FHSU Sports Information
Fort Hays State closed out the 2015 season on Monday (Apr. 27) with a doubleheader sweep at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. The Tigers won 11-2 and 9-1, sweeping all four games of the series to finish ninth in the MIAA standings.

Game 1: Fort Hays State 11, Lincoln 2
Fort Hays State trailed 1-0 through two innings, but a Kevin Czarnecki three-run home run in the third inning pushed the Tigers in front and they led the rest of the way in an 11-2 win.

Connor Ross added a two-run homer in the fourth to push Fort Hays State’s lead to 5-2 at the time. The Tigers did the rest of their scoring in the fifth with six runs. Three straight runs were forced in as Nick Hammeke drew a bases-loaded walk, then Ross and Caleb Cherryholmes were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Austin Unrein cleared the bases with a three-RBI double.

Joe Mapes picked up a win in his start for the Tigers, throwing 5.0 innings. He allowed just one earned run on six hits with one strikeout. Tyler Patty threw the final two innings, striking out two. Mapes moved to 2-1 on the year.

Jordan Barrett (1-6) took the loss for Lincoln, allowing five runs in 4.0 innings of work. Two Lincoln relievers combined to give up the final six runs to FHSU.

Game 2: Fort Hays State 9, Lincoln 1
Fort Hays State scored six runs over the first three innings and never looked back, completing the four-game sweep of Lincoln with a 9-1 win to wrap up the 2015 season. The Tigers led 8-0 after five innings before Lincoln put its only run on the board in the seventh.

Andre Vieyra drove in two runs with a two-run home run in the fifth to push the Tiger lead to eight runs. Austin Unrein also had a solo homer. Connor Ross and Kevin Czarnecki recorded an RBI doubles, while Alex King and Gus Strunk each had RBI singles. Strunk was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, while Vieyra and Czarnecki each went 3-for-4.

Justin Hersch had another great outing on the mound for FHSU, keeping Lincoln scoreless through his six innings of work. He allowed just three hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Ty Thomas pitched an inning of relief and allowed a run, but it was unearned due to a Tiger error. He struck out three. Alex Cox pitched the final two innings and struck out four. Hersch moved to 3-3 on the year with the win.

Tyler Roberts (1-7) took the loss for Lincoln. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 5.0 innings. Adam Stegeman pitched the final four innings for Lincoln and gave up just one run.

Fort Hays State finished its season at 19-28 overall and 16-20 in the MIAA. The Tigers won their last five conference games of the season and their last four overall.

Brady Tien of FHSU Track and Field was named the MIAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on Monday (Apr. 27) for his efforts this past week at the Emporia State Mid-Week Open.

Tien broke the 34-year old outdoor pole vault record at Fort Hays State with an automatic qualifying mark in a winning effort. He became the first Tiger in history to reach the 17-foot mark in pole vault (indoor or outdoor), clearing exactly that height to win in a field of 12 competitors.

It broke the old FHSU outdoor record of 16-feet, 10-inches cleared by Kim Stewart in 1981. Tien’s effort tied the second best in NCAA Division II this outdoor season and gained him an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships. The mark also broke the meet record.

MIAA Media Relations
Kansas City, Mo. — It was announced today by the MIAA that the first and second round game times for the MIAA Softball Tournament will be changed.

The 6 p.m. game will now be played at 5 p.m. and the 8 p.m. game will now be scheduled for 7 p.m. Pre-game ceremonies will now take place at 4:30 p.m. including the announcement of the All-MIAA Softball first and second teams.

The rest of the tournament will continue as scheduled on May 1 from the Blue Valley Recreation Complex in Overland Park, Kan.

MIAA Media Relations
Kansas City, Mo. – Central Missouri has won the MIAA Softball Regular Season Championship and earned the top seed in the MIAA Tournament scheduled to begin April 30 at the Blue Valley Recreation Complex in Overland Park, Kan.

Top seeded UCM will begin their tournament against eighth seeded Fort Hays State State. Pittsburg State earns the second seed and will face off with seventh seeded Washburn in the opening round.

Central Oklahoma will be the third seed and will take on sixth seeded Emporia State. Missouri Western earns the tournament’s fourth seed and will face fifth seeded Northwest Missouri.

