Box Score EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Pittsburg State University baseball team built a 9-2 lead and powered past Emporia State University, 11-7, Sunday (Mar. 8) to claim the three-game series over the Hornets.

The Gorillas, ranked No. 2 nationally by the baseball writers and No. 3 by the coaches, improved to 19-1 on the season and 9-1 in MIAA play to remain at the top of the conference standings. ESU, ranked No. 15 in the NCBWA Division II Top 25 poll, slipped to 14-5 overall (5-4 MIAA).

Isaac Webb doubled, homered and drove in five runs to lead the Gorillas' 14-hit offensive attack. Eric Bacon, Dagen Brewer and Cooper Wesslund each collected a pair of hits and scored twice. Pitt State broke open a 2-2 game with three runs in the fourth inning and four more runs in the sixth frame.

Ty Blecha (1-0) tossed 6.0 solid innings in his second start of the season. He limited the Hornets to two runs and he registered five strikeouts. Cooper Crouch entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in a 9-5 game in the eighth inning. He exited the eighth frame with a 9-7 lead and retired the Hornets in the ninth to record his second save of the season.

Pitt State will travel to Wichita Wednesday (Mar. 11) for an MIAA midweek match-up against Newman University at 3 p.m. (CDT).