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.