All first round games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on April 30 from the Blue Valley Recreation Complex in Overland Park, Kan.

Thursday, April 30, 2015 (Overland Park, Kan.)
Game 1: #1 Central Missouri vs. #8 Fort Hays State 6 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Missouri Western vs. #5 Northwest Missouri 6 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Central Oklahoma vs. #6 Emporia State 6 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Pittsburg State vs. #7 Washburn 6 p.m.
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 8 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 8 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 8 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 8 p.m.

Friday, May 1, 2015 (Overland Park, Kan.)
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 11 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 11 a.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 1 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 3 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 2, 2015 (Overland Park, Kan.)
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13 12 p.m.
Game 15: If Necessary 2 p.m.

Game times and dates are subject to change

FHSU Sports Information
Fort Hays State swept a pair of conference games on the road at Lincoln University on Sunday (Apr. 26) in Jefferson City, Mo. The Tigers won by scores of 10-3 and 15-5 to run their win streak to three games.

The Tigers will wrap up their season on Monday with another pair of games at Lincoln. FHSU was eliminated from MIAA Tournament contention on Saturday with Lindenwood winning for the second time in a four-game series with Central Missouri. The Tigers will enter Monday at 17-28 overall and 14-20 in the MIAA. Lincoln is now 3-43 overall, 1-29 in the MIAA.

Game 1: Fort Hays State 10, Lincoln 3

Fort Hays State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning and never looked back, cruising to a 10-3 win in game one. AnAustin Unrein three-run home run in the first got the big offensive day going for the Tigers.

Andre Vieyra tacked on a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 4-0 before Lincoln pushed its first run of the game across in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers pushed their lead to 8-1 in the top of the fifth with a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Nick Hammeke and an RBI single by Connor Ross. The teams went on to trade single runs over the next two innings. FHSU scored a run in the sixth off a Lincoln error and Hammeke hit a solo homer in the seventh. Hammeke 3-for-4 at the dish with four RBI, while Ross was also 3-for-4 at the plate.

Gabe Cook pitched his third complete game of the season for the Tigers, allowing just two earned runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out four. He moved to 2-3 on the season.

Dalton Goings took the loss for Lincoln, also throwing a complete game. He allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits and four walks, but struck out five.

Game 2: Fort Hays State 15, Lincoln 5 (run-rule 7 innings)

Fort Hays State opened up a 3-0 lead early through two innings, but Lincoln took its first lead of the day with four runs in the third. The lead did not last long as the Tigers scored twice in the top of the fourth to take the lead back 5-4. FHSU struck for eight more runs in the fifth to lead 13-4 and coasted to a run-rule win after seven innings.

Austin Unrein had five RBI in the game. His two-RBI double put the Tigers in front 5-4 in the fourth, then he added a two-RBI single in the eight-run fifth. His sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh helped the Tigers gain the run-rule margin at 15-5.Connor Ross had three RBI in the game with an RBI groundout and a two-RBI single to cap the eight-run fifth. Gus Strunkknocked in two with a two-RBI single, while Kevin Czarnecki, Cooper Langley, Andre Vieyra, and Casey Sedbrook all had one RBI.

Steven Federau collected a complete game win, allowing just six hits and two walks, while striking out nine in the shortened game scheduled for nine innings. Four of the five runs he allowed were earned.

Trevor Schnieders took the loss for Lincoln, lasting 4.1 innings in his start. He gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Lincoln used three relievers in the game that combined to allow six more runs.

The Fort Hays State Tigers clinched a spot in next week’s MIAA tournament with a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska-Kearney Saturday in Hays.

Game 1: FHSU 9, UNK 8
Amanda Vaupel hit a three-run homerun and the Tigers scored two runs in the sixth inning on their way to a 9-8 win over Nebraska-Kearney in game-one.

The Lopers scored five runs in the first inning and led 7-1 heading into the bottom of the second inning.

FHSU got three runs across to start the inning and then Vaupel homered to right field tying the game at 7.

Trailing 8-7 heading into the bottom of the sixth the Tigers got two on base for Kylie Strand who tied the game with a RBI single.

Rilee Krier then reached on an error that scored Paxton Duran to put the Tigers up 9-8 and they would hold on for the win.

