HAYS, Kan. – A masterful pitching performance, solid defense and timely hitting helped the Fort Hays State baseball team defeat Northwestern Oklahoma State Wednesday afternoon (March 22) at Larks Park, 5-0. It was the first shutout for FHSU in over four years (3/15/13, 2-0 at Lindenwood).

The Tigers move to 8-18 this season after breaking up an eight-game losing skid, with the Rangers dipping to 8-19 on the year.

Sam Capps (2-2) tossed a complete game shutout for the Tigers, allowing just six baserunners all afternoon. The junior struck out nine Ranger batters, including six strikeouts looking. Capps did not allow a runner to reach third base, with just two Rangers reaching scoring position. NWOSU managed four singles, including a pair of bunt singles, to go along with two walks, but finished just 1-for-10 with runners on base. The righty lowered his ERA more than a full point from 4.82 to 3.65.

The Tigers flashed the leather all afternoon, making several highlight-reel plays and finishing without an error for the first time in nearly a month (Feb. 24). Jace Bowman made a pair of impressive plays at third in the first few innings, with Nick Hammeke adding a sliding stop to start a 6-4-3 double play to end the fourth inning. The gusting wind affected everything in the air, but the outfield trio of Ty Redington, Jake Lanferman and Colton Helm made it look easy with multiple running grabs.

Fort Hays State took the lead in the third inning when Redington reached on a two-out infield single deep in the hole at short. Hammeke then sent a 1-2 pitch to deep center, fooling the center fielder into taking his first step in. That split second made all the difference, with the ball falling just out of the reach of the Ranger defender for a triple to score Redington.

Redington started another rally in the bottom of the sixth when he reached on another infield single. After Hammeke reached on a fielder’s choice, the shortstop moved up 90 feet on a throwing error on the pitcher. Walks to Trevor Hughes and Lanferman loaded the bases for Dayton Pomeroy, forcing a Ranger pitching change. The reliever beaned Pomeroy on his eighth pitch of the at bat, allowing Hammeke to score and make the score 2-0.

The Tigers added another run in the seventh after Helm singled up the middle with one out. Redington followed with a bunt single with the third baseman playing back before a double steal put them both in scoring position. Helm scampered home later in the inning on a passed ball, stretching the advantage to 3-0.

Fort Hays State added a pair of insurance runs in the home half of the eighth when Bryce Witchurch drew a pinch-hit walk. With two outs, Bowman was hit by a pitch to bring up Jared Bogosian. The junior catcher came through with a single into the left field corner, driving in both runs.

The Tigers are off this weekend and will return to the diamond next Wednesday (March 29) when they travel to Topeka, Kan. to face off with Washburn.

FHSU Sports Information

HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State tennis team came up short in its fifth-straight match Wednesday afternoon (March 22), falling to Northwest Missouri State, the No. 9 ranked team in the region, 9-0. The Tigers dip to 8-7 overall and 0-5 in MIAA play, while the Bearcats are now 2-8 this season and 1-1 in the league.

The Tigers kept things close in two of the three doubles matches, with Natalie Lubbers and Lauren Lindell falling at No. 1 doubles 9-7 while Nicole Lubbers and Jessica Johnson took the No. 3 doubles match into a tiebreak. The Bearcat duo of Margaux Jacquet and Tess Lovig came out on top 8-6 to win 9-8 and give NWMSU a 3-0 lead.

The Bearcats swept their way through singles play, winning all six matches in two sets. Laura Jimenez-Lendinez fell at the No. 1 spot 6-4, 6-4, winning the most games for the Tigers.

Fort Hays State will return to the court Friday (March 24) when they face off with Missouri Western. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. from the FHSU Tennis Courts.

FHSU Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State sophomore Hannah Perkins earned MIAA Women’s Co-Golfer of the Week honors on Wednesday (Mar. 22) for her efforts at the Holiday Inn Express Classic, hosted by Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo. She shares the honor with Maggie Bryant of Lindenwood.

Perkins was the top MIAA finisher at the Holiday Inn Express Classic, hosted by Missouri Western. She tied for fourth individually, shooting rounds of 77 and 80 to total 157. Her round of 77 was the lowest by an MIAA player in the tournament. Her 78.5 stroke averaged matched Maggie Bryant’s of Lindenwood, who played two tournaments in Arizona.

