Bronchos Knock Off No. 16 Emporia

4/12/2011 10:48:14 PM

Brittany Weaver

Game One Box
Game Two Box

EMPORIA, Kan. (April 12) – Brittany Weaver's eighth-inning sacrifice fly pushed across the go-ahead run and Central Oklahoma held on to upend Emporia State 5-4 here Tuesday to earn a doubleheader split with the No. 16-ranked Hornets.

ESU took the opener 7-1 before the Bronchos rebounded in the nightcap, taking a 3-0 first-inning lead and then pulling out the extra-inning triumph on Weaver's fly ball.

UCO handed the Hornets their first home loss of the season with the second-game win while improving to 22-18 on the year. ESU fell to 31-8.

“It was a great win for us on the road against a really good team,” UCO coach Genny Stidham said. “They took it to us in the first game, but I was happy with the way we responded and came back to pull out a win we needed to have.”

Brittany Geter was placed on second base to start the eighth inning in the international tiebreaker and advanced to third on Hannah Justus' sacrifice bunt before scoring the tiebreaking run on Weaver's fly ball to right field.

ESU had a chance in the bottom of the eighth and advanced their lead runner to third, but Rachael Steverson got a strikeout and fly out to end the game in notching the complete-game pitching victory.

Kacie Edwards went 3-for-3 to lead UCO's 10-hit attack, with Kayce Raines and Megan Whitmire adding two hits apiece.

Edwards had the big hit in UCO's three-run first inning, following a Raines double and Megan Bentley single with her 10th home run of the season to stake the Bronchos to a quick 3-0 lead.

Raines doubled and scored an unearned run in the fifth to give UCO a 4-1 advantage, but the Hornets got two runs back in the bottom of that frame and then tied it with a run in the sixth to set up Weaver's heroics.

The Bronchos took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener when Raines led off with a single and scored on Edwards' double, but ESU scored seven runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take control en route to the victory.

UCO returns to Lone Star Conference North Division action this weekend, traveling to Wichita Falls, Texas to lead on division leader and No. 2-ranked Midwestern State in a three-game series.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories