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.