Bryant won the Lindenwood Spring Thaw in Cave Creek, Ariz. She helped guide the Lady Lions to a tournament championship at the event, and finished the tournament with a two-round total score of 152. Later in the week, Bryant tied for 29th place at the Augustana Spring Fling in California. Bryant finished the week with eight birdies and averaged 78.5 strokes per round over her four rounds of play.

This is the second MIAA Player of the Week honor for Perkins in her career at FHSU.

FHSU Sports Information

DENVER – Fort Hays State dropped both games of a doubleheader at Metro State University of Denver on Tuesday evening . The Roadrunners took both games with late rallies, scoring four in the sixth inning of game one to break a tie, and then rallying with six runs in the seventh to win game two. The Tigers are now 9-19 overall on the season.

Game 1: Metro State 6, Fort Hays State 2
Carrie Clark struggled to open the first inning in the pitching circle, giving up three consecutive walks. Metro State took advantage and scored two runs to take an early 2-0 lead. From that point, Clarke settled in and threw well the remainder of the game, though a defensive mistake late in the game led to four unearned runs.

In the fifth, Bailey Kennedy laced a doubled to the right center gap to score Kylie Strand, who led off the inning with a double, and Tess Gray. That knotted the score at 2-2 and gave the Tigers new life after a shaky start to the game.

However, Kennedy had the defensive mistake in the sixth inning that led to a four-run Metro State rally. She dropped a fly ball that would have been the second out of the inning. Clarke retired the next batter so the inning should have been over with the side retired in order. Instead, Metro State strung together four straight hits to produce four runs and went on to win the game 6-2.

Clarke allowed seven hits, but did not allow another walk after her rash of walks allowed at the start of the game. She struck out one and moved to 4-4 on the year. Hayley Fields threw a complete game for the Roadrunners, moving to 8-1 on the year with seven hits allowed with one strikeout.

Game 2: Metro State 9, Fort Hays State 8
The Tigers gained complete control of the second game with a six-run first inning, only to squander it by allowing six runs to the Roadrunners in the seventh inning.

The Tigers had been struggling to score runs in several games over the past week, but finally broke out of the rut with a six-run rally in the first. Veronica Knittig started the rally with a two-run home run down the left field line. Collette West and Candace Bollig each walked and Kylie Strand singled to load the bases. Bailey Boxberger had an RBI single to make it 3-0, then Tess Gray drew a walk to force a run in and make it 4-0. Jeni Mohr capped the rally with a two-RBI single down the left field line to make it 6-0.

Metro State threatened to erase all the work done by the Tigers in the bottom of the first. Carissa Terry hit a two-run homer and the Roadrunners loaded the bases before a groundout ended the threat to leave the score at 6-2.

The Tigers extended their lead back out to six when Boxberger knocked home two more runs with another single. Metro State answered with a run in the second and a pair of walks loaded the bases again, but a lineout to first ended another threat leaving the Tigers ahead 8-3 after two innings.

After the Tigers roughed up MSUD starter Darby McGhee for eight runs, they could not find a way to get a run off reliever Cassidy Smith, who allowed seven hits over 6.0 innings. Not being able to add on runs when they had the chance came back to bite the Tigers late.

Hailey Chapman struggled with walking batters the entire game, and it finally hurt her most in the last inning. Giving up a solo home run to start the seventh seemed harmless with the Tigers still up 8-4. The next batter grounded out, but then Chapman’s eighth walk of the game triggered an enormous rally for the Roadrunners. The next batter singled and then Chapman issued her ninth walk of the game to load the bases. An error then allowed two runs to score to make it 8-6. A double made it 8-7 and put runners at second and third. Terry, who had the first-inning homer, turned into the hero for MSUD with a walk-off two-run double to right field.

Chapman took the loss allowing 11 hits and nine walks. She is now 5-11 on the season. Smith moved to 10-5 on the season with the win in relief as she struck out four batters.

FHSU Sports Information

HAYS, Kan. – Two big innings came back to haunt the Fort Hays State baseball team in a 12-8 loss to Washburn Tuesday afternoon inside Larks Park. The Tigers dip to 7-18 overall and 1-12 in the MIAA after their eighth-straight loss, while the Ichabods move to 15-9 this season and 7-6 in the MIAA.

Steve Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

Outs were hard to come by for pitchers on both sides, with the teams combining for 29 hits on the breezy afternoon. Ten of the hits were extra-base knocks, including four home runs, three for Washburn and one for the Tigers. The Tigers had plenty of chances to score, reaching base in every inning and leaving 13 runners on base.

