Missouri Western’s coaches got a full-day’s exercise on Monday walking back and forth between the dugout and the pitcher’s mound. The Griffons made eight pitching changes, used nine different pitchers — one reliever pitched in both games — and caused one messy scorecard.
Emporia State coach Bob Fornelli, meanwhile, sat comfortably in his dugout as his two starters carved up the Missouri Western lineup. On another cold and windy day at Trusler, Emporia State’s pitchers combined to throw 13 straight scoreless innings to give the Hornets a series victory with a doubleheader sweep, 6-2 and 10-0.
“Today was like Florida compared to yesterday,” Fornelli said of the weather.
The way his team played also helped the coach feel much better about his surroundings. After giving up eight unearned runs and committing four errors in the series-opening loss on Sunday, the Hornets committed only four more errors over the final three games of the series.
“As uninterested as we were in the first game, we came back and played really good baseball the last three games,” Fornelli said.
Emporia State’s pitching and defense made for a smooth Monday. Tyler Applehans started Game One, and pitched one of his best games of the season after experiencing some bad luck in the first inning. The Griffons pushed across two runs on just two singles, a lead that stuck until the fifth inning.
“In the first inning, I threw two good inside fastballs,” he said. “One guy hit that line drive single and he just turned on it, and the other guy just got jammed and was able to score a run.”
Applehans (5-1) responded by retiring 15 of 17 hitters he faced over his final five innings of work. Applehans struck out seven, and allowed just one more hit after the first inning.
The ESU offense struggled to get anything going until the fifth inning when Anthony Dreiling led off with a single. With Mike Sharp at bat, Missouri Western pitcher Blake Thomas tried to pick off Dreiling and overthrew first base, allowing Dreiling to advance to third. Sharp grounded out and Dreiling scored to pull the Hornets to within one run.
With the wind making it difficult to make solid contact, the Hornet hitters found a way to get on base and put pressure on the Missouri Western defense in the sixth inning. Conner Crumbliss led off with an infield single, Jeremy Francis followed with a bunt single and Kenny Burkhead knocked in the tying run with a single.
Dreiling drove in the winning run with another infield single, and the Hornets pushed across two more runs thanks to a Missouri Western error.
“We took a small-ball approach,” Sharp said. “We seem to do that every day. In weather like this, it’s more crucial to do the little things.”
Colby Killian started Game Two for Emporia State, and he was even more impressive than Applehans. Killian (3-0) struck out the side in the first inning, and he allowed only two hits over six scoreless innings.
The quality start from Killian was not that important considering the ESU offense continued its small-ball ways in the second game and scored 10 runs. But for Killian, it was much needed.
Killian came into the game with the worst ERA (7.36) of any of the ESU starters. In his last start against Washburn on March 30, he gave up seven runs. During practice last week, Killian focused on slowing his delivery down and keeping the ball down, which helped him get 11 ground ball outs against the Griffons.
“I’ve kind of struggled all year,” Killian said. “And I just felt like I kept myself calm and didn’t overthrow.”
While Killian worked quick and effectively, Missouri Western’s revolving door on the pitching mound saw seven pitchers struggle to keep the Hornets off the base pads in the finale.
Emporia State had only three extra-base hits and run-ruled the Griffons in seven innings by being aggressive once they reached base.
Francis had the best day offensively for the Hornets, finishing with four hits and two RBIs on the day. Sharp led the way in the finale, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
The Hornets improved to 29-6 and 17-3 in the MIAA and continued their streak of winning every series this season in the MIAA. Pittsburg State is up next. The Gorillas come to town on Wednesday for a doubleheader at Trusler.
Monday at Trusler
Game One
Emporia State 6, Missouri Western 2
Missouri Western 200 000 0 — 2 4 2
Emporia State 000 015 X — 6 7 0
WP — Applehans. LP — Thomas.
E — MW: Hebrard, Thomas. DP — MW 1. LOB — MW 4, ESU 4. HBP — ESU: Wempe. SB — MW: Landi; ESU: Williamson.
Game Two
Emporia State 10, Missouri Western 0 (7 innings)
Missouri Western 000 000 0 — 0 2 0
Emporia State 002 214 1 — 10 10 3
WP — Killian. LP — Griffon.
E — ESU: Dreiling, White 2. DP — MW 2, ESU 1. LOB — MW 6, ESU 5. 2B — ESU: Burkhead, Sharp, Wempe. HBP — ESU: Crumbliss, Williamson. SH — ESU: White. SB — ESU: Burkhead.