FHSU Athletics

GOLDEN, Colo. – Fort Hays State fell to Colorado Mines by run-rule, 16-1, on Sunday, and had to settle for a split in the four-game series with the Orediggers. They will enter MIAA play next weekend at 6-5 overall.

Fort Hays State trailed 6-0 after two innings before getting its only run of the game in the third. Caleb Cherryholmes singled through the left side to score Nick Hammeke. Cherryholmes was the only Tiger with a multiple-hit game with two.

The Orediggers tagged FHSU starter Jackson Rolfs for six runs (five earned) over the first two innings. Rolfs moved to 2-1 on the season. Casey Sedbrook lasted an inning, allowing two runs, and Logan Herd went 2.2 innings allowing eight runs (five earned). Will Amen got the final out against the Orediggers in the sixth. FHSU pitchers surrendered 17 hits and four walks, but did not strike out any batters.

Colorado Mines pitcher A.J. Valerio threw 6.0 strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk. He struck out two. Martin Clark pitched the final inning and also struck out two.

Fort Hays State enters conference play with a three-game series against Central Missouri at home next weekend. The teams will play one game each day, starting Friday.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Craig Nicholson scored 22 points, dished out six assists and had three steals with no turnovers to lead Fort Hays State to a 79-65 win over Lincoln in front of 4,125 Saturday at Gross Coliseum. The senior hit all three of his 3-point attempts including one with 3:37 to play to push the Tigers (18-8, 12-8 MIAA) lead to eight. Rob Davis and Kenny Enoch would also hit 3-pointers down the stretch as the Tigers win their 10th straight at home.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

 

Craig Nicholson Postgame Interview

 

Game Highlights

Fort Hays State missed their first five shots and turned the ball over six times in the first five minutes and fell behind by 11. They put together an 11-0 run to go up eight with 4:14 to play in the first half and led by four at halftime. Lincoln (13-13, 9-11 MIAA) got as close as two in the second half but the Tigers responded with a 6-0 run and never let them closer than four the rest of the way.

The Tigers shot 59-percent in the second half and went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc after halftime and 9-of-15 for the game.

Jake Stoppel scored 16, Davis added 13 (all in the second half) and Enoch chipped in with 11.

Anthony Virdure led the Blue Tigers with 20 points after scoring 14 in the first half.

 

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Chelsea Mason scored 18 points and Beth Bohuslavsky added 15. The seniors were two of the four Tigers to reach double-figures in a 91-63 rout of Lincoln in front of 4,050 on Senior Day at Gross Coliseum. Jill Faxon added 15 points and Nicola Kacperska 14 as the Tigers (23-3, 17-3 MIAA) put the wraps on their second straight unbeaten regular season at home.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

 

 

Game Highlights

 

 

The Tigers scored the game’s first four points and never trailed, leading by as many as 14 in the first half. Lincoln (8-18, 4-16 MIAA) closed the gap to seven late in the second quarter and were within nine early in the third before a 13-1 run by the Tigers put the game away.

FHSU shot 44-percent from the floor including 5-of-19 from 3-point range and hit 26-of-37 free throws. They outrebounded the Blue Tigers by 11 and scored 22 points off 16 turnovers.

Freshman Tatyana Legette had four of FHSU’s nine blocked shots.

FHSU Athletics

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Fort Hays State split a pair of games to round out the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn., on Saturday. The Tigers had just one hit in a 7-1 loss against Minnesota State-Mankato, but responded with a 3-2 victory over the home team St. Cloud State in game two.

Minnesota State-Mankato 7, Fort Hays State 1
Coley Ries had the Tigers’ number as she sat down all but one of the 19 FHSU batters she faced in 6.0 innings and retired 12 straight to start the game. Fort Hays State’s lone hit came off the bat of Samantha Vallarreal, when she hit her first homerun of the season to lead off the fifth inning.

Carrie Clarke  took the loss for the Tigers throwing all seven innings, giving up seven runs (six earned), with two K’s and two walks.

With the win Ries record on the season now sits at 3-3, and the Mavericks move to 4-4.

Fort Hays State 3, St. Cloud State 2
Game two was a pitcher’s duel throughout with the only run over the first four innings coming in the form of a home run from St. Cloud State’s Morgan Emmans in the bottom of the second.

