The Fort Hays State Softball doubleheader with Lincoln University has been moved to a neutral location on Thursday (Apr. 6). The teams will now play a doubleheader in St. Charles, Mo., on Lindenwood’s home field, starting at 12 pm. With the neutral location of the games, there will be no live stats available. We will attempt to provide Twitter updates of the games.

Weather has forced this doubleheader to be pushed back three days now. Originally scheduled for Monday, the games were rescheduled for Wednesday. But with more rain falling in the Jefferson City area back on Tuesday, the field in Jefferson City will not be playable in time, so the neutral site games on Thursday were agreed upon by both schools and the MIAA.

Fort Hays State enters the doubleheader with Lincoln at 9-29 overall, 2-10 in the MIAA, while Lincoln is 3-29 overall, 0-12 in the MIAA.

Following the doubleheader with Lincoln on Thursday, FHSU continues its week-long road trip in conference play at Emporia State on Friday and Washburn on Saturday.

FHSU Sports Information

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Football will hold its annual Spring Scrimmage on Saturday, April 8 at Lewis Field Stadium. Planned to last an hour, the scrimmage begins at 11 am. Gates to the stadium open at 10:30 am.

Tigers4Ever, the FHSU student alumni association will be hosting the Second Annual Spring Kickoff. Open to FHSU alums, faculty/staff, students and Tiger fans of all ages, this event is a great opportunity to come support FHSU Football while learning more about Tigers4Ever. Enjoy great food (for purchase) provided by the Block & Bridle Club and the Sigma Alpha Agriculture Sorority, cheer on your favorite team, and get player autographs after the scrimmage.

This year, you will also have the chance to interact with the players on the field. Sign up for your chance to kick a field goal or extra point, catch a punt, and throw/catch a pass following the scrimmage.

The schedule for the event is as follows:

10:30 a.m. Gates open at Lewis Field Stadium
11 a.m.-noon FHSU Football Scrimmage
12-12:45 p.m. Tiger Fan Interaction
1:30 p.m. Autograph signing in Schmidt-Bickle Indoor Training Facility

In case of rain, all events will move inside the Schmidt-Bickle Indoor Training Facility.

Go to www.goforthaysstate.com/kickoff2017 to learn more.

FHSU Sports Information

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Fort Hays State fell twice in conference play on Tuesday (Apr. 4) at Lindenwood. The Lions took the games by scores of 8-0 and 6-2. The Lions moved to 13-18 overall, 4-10 in the MIAA, while the Tigers moved to 9-29 overall, 2-10 in the MIAA.

Game 1: Lindenwood 8, Fort Hays State 0

Lindenwood benefitted from a Tiger error in the third inning, scoring four unearned runs, and ran away with an 8-0 run-rule win. The Lions led just 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third, but an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt by the second batter of the inning led to the scoring outburst. The Lions picked up three unearned runs with two outs in the inning. They closed out the game with an RBI single in the fifth inning.

Collette West and Kylie Strand each collected two hits in the game. West had a pair of singles, while Strand had a single and a triple. Tess Gray also had a single.

Stormee Galka pitched a complete game for the Lions, allowing five hits and two walks with a strikeout. She moved to 8-8 overall. Carrie Clarke, who allowed seven runs (three earned), gave up seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. She is now 4-9 on the year.

Game 2: Lindenwood 6, Fort Hays State 2

Just like in Game 1, Lindenwood took an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers had a golden opportunity with bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth, but squandered it with a strikeout and flyout. In the bottom half of the inning, Lindenwood took advantage of escaping the jam with two runs, then tacked on three more in the fifth for a commanding 6-0 lead.

Fort Hays State’s only two runs of the day came on back-to-back-to-back doubles by Kylie Strand, Candace Bollig, and Tess Gray to lead off the sixth inning. Strand and Gray each had two hits in the game.

Hailey Chapman surrendered all six runs (five earned) in a complete game outing. She allowed eight hits, three walks, and struck out four.

Stormee Galka picked up a win in the second straight game, throwing the first 5.0 innings before yielding to Kimberly Fozzard. Galka allowed seven hits and a walk, while striking out three. Both runs were charged to Galka. Fozzard allowed one hit and struck out one.

An update on the time and location of the doubleheader at Lincoln will be posted once an official announcement has been made.

FHSU Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Fort Hays State men’s golf team finished ninth at the Midwest Spring Fling this week (April 3-4) at Cottonwood Hills Country Club. The Tigers shot two identical rounds of 325 on Monday before rain washed out the third and final round Tuesday.

The tournament was hosted by Sterling College at the par-72, 6,890 yard course on the rolling plains just outside Hutchinson. Cloudy conditions gave way to bountiful sunshine Monday afternoon, but the stormy skies returned Tuesday morning. The teams started play in the third round, but tournament officials deemed the course unplayable after the groups completed between eight and 10 holes.

Skyler Tebo led the Tigers with two rounds in the 70s, finishing at 13-over and tying for 17th (78-79-157). Dalton Ayres fired rounds of 81 and 84 to tie for 36th (165). Isaiah Grover improved seven strokes between rounds (87-80-167), tying with Marcus Willey for 41st (85-82-167). Colton Bobek rounded out the FHSU lineup in 49th (81-89-170).

The team will have two weeks to prepare to host the 2017 Tiger Classic, their lone home tournament of the year, April 18-19. The tournament is the third designated MIAA event of the season, with all 11 conference schools competing.

Click below to listen to Tiger Talk with Fort Hays State softball coach Adrian Pilkington and baseball coach Steve Johnson.

