KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State junior Candace Bollig earned MIAA Hitter of the Week honors on Tuesday (Apr. 25) for her efforts in the final week of the season. Bollig helped the Tigers go 4-2 in the final week, delivering two walk-off wins at the plate.

Bollig had a .529 batting average and 1.059 slugging percentage for the week. Her biggest performance helped FHSU earn a split in the conference doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney in Hays as she hit a pair of two-run home runs in a 5-4 win. The latter of the two was a walk-off homer with FHSU trailing 4-3, down to its last strike in the seventh. Against Newman, she had a walk-off RBI double in the seventh to lift FHSU to a 4-3 win. Bollig finished the week with six RBI, five runs scored, and nine hits which included a double, triple, and two home runs.

For the week, she reached base in six of seven plate appearances against Newman, going 5-for-6 at the plate in that doubleheader. She was 3-for-6 at the plate in the conference doubleheader with UNK. She was 1-for-3 at the plate in the non-conference doubleheader with UNK, drawing five walks.

Bollig joined Claire Miller of Southwest Baptist for the weekly MIAA Player of the Week awards. Miller was tabbed the MIAA Pitcher of the Week.

HAYS, Kan. – Missouri Southern scored seven runs with two outs in the sixth inning and rallied past Fort Hays State 9-4 Monday afternoon and sweeps the three-game series at Larks Park. The Tigers have lost 11 straight and fall to 9-33 overall and 2-27 in the MIAA. The Lions improved to 24-22 overall and 16-16 in the conference.

Steve Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers grabbed their first lead of the series in the second inning. Clayton Basgall doubled down the left field line and scored on Dayton Pomeroy’s single. Two batters later, Bryce Witchurch doubled to left center scoring Pomeroy.

Ben Ramberg held the Lions scoreless through 5 2/3 innings before leaving with a runner at first and two outs. MSSU then strung together four straight hits off freshman reliever Ryan Ruder to go up 3-2. Easton Palmer walked consecutive batters to force in another run then gave up a bases-loaded double to push the lead to 7-2.

Clayton Basgall recorded the final out of the sixth and threw 3 innings, allowing a pair of solo home runs in the eighth which stretched the Lions lead to 9-2.

The Tigers, who were held to one hit in the third through seventh innings, threatened in the eighth. Clayton Basgall was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run, but a double-play ended the inning. They added their final run on a groundout from Ty Redington in the ninth.

Ruder (2-2) takes the loss, allowing four runs on four hits without recording an out.

Seth Mesey (3-3) picked up the win for the Lions going 7 1/3 innings allowing all three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

The Tigers return to action on Wednesday when the head north to take on Nebraska-Kearney for the third and final time this season. The first pitch is set for 6 pm. Auto World Pregame Show is at 5:40 pm on KJLS.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Fort Hays State women’s golf team sits in eighth after round one of the 2017 MIAA Championship, played at Swope Memorial Golf Course Monday afternoon (April 24). The Tigers posted a team score of 357, six shots back of sixth place. The teams played the par-72 course at 5,893 yards.

With the help of a 39 on her first nine, Hannah Perkins led the team with an 11-over 83. The sophomore is in 11th place, six shots back of the leaders. Her 3-over was the fourth-best score on the back nine.

Taylor DeBoer and Hannah Karasiuk both signed for a 91, good for a 34th. Kelsey McCarthy is one shot back after carding a 92, with Madison Roether rounding out the scoring with a 95.

Northeastern State leads the way after posting a 321, nine shots in front of Central Oklahoma (330). The scoring average in round one was 89.6.

The Tigers will begin play in round two starting at 9:20 Tuesday morning (April 24), going off hole No. 1.

FHSU Sports Information

SPRING HILL, Kan. – The Fort Hays State men’s golf team is tied for 10th after a blustery first round of the 2017 MIAA Championship Monday (April 24), held at Sycamore Ridge Golf Club on the south end of the Kansas City metro area. The Tigers posted a 36-over 324 through the first 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament.

“We were in great shape early on, but we just made too many mistakes coming in,” said head coach Seth Kincaid. “All in all it wasn’t our best day. We left a lot of shots out there.”

The Tigers were 5-over as a team through the first six holes, but finished the afternoon 31-over through the final two-thirds of the round.

Colton Bobek led the team with a 6-over 78, good for 22nd in the 55-man field. The freshman took advantage of the five par 3s on the course, finishing at even par with two birdies.

Skyler Tebo sits in 35th after an 8-over 80. The Ellis, Kan. native had 11 pars on the afternoon, 13th-most in the field. Jake Weller shot identical nines of 41 to finish with a 10-over 82, tying for 39th.

Cash Hobson recorded two birdies en route to an 84. After starting 3-over through his first 10 holes, Isaiah Grover struggled to an 86, good for 53rd.

“The wind wasn’t anything worse than what we practice in back home,” said Kincaid. “The course played very fair today, and we weren’t able to take advantage.”

Washburn leads the field after 18 holes with an 11-over 299, with Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma both three shots back at 14-over 302. The Tigers are tied with Lincoln, nine shots back of 9th-place Nebraska-Kearney.

The Tigers go off in the second wave for round two, with tee times beginning at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday (April 25).

