The college baseball season is underway, and we are approaching the start of MIAA play as the Hornets finish up their non-conference schedule with the Steve Anson Classic. The Hornets swept the tournament and finished the start of their non-conference schedule at a staggering 9-1 record as they head into MIAA play.
They began the Steve Anson Classic against the number-23 team, MSU-Denver, for a key early-season test. The game began with both starters keeping the offenses quiet in the first inning, then the Hornets got on the board in the second inning. After junior Nathon Cruz doubled to start the inning, sophomore Brady Unrein put down a sacrifice bunt to move Cruz over, but MSU Denver had a throwing error, allowing Cruz to waltz home to open the scoring. After another sacrifice bunt to move Unrein up a base, senior Cooper Schwindt doubled him in to get a 2-0 lead.
Junior starter Seth Stover kept the Roadrunners off the board in the bottom of the second and the third, but ran into some trouble in the fourth inning. He allowed two runners to reach base and gave up a three-run home run, giving up the lead. Stover closed out the inning and had another clean inning in the fifth, ending his day. He went five innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs, five walks, and three strikeouts. The bullpen got involved in the sixth inning and let in another Roadrunner run, making it 4-2 heading into the final third of the game.
After extending their lead, the Roadrunners’ bullpen ran into issues as Schwindt doubled with one out, and then junior Logan Myers singled with two outs to give the Hornets two runners on base for freshman Evan Abbott. Needing to score on this opportunity, Abbott decided to secure the lead for the Hornets with a three-run home run over the right field fence. The Hornets never relinquished the lead despite the Roadrunners having opportunities, but the Hornet bullpen stopped the chances.
Junior Jake Khasaempanth earned his second win of the season out of the pen, while senior Grant Huffman earned his second save of the season. Abbott had a three-run home run, while Schwindt and Cruz had two-hit days.
“I thought our guys grinded it out. We didn’t play our best or cleanest baseball. We are trying to get better every day, and we found a way today,” Head Coach John Martin said. “We had big pitches from a freshman [Owen Ruge], and a big swing by another freshman [Evan Abbott] to put us on top.”
Game two of the tournament was a little less stressful as early-season ace of the Hornets, sophomore Colby Deaver, took the mound. He went out and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out ten Sioux Falls batters, and also secured another MIAA pitcher of the week for his performance. The offense went up 5-0 off multi-RBI games from Cruz and junior Frankie Santiago, and added another RBI in the ninth when Abbott doubled in Myers. The Cougars rallied in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Hornets as they left with a 6-3 victory, setting up a rematch against MSU Denver.
The rematch started in the Hornets’ favor as junior Noah Steele had an RBI-single in the bottom of the first inning to open the scoring. The Roadrunners answered back quickly with a three-run home run in the top of the second to set the tone for this game early, as both teams would teeter back-and-forth throughout the game. Speaking of teetering, the Hornets regained the lead in the bottom of the second inning as Myers, Santiago, and Steele drove in a combined five runs to make it a 6-3 lead.
After a quiet third inning for both teams, the Roadrunners made it a 6-5 game with a two-RBI triple in the fourth, then took the lead in the sixth on a single driving in two unearned runs. The Roadrunners added two more runs, split between the seventh and eighth innings, to make it a 9-6 game. In the bottom of the eighth, Steele drove in two more for the Hornets to spark a comeback effort late in the game.
In the top of the ninth, senior Grant Huffman came in and shut down the Roadrunners, giving the Hornets a chance to either send it to extra innings or send the Hornets home happy with a walk-off. In the bottom of the ninth, Schwindt singled to open the inning and got pinch ran for by sophomore Sammy Padilla. Then the Roadrunners had issues with passed balls as Padilla got to third base on two in the inning. Freshman Tyler Coffin had a chance to at least tie the game, and in a way, he did, as he struck out, but the ball got past the Roadrunner catcher for another passed ball.
In extras, both teams’ pitching took over and held each other scoreless until the bottom of the 12th inning. After Huffman gave the Hornets four scoreless innings out of the pen, the Hornets got to work on a walk-off. Cruz and Unrein singled after the first out was made, then junior Jovanni Toledo made his name known with a walk-off single down the line to give the Hornets a win.
With a 9-1 record to close out the non-conference schedule, the Hornets look to take that hot start into MIAA play when they open on the road against Arkansas-Fort Smith on Feb. 20 for a three-game series.