FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State closes out the season with a three-game series against Northwest Missouri State. Originally scheduled for Fridaythrough Sunday, the series will now shift to Thursday through Saturday in anticipation of poor weather conditions Sunday. The teams will play one game each day – Thursday at 7 pm, Friday at 5 pm, and Saturday at 1 pm.

The Tigers enter the series at 20-26 overall and 14-21 in the MIAA, while the Bearcats are 24-23 overall and 19-17 in conference.

All three games can be heard on Tiger Radio Mix-103.

PITTSBURG, Kan – Fort Hays State’s series finale at Pittsburg State was cancelled Saturday due to unplayable field conditions at Al Ortolani Field. High winds overnight disrupted the tarp on Al Ortolani Field and left standing water in the infield.

The game will not be rescheduled.

Fort Hays State will return home to close out the regular season with a three-game series against Northwest Missouri State beginning Friday night at Larks Park.

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Fort Hays State built a 9-0 lead then held on in the final ttwo innings to beat Pittsburg State 11-6 Friday at Al Ortolani Field to even their three-game MIAA series at a game each.

D.J. Carr (4-6) retired the first 11 Pitt State batters he faced and held the Gorillas scoreless until the eighth inning. Carr allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits over eight innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Connor Boyer gave up three runs on two hits without recording an out. Jackson Rolfs came in to get the final three outs and end the Gorillas rally.

The Tigers (20-26, 14-21 MIAA) capitalized on 10 walks and two hit batters and scored 11 runs on only seven hits. Connor Ross and Joe Mapes both had two hits. Mapes and Alex Weiss both drove in two runs.

FHSU scored three in the first inning, one in the second and three more in the third. They added two more in the sixth to push the lead to 9-0 and got two more across in the ninth. Pitt State (14-30, 9-26 MIAA) scored three runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

The series wraps up Saturday at noon.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Fort Hays State saw its 2016 season come to an end on Thursday with a pair of losses at the MIAA softball tournament at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex. The Tigers lost 10-0 in five innings to Northwest Missouri State in the first round then fell 1-0 to Central Missouri.

Game Highlights

The Bearcats scored two unearned runs in the first inning then added a pair of three run home runs from Jessica Rawie to blow the game open. FHSU was held to two hits, a Paxton Duran double and Rilee Krier single.

Duran took the loss in the circle with eight earned runs on 10 hits.

Duran bounced back in the second game, holding Central Missouri scoreless for six innings but the Jennies broke through with the games only run on a seeing-eye single up the middle by Ali Jo Rogers to plate a runner from second in the seventh inning. Fort Hays State had a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh, but could not find a way to get a run across to extend the game.

Duran scattered 10 hits and struck out three stranding 10 baserunners, is of them in scoring position. She ends teh season at 15-19 overall and became the second Fort Hays State player to reach 200 strikeouts in a season with 202. Duran threw the second most innings in a single season at FHSU, coming up just 2/3 innings shy of the record held by Kayla Rupa.

Fort Hays State finished the season at 21-30 overall.

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Pittsburg State’s Gage Grant delivered a one-out bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Gorillas to a 3-2 victory over Fort Hays State Thursday in the opening game of a three-game MIAA series.

The Gorillas (14-29, 9-25 MIAA) loaded the bases against FHSU (19-26, 13-21 MIAA) reliever Giles Fox (2-1) thanks to consecutive singles, a fielder’s choice and an intentional walk.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Caleb Cherryholmes homer in the second and Austin Unrein sacrifice fly in the third. Pitt State scored on a sac fly in the bottom of the third then tied the game with a homer in the sixth.

Starter Kyle Vogt allowed two runs on nine hits over six innings with six strikeouts and a walk. Fox allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks over 2 1/3 innings.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State hit five home runs and Logan Herd threw his second complete game of the season in a 14-4 eight inning run-rule win over Nebraska-Kearney Wednesday night at Larks Park. FHSU (19-25, 13-20 MIAA) has won two straight while the Lopers (18-24, 15-18 MIAA) lost their second in a row.

Steve Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

Herd (3-5), who was coming off his worst outing of the season Saturday at Missouri Southern, allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits. The freshman struck out six and walked two.

Connor Ross gave the Tigers the early lead with a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning. Alex King put FHSU up for good with a solo shot to open the bottom of th third. Joe Mapes added a two-run bomb later in the inning to make the score 5-1. Caleb Cherryholmes opposite field three-run shot to right in the fifth made it 8-3. Mapes added a three-run blast in the sixth.

King went 4-for-5 wiht two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Tigers 17-hit attack. Ross and Nick Hammeke both had three hits and Mapes drove in five.

HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State softball team closed out their regular season with a pair of non-conference home wins over Nebraska-Kearney on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers (21-28) won the first game 2-1 then rolled to a 10-0 five inning run-rule victory in the second contest.

