EMPORIA, Kan. (Glennen Field) -- Despite a 3-for-3 effort from the plate with two RBI and a home run by sophomore Nick Jelacie (OF/C, Brainerd, Minn.) the Bemidji State University Beavers could not keep pace with No. 13 Emporia State University Hornets falling 6-2 in Emporia, Kan. at Glennen Field.

Emporia State got the ball rolling immediately, plating two runs in the home half of the first to go up 2-0. Connor Crumbliss led the inning off with a double to right center field and then stole third allowing him to score on a RBI ground out to first off the bat of Kenny Burkhead. Kevin Wempe kept the inning alive with a two out double to right field and came around to score on a RBI single up the middle by Anthony Dreiling giving ESU a 2-0 lead after one inning of play.

The Hornets added to their lead in the second as Jacob White laid down a bunt single and advanced all the way to third on a throwing error by BSU pitcher Justin Huether (Sr., OF/P, Brainerd, Minn.). White came into score ESU’s third run of the game off a Crumbliss RBI ground out to the shortstop giving Emporia State a 3-0 lead..

In the third the Hornets played the double game once again as Wempe led the inning off with his second double of the game, third for ESU. Wempe advanced to third off a bunt single by White and then scored on a RBI sacrifice fly by Chris Dobler pushing ESU’s lead to 4-0. The Hornets loaded the bases in the fourth with no outs and picked up fielder’s choice RBI’s by Jeremy Francis and Wempe giving ESU a 6-0 lead through four innings of play.

BSU finally got on the board in the sixth inning when Joe Chism (Jr., C/INF, Great Bend, Kan.) reached on a throwing error by Emporia State. Jelacie stepped to the plate with one out smashing his first home run of the season getting BSU within four of the Hornets, 6-2.

Bryan Buhr (Sr., P, Frazee, Minn.) worked the final four innings for BSU keeping the Hornets bats at bay allowing just three hits giving the Beavers a chance to make a comeback but BSU could only manage three hits in the final three innings falling 6-2 to ESU.

Huether picked up the loss for BSU seeing his record fall to 0-1 on the season. He gave up six runs (four earned) off nine hits in 4.0 innings pitched with four strikeouts and a walk.

Cole Moore picked up his first win of the season for ESU (1-0) pitching 6.0 solid innings surrendering two runs (one earned) off four Beaver hits with five strikeouts. Brett McBride gave up two hits with a strikeout and a walk in 2.0 innings of relief work while Domnic King gave up just one hit with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning of relief.

Jelacie led BSU at the plate going 3-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored while Josh Silvernagel (Jr., SS/P, Bismarck, N.D.) picked up two hits in the loss.

Crumbliss, Wempe, Dreiling, and White all had two hits in the win for the Hornets with six different ESU batters picking up one RBI.

The Beavers are currently on a season long four game losing streak seeing their record fall to 7-11 on the season while the Hornets improve to 14-4 overall.

Bemidji State and Emporia State will wrap up its two game set tomorrow afternoon (Mar. 11) with a single nine inning game start at 3 p.m. from Glennen Field in Emporia, Kan.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--beavers--