Emporia State’s streak lives on

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly

By Jesse Newell

Monday, April 21, 2008

Photo by Jesse Newell

The Emporia State bench erupts as Keith Hernandez watches his 10th-inning, game-winning home run sail over the left-field fence to give the Hornets a 10-9 victory over Northwest Missouri State in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

Emporia State baseball coach Bob Fornelli made sure to find Keith Hernandez before the bottom of the 10th inning. He knew his catcher was down.

Hernandez had just dropped a pop-up near the screen. He also hadn’t had a great day at the plate.

“Everything else today doesn’t matter,” Fornelli told Hernandez. “You’re going to get a chance to be the hero here.”

A day’s worth of frustrations were put to rest with one swing for Hernandez.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, the senior’s mighty hack sent a fastball sailing over the left-field fence, sent his teammates jumping into each other’s arms in the dugout and sent the Hornets to their 35th straight victory with a 10-9 win over Northwest Missouri State.

“I looked in here and saw everyone going nuts, and it felt even better,” Hernandez said. “I couldn’t get around the bases fast enough.”

After leaping into the dogpile at home plate, Hernandez surely thought what the rest of the MIAA might start believing.

Maybe this ESU team just isn’t supposed to lose.

If the Hornets were going to fall in any game, this was the one.

They’d made baserunning errors that cost them runs early. They’d watched as Northwest’s leadoff hitter Ryan Bledsoe hit a three-run homer in the eighth to give the Bearcats a 6-5 lead. They’d watched as their nearly unhittable reliever Aaron Burris was lit up for four runs in one inning.

Photo by Jesse Newell

The Emporia State players greet Keith Hernandez at home plate after Hernandez hit a game-winning home run in the 10th inning of the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against Northwest Missouri State. The solo blast lifted the Hornets to a 10-9 victory to run their winning streak to 35 games.

And they’d watched as their streak was down to its final strike with nine-hole hitter Andy Anderson in the batter’s box.

“We just trust in each other so much,” ESU senior Eric Shortell said. “We have so much faith in each other’s hitting.”

Turned out that was all that the Hornets would need.

Trailing 6-5 in the eighth, Shortell blasted a no-doubt home run to left — his sixth dinger of the day — to give ESU an 8-6 lead.

Northwest quickly grabbed the momentum back, as Ben Malick tied the score with a two-run homer. Chris Benham later added an RBI single off Burris — who entered with a 1.76 ERA ­— to make it 9-8.

ESU was down to its last gasp. Kellen Lane singled with one out, then stole second on a close play to put the tying run in scoring position.

After a Matt Marasco strikeout, Anderson battled to a 2-2 count.

“I was just looking for a fastball — something I could put in play,” Anderson said.

The senior got exactly that, guiding the pitch up the middle for an RBI single that brought Lane around from second.

ESU reliever Daniel Waggoner worked around a double to pitch a scoreless top of the 10th, setting up the extra-inning dramatics.

It started with Shortell, who was not intentionally walked even with his six home runs on the day. On a 3-2 pitch, he popped out to the shortstop.

Hernandez made sure it wouldn’t matter, blasting the ball well up into the gusting wind blowing out to left field.

“Luckily, I went up there and saw a fastball,” Hernandez said. “The rest is history, I guess.”

Shortell made his own history in ESU’s 20-3 Game One victory on Sunday, tying an MIAA record with four home runs.

Only two conference players have ever accomplished the feat: Central Missouri’s Rick Ladjevich in 1994 and Tim Sheeler in 1995.

Photo by Jesse Newell

Emporia State’s Eric Shortell is met by the ESU bench after hitting the last of his six home runs during Saturday’s doubleheader against Northwest Missouri State.

In his career, Shortell had never homered more than twice in a game.

“I’ve played college ball for three years, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Hernandez said. “Those balls are gone in any park. You could just tell that he had it in his eyes today.”

Shortell had home runs in the first, third and fifth innings before getting one last plate appearance in the sixth.

He told his teammates he was going for one more. He came through after Ban Stedronsky threw him a fastball right down the middle.

“The fourth one, I just knew,” said Shortell, who admired his homer an extra second in the batter’s box. “Everyone did, too.”

Once again, an MIAA team holding its ace until later in the series didn’t produce a victory.

Northwest’s Brett Harvel — who entered on the strength of back-to-back complete-game shutouts — allowed 13 runs in 4 2/3 innings. ESU scored 10 runs in the first inning alone.

Shortell finished 4-for-4 in the first game with five runs scored and seven RBI. During one stretch in the doubleheader, he posted seven consecutive hits.

ESU (42-3, 28-0 MIAA) will play its toughest series of the conference season next weekend, taking on second-place Central Missouri in a four-game series at Warrensburg, Mo.

The Hornets need 11 more wins to tie the Division-II record for consecutive victories in a season.

Sunday at Trusler

Game One

Emporia State 20, NW Missouri 3

NW Missouri 000 003 0 — 3 9 2

No. 4 ESU (10)01 045 X — 20 17 0

E — NWMSU: Bledsoe, Westman. LOB — NWMSU 10, ESU 4. 2B — NWMSU: Westman; ESU: Crumbliss, Majors, Marasco. 3B — ESU: Majors. HR — ESU: Shortell 4, Hernandez, Wempe, Anderson. HBP — NWMSU: Malick, Bradshaw; ESU: Steinbach, Marasco. SF — ESU: Crumbliss. SB — NWMSU: Bledsoe, Henne Jr., Benham; ESU: Lane.

Game Two

ESU 10, NW Missouri 9, 10 innings

NWMSU 110 000 133 0 — 9 17 0

No. 4 ESU 111 200 031 1 — 10 17 0

Note: 2 outs, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.

W — Waggoner. L — Nickell.

LOB — NWMSU 9, ESU 10. 2B — NWMSU: Bledsoe 2, Malick, Kirsch, Henne Jr; ESU: Crumbliss, Dreiling. HR — NWMSU: Bledsoe, Kirsch, Benham; ESU: Shortell 2, Hernandez, Wolfe. HBP — ESU: Wempe. SB — NWMSU: Bledsoe 2, Benham; ESU: Crumbliss, Lane. CS — NWMSU: Benham.

Saturday at Trusler

Game One

Emporia State 8, NW Missouri 1

NW Missouri 000 100 0 — 1 7 0

No. 4 ESU 200 123 X — 8 9 0

W — Applehans. L — Disselhoff.

DP — NWMSU 2, ESU 1. LOB — NWMSU 11, ESU 1. 2B — NWMSU: Bledsoe, Bush, Benham; ESU: Shortell. HR — NWMSU: Benham; ESU: Crumbliss, Hernandez, Dreiling, Marasco. HBP — ESU: Majors. SH — ESU: Wempe.

Game Two

Emporia State 15, NW Missouri 6

NW Missouri 002 210 100 — 6 9 4

No. 4 ESU 151 800 00X — 15 19 1

W — Timbrook. L — Malone. Sv — Mitts.

E — NWMSU: Malick, Kurtz, Pfeiffer, Conner; ESU: Hernandez. DP — NWMSU 3. LOB — NWMSU 5, ESU 7. 2B — NWMSU: Bledsoe 2; ESU: Crumbliss 2, Shortell. 3B — ESU: Crumbliss. HR — NWMSU: Bledsoe, Kurtz; ESU: Majors 2. HBP — ESU: Shortell 3, Steinbach, Wempe, Williamson. SF — NWMSU: Bledsoe. SB — NWMSU: Pfeiffer, Benham, Bradshaw; ESU: Shortell 2.