It took a second championship game on Sunday, but the Fort Hays State softball team battled from an early 2-0 deficit to win 7-4 to seal the MIAA Tournament Championship and possibly its chance to be a host location for the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament next week. Fort Hays State fell in game one 1-0 before overtaking the Hornets in game two to move to 45-10 overall on the season.
Erin Kinberger Postgame Interview
Game 1: Emporia State 1, Fort Hays State 0
Game one was a pitcher’s dual between Maddie Holub and Karley Schmelzer of Emporia State. The teams were locked in a scoreless tie through six innings until ESU broke through with a run in the seventh. The leadoff batter was hit by a pitch, then came in to score on a pinch hit, two-out RBI single by Jessica Gragg.
Schmelzer pitched her second straight shutout of the day after defeating Central Oklahoma 1-0 in the elimination game just prior to determine the Tigers’ opponent.
Holub took just her second loss of the season, going to 27-2 overall. She allowed six hits and struck out seven. Schmelzer moved to 30-8 on the season with the win with three hits and five walks allowed and nine strikeouts.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 7, Emporia State 4
Emporia State grabbed the momentum in game two out of the gate when Tricia Vogel hit a two-run home run in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
From that point, freshman starting pitcher Paxton Duran settled in to hold the Hornets scoreless over the next three innings. She allowed five hits and struck out two. The Tigers capitalized on a Hornet error in the third when Bianca Adame struck out on a ball in the dirt, but an errant throw down the right field line from the ESU catcher allowed her to go all the way to third base on the error. Freshman Courtney Dobson made the Hornets pay with a two-out RBI single to make it 2-1.
Jordan Jones relieved Duran in the fifth and worked around an error to start the inning to keep the Hornets’ offense at bay.
Karley Schmelzer was pitching for the third straight game for ESU and the Tigers finally broke through against her in the fifth. Jenna Lang triggered the rally with a single and then Kellsi Olsen was hit by a pitch. Bianca Adame then singled up the middle to load the bases with one out.
Dobson proved to be clutch once again for the Tigers, flaring a single into left center field to tie the game at 2-2. Maddie Holub followed with a RBI single to right field to give FHSU its first lead of the day. Danie Brinkmann promptly followed with a RBI single up the middle, then Amanda Vaupel hit a missle to the right-center gap to plate two more runs and make it 6-2. The Tigers strung together five consecutive hits in the outburst.
Fort Hays State tacked on an insurance run in the sixth as Jenna Lang scored from second base on a throwing error by Schmelzer to first base.
Holub entered the game to pitch after the five-run inning and she pushed the Tigers to victory over the last two innings. Despite giving up a two-out, two-run home run in the seventh, she did not have any other trouble closing the door on Fort Hays State’s first-ever MIAA Tournament Championship in softball. It’s the first conference championship for FHSU softball since 2003 when the Tigers won the RMAC Tournament.
The NCAA Tournament selection show will be at 9:30 am on Monday morning. The Tigers will find out their first round opponent and site at that time. This is the second-ever appearance for FHSU in the NCAA Tournament.
-FHSU Sports Information-
Hays High senior Chandler Rule will play baseball for the Fort Hays State University Tigers next season. Chandler follows his brother Kelton to FHSU, who just finished his senior season for the Tigers.