The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Huskies, until the Tiger bats came alive in the top of the fifth. Kiley Strand broke up a no-hit bid by doubling down the left field line, then Chermayne Yago ended the shutout with an RBI triple to right center. She later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Paxton Duran to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Fort Hays State got a much needed insurance run in the top half of the sixth. Claudia Vazquez roped a one-out double and scored on a Samantha Villarreal RBI base hit putting the Tigers up 3-1.

The Huskies cut the Tiger lead back to one run in the bottom of the sixth when Jaiden Lund hit a one out triple and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Alyssa Coletto. But Duran  held off SCSU in the seventh as she sat down the side in order to record her second win of the year. Duran went the distance for the Tigers throwing all seven innings, giving up two earned runs, with 11 strikeouts, and one walk.

The Tigers are now 3-6 on the year and look to improve on it Monday when they take on Newman at 3 pm for their home opener in Hays, Kan.

FHSU Athletics

GOLDEN, Colo. – Fort Hays State split a pair of games in Golden, Colo., on Saturday (Feb. 20) against Colorado Mines. The Tigers won game one 13-8 before dropping the nightcap 10-6.

Fort Hays State 13, Colorado Mines 8
Fort Hays State had to come from behind twice to take the first game of the doubleheader. The Tigers fell behind 2-0 early in game one but responded with a run of their own in the third. Austin Unrein sent a ball into the left center gap and scored Caleb Cherryholmes with the RBI double.

The one run deficit did not last long as the Orediggers scored pushed their lead back to two with a run in the bottom of the third.

The Tigers responded with a four run fourth to take their first lead at 5-3. Connor Ross singled to start the inning, then Alex Weiss walked. An infield single in the following at bat by Trevor Hughes loaded the bases for Alex King, who hit a ground ball that scored Ross. A balk tied the game as Weiss trotted home. King stole third and forced a throwing error by the Oredigger catcher then scored giving the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game. With two outs the Tigers hit three consecutive singles as Unrein plated the fourth run of the inning.

Once again the Orediggers responded to the spurt of Tiger offense and came back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead back at 7-5.

Colorado Mines added another run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 8-5, but the Tigers put up a monster inning in their final at bat, grabbing the lead back for good. Three straight singles to start the inning from Unrein, Joe Mapes, and Ross started the scoring. Weiss then followed with an RBI double and once again it was a tie ball game. With one out, King was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Nick Hammeke then delivered an RBI single to tie the game and Ty Redington executed a squeeze and was safe on the play for an RBI single. After Cherryholmes was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, Unrein found another gap for his second double of the game that plated two more. Toss in an Orediggers error that scored a run and the Tigers had themselves an eight-run, seven-hit inning to take the lead 13-8.

Giles Fox shut the door in the bottom of the seventh, working around a pair of hits. He preserved the win for Casey Sedbrook, who allowed just one run in 2.1 innings of relief. Kyle Vogt started the game and went 3.2 innings giving up seven earned runs on six hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Colorado Mines 10, Fort Hays State 6
In game two, the Orediggers put a steady dose of twos on the board, scoring two runs in all but one inning. A Connor Ross home run in the top of the second cut the Colorado Mines lead to just one, but that was as close as the game would be as CSM steadily pulled away.

The Tigers got another run in the third when Nick Hammeke walked and moved around the bases to eventually score on a wild pitch, making it 4-2 in favor of CSM.

The Tiger bats sprung to life in the top half of the fifth, scoring four runs, but still left trailed 8-6. Redington singled then Austin Unrein brought two in with his second home run of the season two batters later. Mapes followed with a single to center. Two consecutive errors by the Orediggers followed by a hit batter allowed Mapes to score, and Jace Bowman plated another with an RBI fielder’s choice.

That was all the Tigers got the rest of the game and the Orediggers added two more in the sixth to make the final 10-6.

Justin Hersch took the loss for the Tigers as he went 5.0 innings suffering eight runs (five earned), on 13 hits with three strikeouts and no walks.

Now at 6-4 overall, the Tigers take on the Orediggers in the final game of the four-game series on Sunday (Feb. 21) at 12 pm MT/1 pm CT before heading home for their first taste of MIAA action of the season.

FHSU Athletics

GOLDEN, Colo. – Fort Hays State took the first game of a four-game series at Colorado Mines on Friday (Feb. 19) behind a complete game effort from pitcher D.J. Carr. FHSU won 10-3, moving to 5-3 overall on the season.

Carr became the first Tiger to throw a complete game since March 21, 2013, when Tayler Davis accomplished the feat in a win over Pittsburg State. Carr threw 112 pitches and struck out seven, while scattering nine hits with no walks.

