Bolivar, Mo. – The series finale with Emporia State took place on Sunday, the Hornets taking game three by a score of 10-3. The loss moves the Bearcats to 9-17 (4-11 MIAA).
 
Kyle Smith got the start for the Bearcats, retiring the first three Hornets via groundouts. SBU's first batter, Caleb Sneed, smacked a single up the middle to get the offense going. Sneed later advanced to second on a wild pitch, putting him in scoring position. That at-bat resulted in a walk, and Jackson Soule flied out, advancing Sneed to third. Noah Tucker came in clutch, hitting a single to right field with two strikes in his at-bat, driving in Caleb Sneed to put SBU up 1-0. The second inning was another quick one for Kyle Smith, getting two ground outs and a strikeout.
 
The Hornets had a baserunner early in the third, but SBU worked around it, getting out of the inning unharmed. With one out in the bottom of the third, Carl Schwettmann hit a screamer at the third baseman, reaching with a hit. The following batter was Hunter Hisky, launching a two-run bomb to left field, his second home run in as many games. The Bearcats led 3-0 heading into the fourth inning. SBU got two quick outs in the fourth inning, but ESU had runners on first and third when a strange series of event happened. The next batter hit a hard ground ball to Luke Winfrey who made the long throw to first base. Hayden Crabtree made an amazing stretch and scoop to get the runner out – or so was thought. The first base umpire did not hesitate, calling the runner out right away. All three umpires then got together to discuss the play and ended up over turning the call, making the runner safe at first and scoring a run. Emporia State scored two more in the inning to tie things up at 3-3.
 
Hayden Crabtree tried to spark the SBU offense with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, but a fielder's choice got him out at second. A walk and an error by the shortstop loaded the bases for SBU, but a ball hit just right to the second baseman got ESU out of the inning with no runs scoring. The visitors kept their momentum, scoring another three runs in the 5^th to take a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the 5^th, senior Trevor Lofstrom led off the inning with a double that hit just below the top of the wall in center field, putting him in scoring position. The Hornets played out the inning well defensively, not allowing any runs to score.
 
Caleb Sneed singled through the right side with one out in the 7^th inning, but again ESU kept the Bearcats from scoring. Four more runs were scored by the Hornets in the 9^th inning, creating a 10-3 final score.
 
Leading the Bearcats offensively was Caleb Sneed, going 2-4 with a walk on the day. Hunter Hisky homered for the second consecutive game, bringing his homerun total to 4 on the year and upping his batting average to .352. Hisky also moves into 5^th all time in career home runs in SBU history with 22. Kyle Smith went 5.0 innings giving up 6 hits and just 1 earned run.
 
The Bearcats begin an 8 game road trip on Wednesday, taking on the Drury Panthers at 4 PM in Springfield.