Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats
Sunday Box Score
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Kenny Swanson went 4-for-4 but late runs the sixth-ranked Emporia State Hornets gave them a 8-6 victory and the series sweep on a frigid Sunday afternoon at the Truman Baseball Park.
Truman plated four runs in the third and two more in the fourth to double up ESU 6-3 on the scoreboard but the Hornets chipped away and tied the game on a sac fly in the sixth.
Emporia then used their feet to get the go-ahead run in the seventh as Jacob White stole second and advanced on a errant throw to center then came in to score on a two-out single by Dillon Hazlett. ESU would add an insurance run in the ninth as White singled and came in on Andy Cotton's RBI base hit.
Michael Cotter picked up his second save of the series while Zach Gove was the winner in relief. Chris Allard was tagged with the loss as starter Kyle Veazey left with the lead after five innings and got a no decision.
Emporia took advantage of a costly Bulldog error in the first as David Albritton reached with two outs following a high throw off a grounder at third and Joe Vaskas followed with his third home run of the series to stake the Hornets to a 2-0 lead. ESU would add another in the second following a near pick off of White at first but the number nine hitter would race home on a double by Cotton.
The Bulldogs finally cracked the Emporia pitching staff and got to starter Drew Smith in the third. Truman scored four times with Bryce Bond delivering the big blow with a double to center field to score Steven Rose and Devon Myers. Swanson then picked up two RBIs in the fourth. His well-placed bunt down the third base line forced Gove to fire the ball into the right field corner as both Dan Plecki and Luke Crader came around to score and to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead.
The Hornets would score two in the fifth off of Veazey then get the sac fly from Albritton to tie the game in the sixth.
The Bulldogs will host Missouri Southern in a MIAA four-game series next Friday through Saturday.
Inside The Series: Kenny Swanson finished the weekend hitting .500 (4-for-8) while Steven Rose and Devon Myers reached base in all four games…Rose was 5-of-12 with three RBIs…Emporia State had 14 extra base hits to Truman's four and were 13-of-15 in the stolen base department…The Hornets had four players hit over .400 for the series as Andy Cotton was 7-of-14 with four RBIs and Joe Vaskas was 6-of-14 with three home runs and six runs batted in.
Saturday Game 1 Box Score
Saturday Game 2 Box Score
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Travis Whipple and Joe Vaskas each had two home runs on the day as #6 Emporia State handed the Truman Bulldogs a doubleheader sweep on Saturday. The Hornets outslugged the Bulldogs 13-5 in the opener before Jake Hosey pitched a complete game 6-0 shutout in the nightcap.
Whipple went 4-for-6 with six RBIs during the twinbill and had a two-run shot in the second inning of game one and a three-run blast to opening the scoring in game two. Vaskas drilled a pitch to left in the first inning of game one for a two-run homer and led off the four-run fifth with a solo home run.
Truman picked up three runs in the third to cut ESU's lead to 4-3 in the opener. Devon Myers, Dan Plecki and Daniel Jewett all drove in runs as Truman sent eight hitters to the plate.
However, the Hornets put up two in the top of the fourth on a sac fly by Cotton then a balk brought in Dillon Hazlett from third.
Scott Doggett led off the sixth with a double and Bryce Bond exchanged places with Doggett with a double of his own. Bond would later score on a single by Michael Reese.
In the nightcap, Hosey allowed just three Bulldog hits while striking out six for the complete game shutout.
The teams will conclude the series with a single-nine inning game on Sunday beginning at noon.
Friday Box Score
KIRKSVILLE, Mo – In a match-up of aces, Emporia State's Brandon Faulkner got just enough run support to outduel Truman's Ryan Trimble as the sixth-ranked Hornets took the first game of a four-game conference weekend series 2-0 in a well-paced one hour 48 minute affair.
Faulkner (2-0) pitched eight and a third innings, striking out eight Bulldogs before giving way to Michael Cotter with two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth.
David Albritton got the innings second out when he took a high pitch in perfect throwing position and nailed Steven Rose at third on a failed hit-and-run attempt. Cotter then got Daniel Jewett to ground out to second to pick up his second save of the season.
Trimble (O'Fallon, Mo., Francis Howell HS) (0-3) was not to be outdone as the Bulldog starter fanned six Hornets and gave up just four hits in eight innings. Trimble allowed a lead-off walk in the first to score when Albritton doubled with one-out but then struck out the next two Emporia State hitters.
A one-out error in the seventh came in to score an insurance run when Andy Cotton singled up the middle to plate Beau Poston.
Trimble pitched out of a jam in the eighth as Jacob White led off with a single, stole second but was then picked by the Bulldog hurler for the first out. Dillon Hazlett followed with a basehit however Trimble retired the next two to end the frame.