Tiger Talk airs on Monday evening at 6 p.m. on Tiger Radio Mix-103.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State javelin thrower Estefania Lopez was named the MIAA Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, following her effort at the Alex Francis Classic this past weekend in Hays. She joins Track Athlete of the Week Imani Hutchinson of Pittsburg State for the weekly honor from the conference office.

In her first competition of the outdoor season, Estefania Lopez took the national lead in javelin with an automatic qualifying mark of 167 feet, 11 inches. She finished first at the Alex Francis Classic, winning by more than 26 feet over teammate Alexcia Deutscher, who is also among the top 10 nationally. Lopez currently holds the national lead by over 11 feet.

Fort Hays State’s baseball game at home scheduled on Tuesday, April 4 has been pushed back a day due to forecasted weather for the Hays area.

The game is now scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, starting at 4 pm.

This will be the final contest of three against Washburn in the regular season.

The Tigers will also be at home this weekend, hosting Lindenwood Friday through Sunday (Apr. 7-9).

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State’s 2017 football schedule has been released. The Tigers will play six games at home in 2017, with the first on Thursday, September 7 against Central Missouri. Fort Hays State is coming off its second-straight bowl game appearance and first-ever postseason game win after claiming the 2016 Heart of Texas Bowl.

2017 Football Schedule

The Tigers will host the other three Kansas MIAA schools, along with long-time rival Nebraska-Kearney in the season finale. Central Missouri serves as the opponent for the Kickoff Classic and Pittsburg State will be the Homecoming opponent on October 7.

2017 Home Games
September 7 – Central Missouri, 7 pm (Kickoff Classic)
September 23 – Northeastern State, 2 pm
October 7 – Pittsburg State, 7 pm (Homecoming)
October 14 – Washburn, 2 pm (Hall of Fame Game)
October 28 – Emporia State, 2 pm
November 11 – Nebraska-Kearney, 2 pm (Senior Day)

All games in the regular season will be conference games for the fourth straight year with 12 schools in the conference for football (Southwest Baptist and Lincoln do not compete in the MIAA in football). The Tigers are coming off an 8-4 record for the second consecutive year. FHSU has finished third and fourth in the MIAA respectively the last two seasons. The eight-win seasons have twice tied the single-season school record at FHSU and 2016 marked the first time the Tigers played postseason games in back-to-back seasons. The Tigers have seen improvement every year under head coach Chris Brown, who enters his seventh season guiding the Tigers in 2016, now with a record of 38-30.

Deadline for season ticket renewals is May 31. Call (785) 628-4050 or fill out the 2017-18 season ticket form. Forms are available at the following link…

2017-18 Season Ticket Form

Tiger Football will be holding its annual Spring Scrimmage on Saturday, April 8. Gates open at 10:30 am and the scrimmage is set to start at 11 am. Learn more about Spring Kickoff weekend hosted by Tigers4Ever.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Offense was hard to come by for the Fort Hays State baseball team in a pair of losses Saturday afternoon (April 1) to Northeastern State. The RiverHawks outgunned FHSU 17-4 in game one before jumping in front early and adding on late to take game two 14-4.

The Tigers are now 8-22 this season and 1-16 in the MIAA, while NSU improves to 17-11 overall and 11-6 in conference action.

Game One: Northeastern State 17, Fort Hays State 4 (7 innings)

The Tigers struck first when Nick Hammeke clubbed a home run in the third at bat of the game, his third long ball of the season. But the lead wouldn’t last long as the RiverHawks tacked on three runs in the bottom of the first. NSU continued the offensive onslaught with one run in the second, one in the third, nine in the fifth and three in the sixth.

After NSU starter Nolan Sturgeon fooled the Tiger bats all afternoon, the RiverHawks went to the bullpen in the seventh. FHSU responded with six hits in the inning after collecting just two in the first six frames combined. Pinch hitter Jared Bogosian led off with a single to left before Ryan Imber reached on an infield single. Cody Starkel, the third pinch hitter of the inning, loaded the bases with a single to left, bringing up Jace Bowman. The first baseman singled to center, scoring a pair. Jake Lanferman drove in another run with a single later in the inning before a double play brought the game to a close.

Redington was the lone Tiger with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4. Ryan Ruder (2-1) took his first loss of the inning after giving up four runs on five hits in 1.1 innings of work. The Tigers needed a total of five pitchers to finish the seven inning contest.

Game Two: Northeastern State 14, Fort Hays State 4 (8 innings)

The Tigers were once again unable to solve the NSU starter, with Zach Parish striking out 11 Tigers over six scoreless innings. The RiverHawk offense, meanwhile, kept the strong day going with four runs in the first, two in the second, two in the fourth, one in the seventh and five in the eighth.

Fort Hays State got things going against the NSU bullpen with four runs in the eighth, closing within 9-4. Jake Lanferman drew a leadoff walk before moving to third on a double from Nick Hammeke. Dayton Pomeroy and Clayton Basgall followed with back-to-back RBI singles before Jason Nicholson singled to load the bases. Marcus Altman drew a walk to score Pomeroy before Basgall came in to score on a double play. The RiverHawks responded with five runs to bring the game to a close in the home half of the eighth.

Ty Redington again collected a pair of hits, also reaching base on a walk. Hammeke doubled twice in the contest, moving him into second in the conference with 14 two-bag hits this season. Alex Ruxlow (3-6) took the loss after allowing six runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work. Sam Capps righted the ship out of the pen, giving up three runs across five innings of work.

Fort Hays State will return home for four games at Larks Park, opening with the series finale with Washburn on Tuesday (April 4) at 4 p.m.

FHSU Sports Information