FHSU had a great start to the game, plating four runs in the first. After loading the bases, Joe Mapes grounded into a double play that got the first run across. Connor Ross then singled home a run and Alex Weiss hit a two-run home run.

That was enough for Carr, who allowed just three runs over the nine innings. He allowed one run in the fourth and two in the fifth, but FHSU never trailed. He moved to 1-1 on the year with the win.

With a two-RBI single in the sixth, FHSU tacked on two more runs to make it 6-3. Caleb Cherryholmes had a solo home run in the eighth and Nick Hammeke and Mapes each drove in runs in the ninth as the lead swelled to 10-3. Carr finished strong, allowing just two baserunners over the final three innings.

Ross had a four-hit afternoon, nearly perfect going 4-for-5 at the dish with the three RBI. Cherryholmes, Weiss, and Alex King all had three hits in the game, helping the Tigers pound out 19 as a team.

Christian Rooney took the loss on the mound for the Orediggers who went just 3.1 innings with four runs allowed.

The Tigers and Orediggers play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 pm MT/1 pm CT.

FHSU Athletics

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Fort Hays State bounced back on Friday (Feb. 19) with a big victory over No. 20 ranked Augustana (S.D.) by a score of 5-1. The Tigers dropped three straight games heading into the contest, but look to use the win as a springboard to success after a slow start to the season.

Carrie Clarke earned her first win in the pitching circle as a Tiger and now sits 1-2 overall on the season. Clarke went the distance allowing just one run on eight hits, two walks, while striking out four.

Despite not scoring until the fourth inning, the Tigers applied pressure early, as they had at least one runner reach base safely in every inning up to that point. FHSU had at least one runner reach in six of the seven innings in the game. Clarke also did her part out of the gate, sitting down the first seven Vikings to come to the plate.

The scoring started in the fourth inning when Kylie Strand led the Inning off with a double and advanced to third on a bunt base hit from Paxton Duran. After a fly out, Rilee Krier singled in Strand and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead. Claudia Vasquez roped a base hit up the middle that scored Krier and Madeline LaPolla delivered a two-out, two-RBI single up the middle extending the Fort Hays State lead to 4-0.

Augustana put two runners on in the fourth and the fifth, but Clarke and the Tiger defense were able to thwart the threat.

The majority of the game was quiet until the final inning when, for the third time in two games, Tori Beltz connected with a pitch and sent it over the fence giving the Tigers an insurance run and a 5-0 lead.

Augustana would not go down without a fight as the very first batter of the seventh inning, Kaylea Schorr, put the Vikings on the board with her first homerun of the year. Clarke was able to get the next two batters via ground out and line out, but Augustana loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk. But Clarke got 2015 First Team All-American Sarah Kennedy to ground out ending the game.

With the victory, Fort Hays State moved to 2-5 on the season and Augustana dropped to 7-6.

The Tigers look to build off the victory as they play their final two games at the Kelly Lass Memorial Tournament on Saturday. The first game will take place at 7 am when they take on Minnesota State-Mankato and the second will be a 9:30 am game against the host team St. Cloud State.

FHSU Athletics

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Fort Hays State softball dropped a pair of games to open the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn., on Thursday. The Tigers dropped the first game of the day in eight innings to Southwest Minnesota State 2-1, and then fell 11-8 to Concordia-St. Paul in the nightcap. FHSU now sits at 1-5 overall.

Southwest Minnesota State 2, Fort Hays State 1 (8 inn.)
The Tigers got off to a great start in the first game of the day as leadoff hitter Claudio Vazquez roped a triple and scored on a Samantha Villarreal single two batters later. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring the Tigers would get in the game despite several chances for more.

The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Tigers until the fourth inning. A base hit by Janae Annetts was just out of the reach of the Tiger third baseman Kylie Strand and it scored a runner from second to tie the game.

The next three innings landed a few runners on base for each team, but neither found a way to score until the eighth inning.  With two outs in the inning, FHSU committed a costly error by dropping a fly ball allowing a run to score from first.

The Tigers got a leadoff walk from Tori Beltz but the following batter, Samantha Villarreal, grounded into a double play. Kiley Strand then ripped a double, and Courtney Dobson followed here with an infield single and the Tigers had a chance to tie or win with runners on the corners. Unfortunately, Duran grounded out to third to end the game, also taking the tough-luck loss in the circle by allowing only one earned run in the game. She struck out eight.