Both starters found trouble in the early going, but settled down as the afternoon progressed. The Ichabods took an early lead with a two-run home run in the second plate appearance of the game. Fort Hays State promptly tied things up in the bottom half thanks to three walks, a hit by pitch, an RBI single from Dayton Pomeroy and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jake Lanferman.

After sending the minimum to the plate in the second and third innings, Washburn took control in the top of the fourth with six runs. The Tigers clawed within 8-3 in the home half of the fourth when Colton Helm led off with a single to left center. After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ty Redington, the sophomore came around to score on Nick Hammek’s second double of the afternoon, a drive off the wall in left center.

The Tigers manufactured another run in the sixth inning thanks to a leadoff double from Marcus Altman. The freshman advanced 90 feet on Helm’s sacrifice bunt before trotting home on a deep sacrifice fly from Redington, making the score 8-4.

Washburn erupted for another big inning in the seventh, scoring four runs on five hits. The Tigers responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, bringing the scoring total to 12-7. Lanferman legged out an infield single before moving to third on a double to left from Trevor Hughes. Pinch hitter Bryce Witchurch cleared the bases after sending a laser over the fence in right, tallying his second home run of the year.

Fort Hays State scored a run in a strange ninth inning after a dropped third strike, a fielder’s choice, a wild pitch, an infield single and an error, but the Ichabod lead was too much to overcome.

Hammeke put together his second four-hit game (two doubles, two singles) of the season, tying for first in the MIAA and seventh in the nation with 12 doubles on the season. Helm recorded the first multi-hit game of his career, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs. Pomeroy and Lanferman both finished with two hits and one RBI.

Ben Ramberg (0-6) took the loss after giving up seven runs on six hits in 3.1 innings of work. Freshman Ryan Ruder came on in relief in the fourth, giving up a towering home run on his first pitch before retiring seven of the next 10 batters he faced. The lefty surrendered the four-spot in the seventh inning, finishing with three strikeouts in three innings of work while allowing five runs on six hits. Easton Palmer came on to finish the game for the Tigers, scattering three hits across 2.2 innings and recording a pair of strikeouts.

The Tigers will be back out on the diamond Wednesday (March 22) when they face off with Northwestern Oklahoma State at 4 p.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State senior guard Rob Davis collected his second regional honor on Monday. Davis was selected to the Central Regional NABC All-District First Team. The honor is selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC in NCAA Division II.

The first team all-district selection comes on the heels of being selected to the D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team. Davis is the first all-district selection by the NABC for FHSU since the 2013-14 season when Craig Nicholson earned first team honors as well. Dominique Jones and Dwayne Brunson are the other two former Tigers to earn this distinction.

Davis had a tremendous year for the Tigers, averaging 21.4 points per game. He became the first FHSU player to average at least 20 points per game since the 1995-96 season, when Alonzo Goldston averaged 20.4 helping lead the Tigers to an undefeated national championship. He is the first player under head coach Mark Johnson to average at least 20 per game. Davis finished the year scoring 30 or more points in a game eight times and 20 or more 17 times. He scored 1,140 points over two years with Fort Hays State, finishing 15th on the all-time scoring list.

Davis scored a career-high 42 points at Emporia State on February 1, 2017, matching the sixth-highest scoring game in Tiger history. Dennis Edwards owns the top five single-game scoring performances in Tiger history and was the last to break the 40-point barrier before Davis, doing it three times in 1995.

Davis finished the year shooting 49.9 percent from the field, making 207-of-415 attempts from the field. He shot 45.3 percent beyond the 3-point line (82-of-181) and 85.1 percent at the free-throw line (126-of-148). He added 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

For his career, Davis ranks fourth all-time in Tiger history for 3-point field goal percentage and free-throw percentage. He was very consistent in his rate of shooting from the field, hitting exactly at a .499 clip overall and .453 clip beyond the 3-point line both seasons at FHSU. His performance at the free-throw line this year improved as his career percentage settled at 82.2 percent.

Below is the 2016-17 NABC Central Region All-District Team

First Team                                                         
Gage Davis, St. Cloud State
Rob Davis, Fort Hays State                                                               
Aaron Lien, Minnesota State Moorhead
Justin Pitts, Northwest Missouri State
Braxton Reeves, East Central
Jordan Spencer, Augustana

Second Team
Ryan Bruggeman, Southwest Minnesota State
CJ Carr, Missouri Southern
Derylton Hill, Arkansas-Monticello
Tanner Kretchman, MSU Moorhead
Tyler Rudolph, Minot State

Coach of the Year: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State

FHSU Sports Information