hit batter.
With one out, Truman’s Kevin Zukaitis singled to center and Matt Over was hit by a pitch by ESU starter Richard Timbrook, and Zukaitis scored when Neil Bleish singled down the left-field line to make it 2-1.
The next batter, pinch hitter Corey Eagen, appeared to ground into an inning-ending double play, but the the throw to second could not be handled by shortstop Andy Anderson, keeping the inning alive for Truman with the bases loaded.
The Hornets again couldn’t turn a double play on the next batter, Logan Frame, but got at least one out when Eagen was forced out at second, though Bleish scored to put Truman ahead, 3-1.
Brandon Pearl then struck out to end the inning.
“How many times did we mess things up?” Fornelli said. “In the first game, we had a ball back to the pitcher and we didn’t turn a double play. We didn’t get out of it.”
Emporia State began its rally in the sixth when Anthony Dreiling drove home Eric Shortell from third after Shortell led off with a double and then moved to third on a balk, making it 4-2.
After Truman went scoreless in its half of the seventh inning, Emporia State completed the comeback in the final half-inning.
Pinch hitter Kevin Wempe drew a leadoff walk. Kellen Lane then laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Wempe into scoring position, and Brian Majors tied the game when he singled to right to score Wempe from second.
“The biggest thing right there is just trying to get a hit and try to tie the ballgame up with a guy on second and one out — just doing anything to reach base safely and get it to the next guy and hope you can get a run across,” Majors said.
Majors then stole second and Shortell was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, and with Dreiling at the plate, ESU went for a double steal, and it paid off.
Truman’s catcher Matt Over overthrew the throw to second, allowing Majors to score to give ESU the 4-3 victory.
“Things ended up working out for us,” Majors said, “but if we had played better in the first six innings, it wouldn’t have come down to that. But, it was nice to play a close game and come back from behind and get a win.”
Daniel Waggoner got the win for ESU despite only pitching 1/3 inning in relief of Timbrook.
In Game Two, ESU struck with a five-run first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Shortell.
Truman crept back into it with two runs in the fourth and one run in the sixth to make it 5-3 before the ESU offense finally got untracked again. The Hornets scored three more runs in their half of the sixth to go up 8-3, and while Truman’s Bleish hit a two-run blast in the seventh to draw the Bulldogs back to within 8-5, that would be as close as it would get.
“We’ve got to learn that you’ve got to play every inning like it’s 0-0, and we haven’t done that lately,” Fornelli said. “That’s something we’ve got to work on.”
Starter Kellen Mitts picked up the victory for ESU in Game Two, lasting five innings while giving up three runs on seven hits with no strikeouts.
Dreiling led the Hornet offense in the second game, going 2-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and two runs scored.
On Saturday, Emporia State defeated Truman, 10-6. James Morrison hit three of Emporia State’s four triples in the game, as he went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Brock Nehls earned the win on the mound, striking out five.
ESU is back in action Tuesday with a road game against Newman in Wichita.
Game Four
No. 16 ESU 8, Truman 5
Sunday at Glennen Field
Truman 000 201 2 — 5 9 3
ESU 500 003 X — 8 11 5
W — Mitts. L — Radel. S — Waggoner.
E — Truman: Bleish 2, Over; ESU: Shortell, Dreiling, Carlson 3. DP — ESU 2. LOB — Truman 6, ESU 9. 2B — Truman: Zukaitis, Crader; ESU: Dreiling, Morrison. HR — Truman: Bleish; ESU: Shortell. HBP — ESU: Shortell 2, Wolfe. SH — Truman: Dilday. SB — Truman: Dilday; ESU: Williamson.
Game Three
No. 16 ESU 4, Truman 3
Sunday at Glennen Field
Truman 001 200 0 — 3 3 1
ESU 001 001 2 — 4 8 1
W — Waggoner. L — Witt.
E — Truman: Over; ESU: Anderson. DP — Truman 1. LOB — Truman 4, ESU 7. 2B — ESU: Shortell. HBP — Truman: Over, Eagen; ESU: Shortell, Marasco. SH — Truman: Frame, Lane. SB — Truman: Frame; ESU: Majors 2; Shortell. CS — Truman: July.
Game Two
No. 16 ESU 10, Truman 6
Saturday at Glennen Field
Truman 000 103 200 — 6 11 2
ESU 220 310 11X — 10 14 0
W — Nehls. L — Veazey.
E — Truman: Bleish, Bond. DP — ESU 1. LOB — Truman 5, ESU 9. 2B — Truman: Bleish; ESU: Anderson 2. 3B — ESU: Shortell, Morrison 3. HR — Truman: Zukaitis, Herrick; ESU: Carlson. HBP — ESU: Wolfe. SF — ESU: Wolfe. SB — Truman: Bleish 2, Pearl; ESU: Majors 2; Dreiling. CS — Truman: Davison.