Emporia State freshman pitcher Jennifer Heerey helped made sure Emporia State managed a split with Missouri Southern on Friday after dropping the opener, 3-2.
Heerey had a career-high 10 strikeouts to help the Hornets come away with a 5-4 win.
After giving up back-to-back homers with one out in the second inning, Heerey retired 14 of the next 16 batters she faced, including nine in a row. She had six strikeouts during that span.
Emporia State took an early lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Jennifer Dace, who later scored on a passed ball. The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the inning on solo homers by Brooke Hurley and Kelli Bax.
The Hornets regained the lead in the fourth inning. Jill Peters gave ESU the lead with a two-run double and Abby Hughes made it 5-2 with an RBI single.
Southern’s Lauren Hasty made things interesting with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when she hit a two-run homer that pulled the Lions to within one run, 5-4. Heerey (14-5) bounced back to strike out Lauryn Berger to end the game.
Dace led the Hornets offensively, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Peters drove in the Hornets other two runs.
In the first game, ESU took a 1-0 lead on Miranda Campbell’s RBI double in the first. Southern tied the game in the bottom of the first on a fielder’s choice that scored Trish Washburn.
The Lions took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Hasty. The Hornets tied it in the fifth inning with three straight two-out singles by Linda Ketter, Angela Mahan and Hughes.
Southern retook the lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and Hurley on second, Bax reached after swinging at a wild pitch with two strikes to extend the inning. Hurley scored on an error by Hughes at shortstop.
Hughes and Campbell each had an RBI in the opener for the Hornets. Aubree Brattin had two hits and a stolen base for ESU.
Megan Dennis (11-5) took the loss for ESU, giving up three runs, two of them earned and striking out six while walking only one.
Emporia State travels to Pittsburg State today for a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m.