ESU BOX | MWSU BOX

EMPORIA, Kan. – Patrick Rients belted a walk-off solo home run in the ninth inning to lift Southwest Minnesota State to a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over No. 17 Missouri Western on Saturday night at Glennen Field on the campus of Emporia State. SMSU opened its season earlier in the day suffering an 11-7 loss to Emporia State.

SMSU trailed 6-1 after four innings versus Missouri Western (1-2), but rallied back with several timely hits and solid pitching. The victory was SMSU's first over a nationally ranked team since earning a victory over No. 7 St. Cloud State on April 3, 2012. MWSU won the MIAA last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

The Mustangs opened the game's scoring in the second inning with Mason Schnaible starting a two-out rally with a single and coming around to score on an RBI double by Sam Haas.

The Griffons rallied back in a big way in the fourth inning putting together six runs on six hits with one SMSU error to take a five-run lead.

SMSU chipped into the lead in the fifth as Ben Korger led off the frame with a triple and later scored on a run-scoring single by Haas to make the score 6-2. Jordon Kontz followed with a single to put runners on first and second before Jon Ellis smacked an RBI single to score Haas. Austin Stubbs then came through with a clutch two-out single to score Ellis and make the score 6-4.

MWSU left two runners on in the sixth and SMSU took advantage to tie the game in the bottom of the inning on a two-out rally. Haas drilled a two-out triple to score Korger and moments later scored on a single by Kontz to tie the game at 6-6.

The game remained tied until two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Rients drilled a 2-2 pitch over the fence for SMSU's first walk-off home run win since Andrew Kinney beat Winona State on April 21, 2010.

Steven Wehr started on the mound for SMSU and pitched six strong innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on nine hits with two walks, two hit batters and two strikeouts. Brendan Alfson (1-0) tossed three shutout innings to earn the victory, allowing one hit and two walks.

Haas finished the game 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs score, while Ellis finished 3 for 4. Kontz, Schnaible and Korger all finished two hits as the Mustangs finished the game with 14 hits.

Earlier on Saturday, ESU jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and held on for the 11-7 victory in the season opener for both teams.

ESU scored single runs in the first and second inning to build an early lead before SMSU scored in the top of third on an RBI ground out by Ellis.

ESU scored two in the third and three more in the fourth to build a 7-1 lead before SMSU rallied with a big top of the fifth pushing across five runs. Ellis drove in the first run with a single, before Rients belted a two-run homer to make the score 7-4. Jarred Carlson and Jason Minnet followed with back-to-back doubles to score a run before Korger connected on an RBI single to trim the deficit to 7-6.

ESU answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead to 9-6, but Ryan Engles answered with a solo homer in the top of sixth to make the score 9-7. The Hornets continued its strong offensive game pushing across single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build a four-run advantage and go on and earn the victory.

SMSU starter Mitch Wurm (0-1) suffered the loss tossing 4 2/3 innings in his first start in a Mustang uniform, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits with four strikeouts.

SMSU clubbed 13 hits in the game with Korger leading the way with three hits, while Engels and Kontz each had two base hits.

Southwest Minnesota State will play two more games to wrap-up the weekend tomorrow taking on ESU at 11 a.m and MWSU starting at 1:30 p.m.