Krier was 2-for-4 with two RBI’s and scored twice. Paxton Duran allowed three earned runs in seven innings to pick up the win.

The win for the Tigers secured a spot in the MIAA tournament next week in Overland Park.

Game 2: FHSU 4, UNK 0
Tori Beltz was 3-for-4 with a homerun, two doubles, drove in two runs and scored twice as the Tigers take game two 4-0.

Starter Kelsey Kimminau held the Lopers hitless through four innings and tossed a shutout in game two.

Kimminau allowed just three hits and struck out four in a complete game shutout.

The Tigers improve to 26-23 overall and 14-12 in the MIAA with the doubleheader sweep.

FHSU and UNK play a non-conference doubleheader in Kearney on Sunday.

The MIAA tournament begins Thursday in Overland Park.

FHSU Sports Information
Fort Hays State senior Trey Herman has been selected to compete at the NCAA Division II Central/Midwest Regional, May 4-6. The tournament will be held at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Ill., just outside of Chicago, hosted by Lewis University.

Herman earned All-MIAA honors and a selection to the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional for the second straight year. He recorded five top-10 finishes this season with second as his highest finish at the UNK Fall Invitational back in the Fall portion of the season. He shot 4-under par overall at that tournament. For the season, Herman has a stroke average of 74.0 and a relation to par of +2.5. He has four rounds this season in which he shot under par.

Herman finished seventh overall at the Central/Midwest Regional last year at Fox Run Golf Club in Eureka, Mo. Herman was the third-best individual in the standings not on a team advancing to the NCAA Championships, but only the top two individuals advanced. So he was very close to qualifying for the NCAA Championship site last year.

Cog Hill Golf and Country Club has been the site of events on the PGA Tour for several years. The Country Club has four courses, with the Dubsdread Course being the site of the Western Open from 1991-2006, then the BMW Championship in 2007 and 2009-2011.

Herman was one of four individuals from the Central Region selected to compete in the Super Regional event. The teams and individuals qualifying for the tournament are listed below.

Central Region:
1. Central Missouri
2. Central Oklahoma
3. Arkansas Tech
4. Southwestern Oklahoma State
5. Henderson State
6. Northeastern State
7. Southern Nazarene
8. Minnesota State-Mankato
9. Washburn
10. Southeastern Oklahoma State

Individuals:
1. Ryan Buerk, Missouri Southern
2. Trey Herman, Fort Hays State
3. Tyler Koivisto, St. Cloud State
4. Corey Knight, Missouri Western

Midwest Region:
1. Indianapolis
2. Grand Valley State
3. Missouri-St. Louis
4. Tiffin
5. Lewis
6. Lake Superior State
7. Ferris State
8 Malone
9. Saginaw Valley State
10. Walsh

Individuals:
1. Nick Arman, Rockhurst
2. DJ Vogt, Bellarmine
3. Lucas Jones, Bellarmine
4. Emil Lundgren, Northern Michigan

FHSU Sports Information
The conference doubleheader between Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney, scheduled for Friday night has been moved to Saturday (Apr. 25) at 2 pm, due to forecasted weather in the Hays area.

The doubleheader will still feature both Pack the Stadium and Senior Day events at Tiger Stadium as the Tigers play the rival Lopers in games that will determine each team’s conference tournament fate.

The Pack the Stadium promotion will be a cookout with hamburgers for $3, hot dogs for $2, and bags of chips for $0.50 while supplies last! Admission to the games is FREE. The Tiger softball team will be recognizing three seniors playing their last time at Tiger Stadium between games.

An MIAA Tournament bid will be on the line in the doubleheader. Fort Hays State (12-12 MIAA) enters with a one-game lead in the conference standings on Nebraska-Kearney (11-13), so the Tigers need a split or sweep in hopes of locking down a tournament spot. A sweep of the Lopers would for sure lock up a spot in the tournament. FHSU is currently eighth in the standings and eight teams make the conference tournament. Northeastern State at 9-13 in conference play is still mathematically alive for the eighth spot with doubleheaders against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern this weekend, but one loss would drop them out of the tournament picture.

Fort Hays State is coming off a split in a non-conference doubleheader at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Tigers held on for a 6-5 win in the second game. FHSU is 24-23 overall on the season. UNK enters on a five-game win streak and has an overall record of 17-26.