The big hit eluded the Bulldogs again as they left two runners on third base and were just 1-of-7 with runners in scoring position for the game. Rose (St. Charles, Mo., Francis Howell Central HS) was 2-for-4 with a double and single while Devon Myers (Fenton, Mo., Rockwood Summit HS) and Scott Doggett (Gretna, Neb., Gretna HS) collected the other hits for Truman.
Christian Witt (Holt, Mo., Kearney HS) closed out the ninth for the Bulldogs as he set the Hornets down in order.
The teams will play two seven-inning games on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. and conclude the series with another nine-inning game on Sunday at noon.
Series Preview:
The Truman Baseball team will host sixth-ranked Emporia State University for a four-game MIAA series starting on Friday afternoon at the Bulldog Baseball Park. Truman is 1-3 after the first weekend of conference play while the Hornets went 4-0 and are riding a season-opening seven-game winning streak.
Series Schedule:
The four-game series is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday with a single nine-inning game followed by two seven-inning contests on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. and concluding with another single nine-inning affair with a first pitch time of noon on Sunday.
Bulldogs On Twitter:
For in-game updates or schedule changes, follow Truman Athletics on Twitter. Due to the field location and the reliability of wireless internet, the Truman Sports Information Staff will be sending out “Tweets” during home games keeping fans updated.
Bulldog Bites:
· The Bulldogs are hitting .211 with 14 extra base hits. The team has nine doubles, three triples and two roundtrippers to go with 17 stolen bases.
· Sophomore Mike Reese leads the team with a .381 batting average with three of his eight hits this season going for extra bases. Reese has a .571 slugging percentage, .500 on-base mark and a perfect six-for-six in swipes while hitting leadoff in all but one game.
· Through eight games, the Bulldogs have left 12 of their 49 runners stranded on third base this season and are hitting just .169 (11-of-65) with runners in scoring position.
· The pitching staff has a 5.49 earned run average after eight games. Opponents are hitting .293 with 19 extra base hits (13 doubles, three triples and three home runs.)
· The hurlers have a two-to-one strikeout to walk ratio as the Bulldogs have fanned 51 opposing hitters while issuing just 24 walks. On average, the staff is averaging 6.3 Ks per game.
· Sophomore Jarrett Eiskina has a 1.50 earned-run average with a team-leading 12 innings pitched and has 14 strikeouts to just one walk in his two starts this season.
· Truman was 7-33 in the MIAA last season and 12-41 overall.
About The Opponents:
· Emporia State is coming off a four-game sweep of Pittsburg State in MIAA play last weekend on the road and are a perfect 7-0 to start the season.
· Zach Carlson leads the team with a .429 batting average and a .929 slugging percentage while David Allbritton is the reigning MIAA hitter of the week while hitting .375 with six RBIs in five games last week.
· Pitching has been strong for the Hornets as the team has an ERA of 2.90 while the four starters have a 2.19 ERA allowing just 10 earned runs in 41 innings pitched.
· The Hornets were 31-9 in conference play last season and 42-16 while earning a berth into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship regional round.
Series History
Emporia State leads the overall series 53-12 over the Bulldogs and have won the last 21 games over the Bulldogs. Last season the Hornets took all four game at home including a 12 inning 2-1 decision in the series' third game.
Mike Reese was 4-of-14 in last year's series with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in while Ryan Trimble pitched eight strong innings allowing just one earned run and striking out six while not getting a decision in the 12 inning 2-1 loss.
Zack Carlson hit .500 (5-of-10) with three doubles and three runs score and David Allbritton drove in nine runs for the Hornets against the Bulldogs last year.
Bulldogs Climbing Career Charts:
· Kenny Swanson is 13th in career at bats with 445, he will next pass Tony Vandemore (449) while Luke Crader is 15th and will pass Jason Regagnon (427) shortly.
· Swanson is also ranked in career hits (124) and stolen bases (34). With two more hits, he will tie Todd Schmitt (126). Swanson is eight stolen bases away from Brad Jenkins (1995-96) and second place with 41, he is currently seventh.
· Devon Myers is climbing the career charts in total bases (163) and RBIs (77). He is also just two home runs shy of 10 for his career.
· Kyle Veazey tied Paul Cornejo's career record of 33 starts last time out while Ryan Trimble is also on that list with 26 games started.
Up Next:
Truman will host Missouri Southern in a four-game conference series from March 18-20 to conclude the 12-game home stand. The Lions went 1-3 in their first conference weekend against Missouri Western and will host Northwest Missouri this weekend and play a doubleheader mid-week against Pittsburg State.
