LAS VEGAS, N.M. – New Mexico Highlands may have dominated the first and last innings in Sunday’s series finale, but the Fort Hays State baseball team did just enough in the middle frames to secure the series victory, winning 6-5. The Tigers will now take a 7-3 record into conference play next weekend, while the Cowboys dip to 3-7 overall.
After allowing double-digit hits in each of the first two games in the series, Ben Ramberg and Sam Capps combined to limit the Cowboys to just five base knocks on Sunday. The Tigers had chances on offense all afternoon, with at least one runner reaching base in all nine innings.
The Cowboys took advantage of two Tiger errors in the bottom of the first inning, pushing across three runs on just one hit.
Fort Hays State answered right away, scoring three runs of its own in the top of the second. Ryan Grasser opened the inning with a double to left before a pitch hit Jordan Wilkerson. Bryce Whitchurch knocked a single to left two batters later, driving in the first run of the inning. Dawson Sramek followed with an RBI sacrifice bunt to score Wilkerson before Addison Kaasch tied things up with a base hit to center, scoring Whitchurch.
The Tigers took the lead in the top of the fifth when Weiss and Dayton Pomeroy were both walked to open the frame. Weiss came in to score when Grasser punched a single through the right side, putting FHSU in front for the first time all afternoon. Pomeroy sprinted home later in the inning when a pitch slipped past the catcher.
Fort Hays State tallied what proved to be an incredibly important insurance run in the top of the sixth when Sramek singled to lead things off. After he moved to second on a groundout, Clayton Basgall drove in the freshman catcher with a single to center, temporarily padding the lead to 6-3. New Mexico Highlands got the run right back in the bottom of the frame, narrowing the gap back to two.
New Mexico Highlands put up a valiant effort in the bottom of the ninth, but left the tying run 90 feet away. A leadoff single quickly came around to score before Sam Capps came out of the pen to finish things up. The Tigers made a great defensive play with runners at second and third, with Weiss coming home on a ground ball to retire the would-be game-tying baserunner. A walk loaded the bases with two outs before Capps got a flyout to left to end the game.
Ben Ramberg (2-0) had a solid outing, bouncing back from the three early runs to turn in eight innings of work. The righty earned his second win of the season after allowing just five runs on five hits while striking out four. He faced the minimum in four innings, setting the Cowboys down in order three times while getting a double play to retire the lone runner in the second. Capps picked up his second save after he did not allow a hit in his inning of relief, allowing just two runners to reach base via the walk.
Grasser turned in three hits on the afternoon, scoring one run and driving in another. Four other Tigers collected a pair of hits in the victory, giving the Tigers 13 hits on the day.
Fort Hays State will be back in action next week with the opening of conference play. The Tigers will hit the road to take on Pittsburg State beginning Friday (Feb. 23) at 2 p.m.