Paxton Duran’s sixth inning double broke a 1-1 tie and gave FHSU the lead in the first game. The Lopers moved the tying run in scoring position after a walk and a stolen base but Duran was able to get a strikeout to end the game.

Duran (15-17) picked up her third 15-win season by throwing her 25th complete game of the season. She allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

In the second game, Fort Hays State scored six runs in the third to build a 7-0 lead then added three more runs in the fourth. Claudia Vazquez drove in four runs and Kylie Strand added three RBIs.

Carrie Clarke picked up the win in her first complete game shutout of the year. She allowed five hits while walking four and striking out one over five innings.

Next up for the Tigers is the MIAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. FHSU will be the No. 7 seed and play No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State in the opening round on Thursday at 5 pm. The tournament is being held at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium complex.

JOPLIN, Mo. – Fort Hays State rallied for four runs in the eighth inning and one in the ninth and beat Missouri Southern  6-5 Sunday afternoon to end a season-high eight-game losing streak and salvage the final game of their three-game series at Warren Turner Field. The Tigers (18-25, 12-20 MIAA) sit 4 1/2 games out of eighth place in the MIAA standings with seven games to play as they try to make a push to get into the MIAA Tournament.

After two singles and a walk to start the eighth, Austin Unrein tied the game with his third career grand slam. Alex King doubled to open the ninth and scored on Nick Hammeke’s two-out single to give the Tigers the lead. Giles Fox came in with the tying run at third and got a fly out to end the game and pick up his fifth save.

Jackson Rolfs (4-1) pitched three scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts and no walks for the win. Starter D.J. Carr allowed all five runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Connor Ross and Alex Weiss both had two of the Tigers 11 hits.

The Tigers return home Wednesday night to close out their three-game mid-week series with Nebraska-Kearney.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –Fort Hays State will be the No. 7 seed for the MIAA Softball Tournament and open with No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State in the opening round. The Tigers tied for sixth with Central Missouri in the final standings but the Jennies owned the tiebreaker and get the higher seed.

The MIAA Tournament has a new home this year, the famed ASA Hall of Fame Stadium complex in Oklahoma City. The tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday (April 28-30). Hall of Fame Stadium is home of the NCAA Division I Softball World Series. The stadium field has three other fields next to it, so all four fields will have opening round games on Thursday starting at 5 pm.

Missouri Western went 23-3 in the league and won the MIAA regular season title and shored up the top seed. The Griffons will face eighth seeded Southwest Baptist in the opening round.

Third seeded Central Oklahoma will open their tournament against sixth seeded Central Missouri. In the final first round match-up it is fourth seeded Pittsburg State taking on fifth seeded Northeastern State.

Complete schedule below…

Thursday, April 28, 2016
Game 1: #1 Missouri Western vs. #8 Southwest Baptist (Stadium)      5 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Pittsburg State vs. #5 Northeastern State (Field 2)             5 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Central Oklahoma vs. #6 Central Missouri (Field 3)           5 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Northwest Missouri vs. #7 Fort Hays State (Field 4)           5 p.m.
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Field 2)                                   7:30 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Field 3)                                   7:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Field 4)                            7:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Stadium)                         7:30 p.m.

Friday, April 29, 2016 
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 (Field 2)                               11 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 (Stadium)                          11 a.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 (Field 4)                       1:30 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (Stadium)                      4 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12 (Field 4)                        6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 30, 2016
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13 (Stadium)                  11 a.m.
Game 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 (Stadium)                     1:30 p.m. (If neccessary)

KEARNEY, Neb. – The Fort Hays State softball team secured a spot in next week’s MIAA tournament with a doubleheader sweep at Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. The Tigers (19-28, 13-13 MIAA), who needed one win to lock down a bid, won the first game 4-2 then took the second contest 7-6 in eight innings.

Fort Hays State scored all of their runs in the first two innings in game one. Tori Beltz, who set a new FHSU career record for walks with her 80th in the first inning, hit a bases-loaded double to push the lead to 4-0 in the second. Paxton Duran scattered eight hits with five strikeouts in the complete game win. The Lopers only runs came on a couple of solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings.

The Tigers erased a 5-0 deficit in the second game with a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. UNK scored a run in the seventh to force extra innings, but the Tiger offense stayed hot and scored the decisive run in the eighth.

In the eighth, Rilee Krier reached by error and a Claudia Vazquez bunt single put runners at the corners with one out. Beltz hit a ball deep to left center field for a sacrifice fly RBI to score Krier from third and put the Tigers back in front.

Paxton Duran, who was one strike away from picking up the save in the seventh before giving up a game-tying single, shut the door on the Lopers in the bottom half of the inning, retiring the side in order to give FHSU the win.

Fort Hays State will play a non-conference doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday in Hays to close out the regular season. It will be Senior Day at Tiger Stadium with games starting at 2 pm. It will be the final home games for seniors Paxton Duran, Tori Beltz, Courtney Dobson, Rilee Krier and Erin Elmore.