FHSU Sports Information
No. 13 Fort Hays State dropped both games of its doubleheader with No. 21 Emporia State on Friday (March 14) at Tiger Stadium. FHSU fell in extra innings, 7-6, in the first game before dropping an 8-0, six inning contest in Game 2.
FHSU fell to 14-7 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA while ESU is now 19-4 overall and 6-0 in the conference.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday (March 15) in a doubleheader against Washburn. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Game 1: ESU 7, FHSU 6 (8 innings)
FHSU used a seventh-inning surge to tie the game and send it to extra innings, but fell short of a comeback as ESU pulled out the victory, 7-6.
FHSU had 11 hits in the contest, as Bianca Adame, Courtey Dobson and Kellsi Olsen were 2-for-4. Rilee Krier finished 2-of-5, and Olsen and Samantha Villareal added doubles. Adame’s triple in the third set up the Tigers’ third run of the day. Dobson led the team with four RBI.
Kelsey Kimminau started the game for FHSU, throwing 5.0 innings and allowing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits. Katlyn Kern (1-1) took the loss after tossing the final two inning, giving up one run on five hits.
Both teams started off strong offensively, scoring two runs a piece in the first inning. ESU took advantage of an FHSU error and a RBI double from Tricia Vogel.
Krier and Adame led off the bottom of the first with singles, and then moved up on Kylie Strand’s ground out, putting runners in scoring position with one out. Dobson’s two-out single up the middle pushed Krier and Adame home, scoring the game.
ESU regained the lead in the second on Kaitlyn Caston’s solo shot, but again FHSU tied it by manufacturing a run in the third. Adame’s triple led off the inning, and with one out, Adame beat the tag at the plate as Danie Brinkmann reached on a fielder’s choice.
In the fourth, Amanda Vaupel reached on a fielder’s choice before coming around to score on Olsen’s RBI double, giving the Tigers their only lead of the day.
That lead was short lived, however, as ESU put together a three-run, four-hit fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead.
Down to the final inning, FHSU took advantage of two hits and two ESU errors in the seventh to tie the game, 6-6. Olsen led off the inning by reaching on an error, moving to second on Krier’s bunt single. After Adame reached on a fielder’s choice that forced Olsen out at third, Brinkmann earned a two-out walk to load the bases. Dobson came through again in the next spot, driving a 1-0 pitch up the middle to plate Krier and Adame. The Tigers would re-load the bases, but couldn’t claim the walk-off victory.
In the eighth, ESU’s Andrea Piezuch doubled to lead off and came around to score with two outs for the game-winning run.
Game 2: ESU 8, FHSU 0 (6 innings)
Despite a scoreless game through three innings, FHSU dropped an 8-0 run rule contest in the doubleheader finale. FHSU managed just three hits in the game, as Rilee Krier, Courtney Dobson and Paxton Duran picked up singles.
Duran (7-4) was tabbed with the loss, throwing 5.0 innings and allowing eight runs (six earned) on nine hits. Duran struck out five, bringing her season total to 51.
Down 1-0 after four complete, FHSU was hurt by a five-run fifth inning for the Lady Hornets, capped by RBI doubles from Taylor Reichard and Jessica Gragg.