Concordia-St. Paul 11, Fort Hays State 8
The second game started off shaky as FHSU gave up five runs in the first inning. Starting Pitcher Carrie Clark was chased from the game after recording just two outs. Paxton Duran came in and went the rest of the way in relief.

The Tigers responded quickly in the following inning when they were able to push four runs across the plate. Villarreal singled, Strand walked, Yago reached on a fielder’s choice and Dobson singled in Strand from second for the first run of the game. The next batter Rilee Krier singled in another run and tried to advance into scoring position but was caught stealing.  Duran then helped her own cause as she sent a two-run homer over the fence and the Tigers trailed just 5-4 going to the bottom of the second.

The Tigers made it a new game in the top of the third, when Tori Beltz got her first homerun of the season and the two teams headed to the bottom half tied 5-5. The tie wouldn’t last long though as the Golden Bears were able to plate two their next at bat.

The Tigers tied it up once again 7-7 in the fifth after Beltz walked and scored on a Strand double. Villarreal also walked and scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Dobson.

The Golden Bears responded once again with two runs in the fifth and sixth each, taking an 11-7 lead to the final inning.

The last chance for the Tigers fell short as Beltz led off with her second home run of the game but the next three batters went down in order.

The Tigers play one game on Friday (Feb. 19) at noon as they take on No. 20 ranked Augustana (S.D.).

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State used runs of 11-0 and 10-0 in the first half to build a double-figure lead and handed  Lindenwood their 14th-straight loss, 84-66 in front of 2,675 at Gross Coliseum. The Tigers (22-3, 16-3 MIAA) held the Lions (7-18, 3-16 MIAA) to 1-of-13 shooting in the second quarter and outscored them 29-4 off turnovers.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

 

Game Highlights

The Tigers led by 13 at the half and by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter to stay alone in second place in the MIAA.

Chelsea Mason led a balanced Fort Hays State attack with 14 points. Jill Faxon added 14, Taylor Chandler and Beth Bohuslavsky each added 11 and freshman Carly Heim 10.

Bri Wilber scored 16 to lead Lindenwood.

The Tigers shot 34-percent and were 7-for-19 from beyond the arc and 33-of-47 from the free throw line.

FHSU Athletics

GOODWELL, Okla. – Fort Hays State baseball improved to 4-3 on the young season with a 10-4 victory at Oklahoma-Panhandle State. The Aggies dropped to 1-8 overall.

Starting pitcher Logan Herd allowed just one base runner in 4.0 innings of work. Herd retired the first eleven Aggie batters until Joseph Cerda came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the 4^th. Cerda recorded a base hit to center, but Herd wasn’t rattled and was able to get the next batter to ground out. Herd picked up the win by coach pre-determination of pitchers used for the game.

Success from the top half of the order was key to the Tigers victory. Batters 1 through 5 in the order scored all but one run for the Tigers and combined to get on base 14 times.

Ty Redington led the game off getting hit by a pitch. Caleb Cherryholmes followed up with a single then two outs later Connor Ross delivered a two-out, two-RBI single putting the Tigers up 2-0 in the first.

After being held scoreless for the next three innings, the Tigers were able to rally in the fifth to push two more runs across. With two outs, Ross drew a walk and Alex Weiss followed that up with a single. Alex King was hit by a pitch in the following at bat that loaded that bases. Trevor Hughes then delivered the two out, two RBI single extending the lead to 4-0. Austin Unrein added an insurance run with an RBI double in the sixth that scored Redington who reached after a dropped third strike.

In the seventh inning, Tiger pitching struggled to find the strike zone. Juan Rubayo led off the inning for the Aggies with a single, and ended up in scoring position after Austin Beckner was hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch, which advanced the runners to second and third, Derek Stallworth delivered a base hit RBI getting the Aggies on the board for the first time.

With runners on the corners, Connor Boyer took to the mound for Fort Hays State. The Aggies executed a squeeze play that worked to perfection and cut the lead to 5-2 with one out. It took four pitchers to get out the Tigers out of inning leading 5-4 as the next five Aggies reached base via walks. Giles Fox stopped the bleeding as he came in to face the tenth batter of the inning got a ground ball force out at second. Fox would go on to pitch a scoreless eighth and ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
The comeback threat was short-lived as the Tigers scored five runs in the eighth. A one-out walk to Redington started the rally for the Tigers as the next five batters were able to score. Unrein delivered his second double of the game plating two. MIAA/Astroturf Hitter of the Week Joe Mapes blasted his fourth homer of the year giving the Tigers two more runs pushing the lead to 9-4 in favor of the Tigers. Weiss added another run with an RBI single.

