Baseball is back, and there is still some snow on the ground. Hornets baseball didn’t have to deal with said snow as they started the season in Arizona for two games against Minot State and Adams State. The games varied from blowouts to massive comebacks from the Hornets as they left the arid climate undefeated to begin the season.
The Hornets began the season against Adams State as junior starting pitcher Seth Stover took the mound in the opener. After Adams State got two baserunners in the first inning, Stover worked out of the jam and began a solid day on the mound. The Hornets oddly opened the scoring as they had runners on the corners when senior Dominic Felix got into a rundown that allowed for junior Nathan Cruz to score from third.
Stover continued to deal through the fourth inning, and the Hornets got two more runs off of singles from sophomore Brady Unrein and junior Dylan Brisbois to make it 4-0. The Hornets kept Adams State off the board as Stover shut them down for five innings before he left. He only allowed three hits, a walk, and struck out four batters in the opener. The Hornets added four more runs in the game, and the bullpen kept the shutout going as the Hornets started the year 1-0.
Next, they had a double header, which featured their first game against Minot State and the second against Adams State. The Minot State game started poorly for the Hornets as junior starting pitcher Nick Woodcock struggled to miss bats, giving up four first-inning runs, and he only got two outs before the bullpen came into the game. In the top of the second, the Hornets would half that Minot State lead with RBIs from sophomore Sammy Padilla and junior Logan Myers.
The Hornet bullpen continued to put up zeros, and in the fourth, the Hornets’ offense got going, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and another run in the fifth to build a 7-4 lead. Minot State added another run in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-5. After a quiet seventh inning for both squads, the eighth inning was loud for the Hornets. The offense exploded for a staggering two-touchdown inning, putting up 14 runs to solidify the opening game of the doubleheader.
Freshman Abbot Evans had a career day, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored, five RBIs, and a walk. The Hornets had three batters add three RBIs each to build a 21-5 lead and secure the victory. With a 2-0 start to the season, the Hornets played in the second game of the doubleheader against Adams State.
In a seven-inning game, the Hornets had both the pitching and the offense going. Sophomore Colby Deaver was dominant on the bump as he had five strong innings, holding the Adams State offense to one hit, while striking out eight batters en route to a win. The offense picked up where they left off in the Minot State game, putting together a seven-run fourth inning and a five-run fifth inning to win 13-0.
Evan continued a strong day, adding four more RBIs and adding his first career home run of the inside-the-park variety. Junior Logan Myers was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 in the second game, and Felix drove in four of his own to spark the offense. Due to his performance on the mound, Deaver took home the first MIAA pitcher of the week honors for his shutout against Adams State. His eight strikeouts in the game are tied for the most strikeouts in a game since Graham Brunner struck out nine twice in 2024.
Rounding out the road trip, the Hornets played their second game against Minot State and it was different from the other games. The Hornets opened the scoring off an RBI single from junior Noah Steele, but Minot State answered with a huge inning of their own. In the bottom of the first, a mix of good hitting and bad fielding from the Hornets allowed Minot State to put seven runs on the board to take a 7-1 lead.
After the first inning fireworks, both teams slowed down for a couple of innings and in the fourth the Hornets began their comeback effort. With the bases loaded, the Hornets had a big opportunity to cut the lead, but they only added one run on a double play to make it 7-2. Minot State negated that run by adding two more runs in the fourth and got another in the fifth to make it a 10-2 lead.
With the innings going by, the Hornets needed something to get going, and they got just that with a crucial error from the Beavers that allowed for five straight Hornets to reach base. Unrein had an RBI double, Brisbois added another RBI, and Padilla added a two-RBI triple to tie the game at ten. Padilla also came around to score on another Beaver error to give the Hornets the lead.
The Beavers quickly tied the game back up at 11, but an RBI fielder’s choice from Felix and a RBI single from junior Frankie Santiago were enough insurance to stave off the Beavers. The Beavers added another run, but the Hornets would shut them down to leave the game with a 13-12 win and close out the Arizona road trip undefeated.
The 4-0 start for the Hornets is the first time they have done that since 2015 and they scored 55 runs, which is the most in four games since 2017. Next up for the Hornets is the Edmond First Pitch Tournament, where they will travel down to Edmond, Okla., to face off against East Central on Feb. 5 in hopes of continuing a strong start.