By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State improved to 18-10 overall with a doubleheader sweep of Colorado School of Mines on Tuesday at Tiger Stadium. FHSU won game one by run rule, 8-0 in five innings, then completed 12 innings of shutout ball against CSM with a 2-0 win in game two. The Orediggers dropped to 11-17 overall. Savanah Egger tied her career high for strikeouts in the first game in just five innings, while Bailey Carlson continued a strong stretch of pitching with her third straight complete game.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 8, Colorado School of Mines 0 (5 inn.)
Fort Hays State took control of game one with a five-run first inning and then tacked on one in the third and two in the fourth before Savanah Egger sealed a run-rule victory in the fifth.
Peyton Shepard started the first-inning rally with a single, then Carly Stuke was hit by a pitch and Sarah Tiffany beat out a bunt for a single to load the bases. Loren Beggsimmediately put two runs on the board with a double to the right-center gap, then Tiffany came in to score the third run on a passed ball. Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson recorded the first out of the inning on a sacrifice fly RBI that scored Beggs. Madison Pierce doubled and then came in to score on a Regan Curry RBI single.
Back-to-back singles by Ramirez-Johnson and Pierce in the third set up the sixth run for the Tigers, scored on a sacrifice fly RBI by Curry. Three straight singles by Lexi Mohr, Shepard, and Stuke in the fourth set up the final two runs for the Tigers. Tiffany drove in the first on a fielder’s choice, then Beggs picked up her third RBI of the game on a single.
Egger recorded at least two strikeouts in every inning and finished with just one hit allowed, that being a single up the middle in the third by Kendall Aragon. Egger even notched herself the rare four-strikeout inning in the third when one of her strikeouts reached base by wild pitch. Egger tied her career high for strikeouts in a game with 12, matching her total from seven-inning complete games against Rockhurst this season (Feb. 25) and Truman last season (Mar. 5, 2022). She moved to 8-4 on the season with her MIAA-leading fifth shutout of the season.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 2, Colorado School of Mines 0
Game two was a pitcher’s duel between Bailey Carlson of FHSU and Allison Westbrook of Colorado School of Mines. Though Westbrook allowed fewer hits, Carlson kept Colorado School of Mines scoreless all seven innings for a 2-0 complete-game victory. The decisive blow was a two-run home run by Regan Curry in the fourth inning, which accounted for the game’s scoring.
Carlson retired the first seven batters she faced before Colorado School of Mines collected its first of seven hits in the game. A runner caught stealing by Madison Pierce in the third was a big difference in keeping the Orediggers scoreless, since they had three hits in that inning. Carlson worked around two hits in the fifth and finished her shutout in the seventh after giving up a two-out double. She had two strikeouts in the game, both in the sixth inning with a CSM runner at second base. Carlson is now 6-3 on the season.
Westbrook allowed only three hits to the Tigers and walked three. She struck out one in the tough-luck loss as she now stands at 1-1 on the season.
Fort Hays State and Colorado School of Mines will play another doubleheader on Wednesday (Mar. 22) starting at 12 p.m. FHSU enters with a five-game win streak.