ALVA, Okla. – A ninth inning home run from Alex Weiss was not quite enough for the Fort Hays State baseball team as Northwestern Oklahoma State walked off with a 7-6 victory in the 13th inning Thursday afternoon (Feb. 7). The Tigers dip to 3-1 on the year after their first loss, while the Rangers remain perfect at 4-0.
The Rangers jumped in front early with a two-run home run in their second at bat, later adding another run to lead 3-0 after one inning of play.
Walks to Bryce Whitchurch and Ryan Grasser bookended a double off the bat of Jordan Wilkerson in the second inning, loading the bases with only one out. Marcus Altman came through with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Whitchurch.
After both sides stranded runners in the third, the Tigers came through with timely hits in the fourth inning, plating four runs. Wilkerson reached on an error to lead things off, and Ryan Grasser made the Rangers pay for the mistake right away. The second baseman crushed a home run to left center in the next at bat, tying the score at three.
After Dawson Sramek reached on another error later in the inning, Jason Nicholson followed with an RBI double to center to give the Tigers their first lead of the day. Clayton Basgall and Weiss followed with opposite-field singles, allowing Nicholson to come around and score on Weiss’ base knock to stretch the advantage to 5-3.
The Rangers answered right back, closing within one with a run in the bottom half of the fourth before jumping in front, 6-5, thanks to a pair of runs in the fifth.
Both sides cooled off down the stretch, combining for just five hits from the sixth through ninth innings. Thankfully for the Tigers, one of those hits was all they needed to tie things up. Down to their final two outs, Weiss stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth looking to give his team a chance. The senior did that and more, depositing the ball over the fence in left center to tie the game at six.
Cody Rottinghaus came out of the pen to try to send the game to extra innings, working around a walk in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers life.
Fort Hays State could not get anything going in extra innings, collecting just one hit in the extra frames. The Tigers had runners on the corners in the 13th, but NWOSU got out of the jam with a flyout to right.
The Rangers, on the other hand, had runners in scoring position in all four extra frames. Sam Capps came out of the bullpen in the 10th inning to get out of the first jam with a strikeout and a groundout. After a pair of Tiger errors and a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs in the 11th, NWOSU seemed destined to end the game. Capps buckled down and got the next three batters to lift harmless pop ups, once again giving FHSU another shot.
The Rangers finally broke through in the 13th after a leadoff double off the wall was followed by a single through the left side.
Weiss led the team with three hits, driving in two runs and scoring another. Nicholson and Basgall each collected a pair of hits.
Alex Ruxlow (1.1 IP, 2 hits), Jake Vieira (2 IP, 1 hit) and Rottinghaus (1.1 IP, 0 hits) combined to silence the Ranger offense, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings. Capps (0-1) took the loss despite working out of multiple jams, firing 2.2 innings while allowing three hits.
The Tigers will return to Hays to host Newman in their home opener on Thursday (Feb. 8). First tip is set for 3 p.m. from Larks Park.