FHSU Sports Information

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State struggled to get the offense going on Saturday taking its second consecutive loss to Missouri Southern by a score of 3-0 at Larks Park. The Tigers now sit at 9-32 overall and 2-26 in the MIAA, while the Lions are now 23-22 overall and 15-16 in conference play.

Steve Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Lions struck early plating a run in both the second and third innings, both resulting from miscues by the Tigers. The Lions got on the board after a passed ball put a runner in scoring position, then a base hit through the left side scored the run. They followed that up with a run in the third thanks to an FHSU throwing error, scoring a runner that was on second. The Lions completed the scoring in the fifth on a solo home run off the bat of Max Hogan.

Sean Goostree squelched every scoring opportunity for the Tigers and threw a complete game for Missouri Southern on 113 pitches. He dominated with 12 strikeouts, allowing just five hits and a walk, moving to 3-2 on the season.

Ty Redington led the offense for the Tigers with two hits, while Trevor Hughes, Cody Starkel and Marcus Altman each added one. Hughes drew the only walk of the game for FHSU.

Alex Ruxlow (4-9) picked up the loss for the Tigers, but pitched a very solid game. He went seven strong innings, giving up just one earned run on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Two freshmen, Cole Schumacher and Ryan Ruder, made relief appearances for the Tigers and did an outstanding job shutting down MSSU for two innings. Schumacher went 1.1 innings surrendering just a walk and a hit, while Ruder retired the only two batters he faced, striking out one.

The series finale between the Tigers and Lions will take place on Monday

(Apr. 24) at Larks Park, with the first pitch scheduled at noon.

KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State closed out the 2017 season on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska-Kearney in non-conference play on the road. The Tigers won by scores of 5-3 and 5-2 to finish the year at 17-39 overall. Nebraska-Kearney finished its year at 10-46 overall.

Game 1: Fort Hays State 5, Nebraska-Kearney 3
A three-run home run by Veronica Knittig in the first inning set the tone, as Fort Hays State never trailed in a 5-3 win. Hailey Chapman reached the 10-win mark for the season by throwing her 25th complete game of the season.

Back-to-back doubles by Collette West and Lily Sale and an RBI single by Kylie Strand in the fourth inning pushed the Tigers to a 3-run lead for the second time in the game after UNK scored its first run in the second.

The Lopers closed the lead to just one at 4-3 in the fourth with a pair of RBI singles. But a delayed double steal executed by Bailey Chapman and Claudia Vazquez in the seventh scored the final run of the game.

Chapman worked around a pair of baserunners in the seventh to close out the game. She allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Sara Sempek took the loss for UNK, lasting just one inning. She allowed the 3-run homer to Knittig in the first inning before handing the ball to Abbey Martin for the final six innings of the game.

Game 2: Fort Hays State 5, Nebraska-Kearney 2
A pair of two-out, two-RBI singles by Tess Gray and Bailey Kennedy provided the majority of the offense in a 5-2 win for FHSU. Gray’s two-RBI single occurred in the first inning to give FHSU a 2-0 lead, and Kennedy’s occurred in the sixth to extend Fort Hays State’s lead to 5-1 at the time. Fort Hays State’s other run happened on a throwing error by UNK in the second inning.

Carrie Clarke picked up her second win over the Lopers in as many days, finishing the season with seven wins in the circle. She allowed 11 hits and struck out four. Meg Housholder took the loss for UNK, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and seven walks. She struck out six.

The Tigers will miss the MIAA Tournament for the first time since joining the conference in 2006-07. The young team made strides late, closing out the season 8-8 in their last 16 games, after going 9-31 prior to that.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State men’s track and field split up this week and competed at a pair of events this weekend. Some of the Tigers attended the Kansas Relays on Thursday-Saturday, (Apr. 20-22), while others traveled to the Tabor College Invitational on Saturday. For the week, the Tigers claimed six top-three finishes and two provisional marks.

Kansas Relays
Decano Cronin (1:50.30) and Brett Meyer (1:52.34) topped the 800 meters finishing first and second respectively. Cronin’s effort also earned a provisional as he now sits tied for seventh in the nation. Meyer also has a provisional from a previous race this year that has him ranked 21^st in the nation.

Dillando Allotey picked up a second-place finish in the 200 meter dash. Allotey crossed the line in a time of 21.02, which would have been the 11^th fastest time in the nation. However, due to wind calculations being too high, the time does not stand as a quality mark.

Joined by Oscar Carmona, Cronin, Meyer and Allotey teamed up to win the distance medley with a time of 10:11.35.

TJ Dozier also had a provisional mark that came up just an inch shy of his best mark this season. He finished third in the discus with a throw of 172 feet, 2 inches. His best mark this season has him 13^th on the national performance list.

KU Relays Results

Tabor Invitational Results

Tabor College Invitational
Sam Dreiling and Jake Morrow finished first and second respectively in the pole vault for the Tigers. Dreiling led the way with a vault of 15 feet, 5.75 inches and Morrow had a vault of 15 feet.

The Tigers will get back in action next weekend when they partake in separate events once again. Some of the Tigers will head to Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday (Apr. 27) to compete at the Drake Relays, while the rest of the Tigers stay home for the Fort Hays State Open on Friday (Apr. 28).

FHSU Sports Information