HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State baseball team fell to Lindenwood after a late Lion rally Saturday evening (April 8) inside Larks Park, 8-4. The Tigers entered the sixth inning with a 4-2 lead, but the visitors plated six unanswered runs to seal the victory.
Fort Hays State falls to 9-24 this season and 2-18 in MIAA play, while the Lions are now 21-14 overall and 14-9 in the league.
Lindenwood took advantage of a leadoff double to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Tigers had an answer in the home half of the third. After Jace Bowman worked a walk to lead things off, Jake Lanferman crushed a home run over the fence in left field to give FHSU the 2-1 lead.
The Tigers extended that margin to 4-1 in the following inning when they rattled off five singles. Trevor Hughes led off with a single before a single through the gap at short from Dayton Pomeroy put two runners on. Bryce Witchurch followed with a single into right, driving in one run. Jared Bogosian kept things rolling with another seeing-eye single into left, scoring Pomeroy. Ty Redington singled to load the bases with two outs, but the Lions got out of the jam after a nice play by the third baseman.
The visitors snatched the lead back in the top of the sixth when they pushed four runs across, also adding single runs in the seventh and eighth. The Lions were able to hold on thanks to five innings of strong relief from Brendan Feldmann, who allowed just two hits while striking out seven batters.
Sam Capps (2-3) took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings of work, striking out three. Austin Weiser threw the final two innings for the Tigers, giving up just one hit and not allowing a run. Four Tigers picked up multiple hits in the contest, including Redington, Hughes, Pomeroy and Bogosian. Lanferman was the only FHSU player to drive in multiple runs, knocking in two on his fourth home run of the season.
The Tigers will look to salvage game three of the series Sunday (April 9) when the teams face off at noon.
FHSU Sports Information