EMPORIA, Kan. – One out away from a victory Saturday afternoon, Missouri S&T allowed three unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Emporia State rallied for a
9-8 win in the second game of the weekend series.
Alex White's run-scoring bloop single into right field moments after the Hornets drew even on an error that allowed two runs to score sent the Miners to defeat for the second day in succession.
As was the case in their season opener Friday, the Miners scored in the opening inning as
Adam Richter (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) delivered a two-run double with two outs to score
Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles) and
Zach Bracken (Berthoud, CO/Berthoud) – both of whom had also reached base with two outs – to put the Miners in front.
The Hornets scored an unearned run off S&T starter
Dan Borek (Greenville, WI/Hortonville) in the second and tied the game in the third on Kaden Shaffer's RBI single, but the Miners regained the lead when they came back to the plate in the fourth.
S&T loaded the bases with one out on hits by Richter and
Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) before
Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) reached on an error.
Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) then reached on an fielder's choice to bring home the go-ahead run and when the throw to second was wild, a second run scored on the play.
Eli Miller (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) followed with a run-scoring double to give S&T a 5-2 advantage, then later in the inning, Swindle delivered a two-run single to complete a five-run inning for the Miners.
Ryan McBroom's solo home run in the bottom of the fourth drew the Hornets a run closer, then a two-run shot off the bat of Mason Brown cut S&T's lead to 7-5 in the fifth.
S&T added an insurance run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Richter, a run the Hornets got back immediately in the bottom of that frame as Levi Ashmore led off with a triple and scored on Brown's sacrifice fly.
Luke Marcheschi (Bloomington, IL/Central Catholic), who took over for Borek in the seventh, got Shaffer to line into an inning-ending double play to escape any further damage.
Marcheschi pitched around a pair of two-out singles in the eighth to maintain S&T's two-run lead, but the Hornets were able to tie in the ninth with two unearned runs with two outs, as a hit by Tucker Perkins and an error allowed two runs to score on the play. White followed with the game-winning single.
The Hornets (7-1) outhit the Miners 15-9 in the contest;
Justus Nelson (Plymouth, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong), Swindle and Richter all had two hits apiece for S&T. Richter also drove in three runs for the second day in succession.
Blaine Dunbar (West Plains, MO/West Plains) took the loss in relief for S&T, who will complete its weekend set with the Hornets with a single game Sunday at noon.
