By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State picked up a pair of wins and ran its win streak to eight-straight games in a sweep of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday (Mar. 25). The Tigers celebrated the official naming ceremony of Fleharty Family Field with wins by scores of 2-0 and 10-2 (6 inn.). The Tigers are now 21-10 overall, 4-2 in the MIAA, while the Lopers moved to 12-18 overall, 3-3 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 2, Nebraska-Kearney 0
Savanah Egger spun a two-hit shutout in the first contest of the day. She struck out five Lopers and yielded three walks in her complete-game effort, moving to 10-4 on the season. It was her fourth-straight complete game, now with an 0.80 ERA and two shutouts in that stretch that goes back to March 15 at CSU Pueblo.
Regan Curry got the Tigers on the board in the second inning with a smash RBI single to third base that was too hot for the UNK fielder to handle. It scored Sydnee Hoffman as the ball trickled off down the left field line. Peyton Shepard provided the other RBI for the Tigers in the fifth on a triple to center field, scoring Reese Curry. Loren Beggs led the Tigers with two hits in the game, one being a double. Madison Pierce and Lexi Mohr also had doubles, which set up the runs for FHSU after Hoffman and Reese Curry replaced them as pinch runners.
UNK pitcher Sydney Thomason and Avery Wood had the only hits for UNK. Thomason went the distance for UNK with six hits allowed and a walk. She struck out three and now stands at 6-3 on the season.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 10, Nebraska-Kearney 2
The Tigers grabbed the initial lead in the second contest with a run in the first before UNK slipped past with two in the third. FHSU immediately bounced back in the bottom of the third with three runs to take the lead back 4-2. They tacked on two runs in each inning to follow, running away with a 10-2 run-rule victory in a game that saw conditions turn poor in a hurry in about the fourth inning. The last couple of innings were played in strong winds, with a mix of drizzle and flurries as a front passed through Hays.
An RBI groundout by Madison Pierce in the first inning put the Tigers up 1-0. Bailey Carlson yielded the only two runs of her complete-game effort in the third on a pair of weak contact groundouts that allowed runners to score from third. The Tigers shook that off when an RBI bunt single by Sarah Tiffany in the bottom half of the inning tied the game at 2-2. She later came in to score on Pierce’s second RBI, this time on a fielder’s choice. Then Carly Stuke doubled home Pierce to make it 4-2.
Adysen Burghart notched an RBI on a ground out in the fourth and Tiffany added her third hit of the game, an RBI double to right center making in 6-2. In the fifth, Stuke rifled a ball over the left center field wall for a 2-run homer making it 8-2. The Tigers ended the game in the sixth when a wild pitch plated their ninth run and then Stuke drew a bases loaded walk to end the game by run rule.
Stuke finished the game with a team-high four RBIs, while Tiffany and Pierce each cashed in two chances. Tiffany led the Tigers with three hits, while Stuke and Loren Beggseach had two knocks.
Carlson finished with seven hits allowed and one walk, while striking out five. She moved to 7-3 on the season with her fourth-straight complete game win, going back to March 14 at MSU Denver. She has a 1.30 ERA in that stretch.
Faith Gaynor took the loss for UNK, allowing six runs in 3.0 innings of work. Stacy Bott pitched the final 2.1 innings and allowed four runs. Each had one strikeout.
The Tigers head south for a midweek doubleheader at Southwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday (Mar. 28) in Weatherford, Okla. Action is set to begin at 1 p.m.