Next up for the Tigers is a four-game road series as they head to Golden, Colo. to take on Colorado Mines. The first game is scheduled for Friday (Feb. 19) at 3 pm.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State finds itself in good position for a potential berth to the NCAA Tournament with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the first set of Central Region Rankings released by the NCAA on Wednesday.

With the top three teams in the region separating from the rest of the pack, Fort Hays State leads a cluster of seven schools ranked No. 4 through No. 10 in the region rankings that are battling for the final five spots in the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are 13-8 against NCAA Division II competition (16-8 overall), but went through the non-conference season undefeated with key in-region wins. Once again, games played at the very start of the season could be critical in the formula for FHSU making the NCAA Tournament.

The MIAA has six schools in the top 10 of the region rankings, showing the strength of the conference as a whole. Northwest Missouri State is No. 3, Lindenwood is No. 6, Nebraska-Kearney is No. 7, Pittsburg State is No. 9, and Missouri Southern is No. 10. Seeing the big cluster of teams from the MIAA in the rankings means conference games in the final two weeks are going to be critical to which teams get in the NCAA Tournament field.

The top two squads from the NSIC, Augustana and Minnesota State-Moorhead, along with Northwest Missouri State of the MIAA, have separated from the pack sitting comfortably in the top three positions. The Great American Conference has only one team in the region rankings, East Central, which sits at No. 8 in the rankings. With the parity in the MIAA, NSIC, and GAC this year, the rest of the teams in the rankings will be uncomfortable heading into conference tournaments. Winners of conference tournaments get an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional regardless their records or where they rank regionally, essentially with the ability to steal bids from teams on the bubble. Eight teams make the NCAA Tournament.

Below are the NCAA Central Region Rankings for February 17, 2016.

Rank	School	Overall DII Record	In-Region Record
1	Augustana (SD)	20-2	20-2
2	MSU Moorhead	21-4	19-3
3	Northwest Mo. St.	17-5	17-5
4	Fort Hays State	13-8	13-8
5	Minn. St. Mankato	14-8	14-8
6	Lindenwood (MO)	15-9	15-9
7	Neb.-Kearney	14-9	14-9
8	East Central	16-6	16-6
9	Pittsburg St.	14-11	14-11
10	Mo. Southern St.	14-11	14-11

 

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State Women’s Basketball is ranked No. 3 in the first set of NCAA Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday. The top three teams in the region are from the MIAA as the picture for NCAA Tournament selections starts to take shape.

Fort Hays State, the host of the NCAA Central Region last year as the top ranked team in the region, finds itself in good position once again entering the final two weeks of the regular season schedule. The Tigers are third behind Missouri Western and Pittsburg State. Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State are dead even with the Griffons in amount of wins against in-region and Division II competition this year. PSU is 20-4 and FHSU is 20-3, while MWSU is 20-2.

Though FHSU has one less loss than Pittsburg State, the Gorillas have a win over the top ranked team in the region. FHSU lost its only meeting with MWSU this year, while PSU met MWSU twice in the regular season and split the series 1-1. FHSU and PSU do not have a head-to-head advantage against each other as the schools split their regular season games.

With Winona State at 21-2 against NCAA Division II opponents and 18-2 against in-region opponents, the rankings show the strength of the MIAA schedule compared to the NSIC and GAC. Arkansas Tech was 19-2 against Division II competition at the time this poll released, but its loss on Monday was not factored into this set of rankings.

Emporia State is the fourth team from the MIAA inside the top eight of the region rankings at No. 6. A cluster of teams from the NSIC round out the remainder of the list.

Below are the NCAA Central Region rankings for February 17, 2016.

Rank	School	Overall DII Record	In-Region Record
1	Missouri Western	20-2	20-2
2	Pittsburg State	20-4	20-4
3	Fort Hays State	20-3	20-3
4	Winona State	21-2	18-2
5	Arkansas Tech	19-2	18-2
6	Emporia State	18-5	16-5
7	MSU Moorhead	17-5	16-5
8	Sioux Falls	19-5	17-5
9	Northern State	19-6	19-6
10	Augustana	17-6	17-6