Emporia State 13 Wayne State 2 (5 inn.)

            Emporia State used a six-run first inning to set the tone early as the Hornets toppled Wayne State 13-2 in five innings at the 2022 Washburn Invitational Softball Tournament in Topeka, Kansas.  ESU is now 9-6 on the season while WSC drops to 2-6.
            The Hornets jumped out of the gates quickly scoring six runs in the top of the first inning on four hits, three walks and one Wildcat error to a 6-0 lead.
            Wayne State scored both runs in the bottom of the second while collecting all three hits in the game.  Paiton Tornberg led off the inning with a walk and scored on a double to right-center from Natalie Arbizu for the first Wildcat run.  Arbizu then crossed home plate on an Alle Perea RBI double to left-center to cut the ESU advantage to 6-2.
            That was all the offense WSC would muster in the contest as Emporia State scored four runs in the fourth on a pair of hits and two Wildcat walks followed by three runs in the fifth on three hits to make the final score 13-2 in five innings.
            Emporia State had 10 hits in the game to three for the Wildcats.  Arbizu and Perea each recorded RBI doubles while Kortney Buresh singled for the other Wildcat hit.
            Starting pitcher Hadley Chvatal (1-5) was tagged with the pitching loss working 2 1/3 innings.  Freshman Sami Felt worked the remaining 2 2/3 innings.
            Wayne State was scheduled to face host Washburn at 2:30 p.m. as play continues at the Washburn Invitational.