WARRENSBURG, MO. — It might be safe to declare Emporia State as hot — check that, really hot — after ESU’s 13-8 win on Saturday at the South Central Regional.
Conner Crumbliss, Andy Cotton and Caleb Williamson homered, and the Hornets jumped out to an 11-2 lead against the best-pitching team in the MIAA this season in another blowout win.
In two regional games, the Hornets have 40 hits, 18 extra-base hits, seven home runs and have scored 36 runs. The only number that truly matters is one — as in the Hornets are the one and only undefeated team left in the regional.
Emporia State (44-12) needs just two wins to advance to the World Series and will play Central Missouri on Sunday at noon. With a win, the Hornets would advance to the regional championship.
And all this after losing six of 10 coming into the regional.
“We’re MIAA champs during the regular season, so we always knew we had it in us and there’s a lot of guys over there on our team that had their eyes opened and said, ‘last chance, let’s go get it,’” Jacob White said. “Coach shook up the lineup a little bit and we all tried to provided a little bit of a spark and it’s a whole new day, a whole new tournament.”
Friday’s rain delayed the game until Saturday but could not cool the Hornets’ bats. They played the only other undefeated team left in the tournament and also arguably the hottest team in the regional.
UNO came into the game with five straight wins. The Mavericks won the MIAA championship and beat the Hornets 6-3 in the process.
They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Saturday in the first against ESU starter Ben Graham, but then the hot-hitting Hornets went to work.
Kellen Lane tied the game in the first with a two-out double, and the Hornets took the lead on a Andy Cotton RBI double.
Conner Crumbliss added two more runs with a towering home run to right field, which made him the career hits leader at Emporia State.
“It’s an honor for me to have a chance to break that record,” Crumbliss said. “I’m excited about it. I don’t know what else to say, it’s fun.”
The rout and the fun truly began for the Hornets during a six-run third inning. Williamson led off with a wind-aided homer to right-center, the deepest part of the ballpark. Lane followed with a double and Anthony Dreiling and White both hit one-out singles to set up Cotton for his three-run, no-doubt homer to left field.
Kevin Wempe and Kenny Burkhead both doubled to push across the sixth run of the inning and give the Hornets an insurmountable 11-2 lead.
All 11 runs came against UNO starter, Ben Percival, who pitched a two-out shutout in his last start in the MIAA tournament against Missouri Southern. Percival (10-4) lasted only 2 2/3 innings against the Hornets.
The UNO pitching staff had a conference-best 4.19 ERA coming into the game and had not allowed more than two homers or four doubles in a game this season.
No longer.
The Hornets hit three homers and had eight doubles. Jacob White, who started only 10 games in the regular season, had two of those doubles and continued to make ESU coach Bob Fornelli look like a smart man by starting the sophomore at second base. White went 3-for-4 with an RBI and has five hits in the two regional games.
“Coach put me in there to try to provide a spark,” White said, “and I think he had the idea that he wanted to get me in there sometime throughout the year, but A.D. does a great job there and he’s a senior and was all-conference last year. So I’m just trying to fill his shoes and keep the team going whenever I get a shot.”
After the Mavs’ two-run first inning, Graham (7-3) pitched quick and effectively — facing the minimum in the second through fourth innings — until the Mavs offense got going again in the fifth. By that point, it was way too late.
Up and down the lineup, the ESU hitters had another productive day. All nine Hornets had at least one hit. Burkhead and White both had three hits apiece. Cotton, Lane and Kevin Wempe all had two hits, and Cotton also drove in a game-high four runs.
Tyler Applehans will start on Sunday at noon. With a win, the Hornets would play again on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. A win in that game would advance the Hornets to the World Series for the first time since 2006. If the Hornets lost the 3:30 game, they would get another chance on Monday to advance.
If the Hornets lose to Central Missouri on Sunday, they would play again at 3:30 on Sunday. With a win in that game, they would play in the regional championship on Monday.
Basically, the Hornets have three chances to win two games.
“This tournament is not over,” Fornelli said. “We’ve got a long way to go and there’s still four very good baseball teams here.”
admireed (anonymous) says...
Sunday UCM 2 ESU 1
Hornets play Angelo later Sunday afternoon. Winner plays UCM Monday for Championship
May 17, 2009 at 2:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )