Fort Hays State University Softball heads north to St. Cloud, Minn., this weekend for the Kelly Laas Memorial MIAA/NSIC Crossover Softball Invite, taking on five regional opponents from the NSIC over three days (Feb. 20-22). Games will be held at the Husky Dome on the campus of St. Cloud State. The Tigers will take on Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 10 a.m., then face St. Cloud State (5 p.m.) and Minnesota State-Mankato (7 p.m.) on Saturday. The weekend ends two games on Sunday against Wayne State College (8 a.m.) and Augustana College (10 a.m.).FHSU (1-3) opened its season last weekend at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark., defeating Truman for FHSU head coach Adrian Mohr‘s first collegiate win while dropping narrow decisions to Minnesota-Duluth, then-No. 13 Missouri-St. Louis and Arkansas-Monticello. Despite the three losses, FHSU had several bright spots on the weekend, putting runners in scoring position in the final inning of each loss, taking a lead into the final inning against UMSL.Individually, Tori Beltz had a breakout weekend at the plate, leading the team with a .500 average, a double and a home run while freshman Veronica Knittig had two home runs and a .444 average to go with five RBI in her first weekend as a Tiger. Also above the .400 mark was Samantha Villarreal, who finished the weekend 5-for-11 (.455) at the plate. As a team, FHSU hit .316 and saw five Tigers finish above .300 in the first weekend.From the circle, Kelsey Kimminau (1-1) had two complete games while compiling a 1.75 ERA in 12 innings pitched with eight strikeouts. Paxton Duran (0-2) threw 11 innings on the weekend, striking out 14 while holding batters to a .286 average. Combined, the Tigers’ pitching staff posted a 3.11 ERA on the weekend as batters hit just .267 against them.
Preview capsules of this weekend’s opponents
Concordia-St. Paul (0-0)St. Cloud State (2-3)Minnesota State-Mankato (0-4)Wayne State (0-0)Augustana (3-2)
Picked to finish seventh in the NSIC Preseason Coaches’ Poll … Top offensive returner is Teona Zepeda, who hit .399 with a .421 on-base percentage last season, scoring a team-high 40 runs with a 24-for-25 performance in stolen bases … Top pitcher returning is Stephanie Kappes, who had 40 appearances (33 starts) with 159 strikeouts in 223.1 innings pitched.
Opened the season last weekend at the Desert Stinger in Las Vegas … Jessica Goerger leading the team with a .538 average in five starts, hitting two doubles … Abby Bunnell hitting .385 and has gone 4-for-4 on stolen bases this season … In the circle, Megan Hedstrom is 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA, 10 innings pitched and five strikeouts … As a team, SCSU is hitting .240 and has a 7.54 combined ERA.
Dropped all four games at the 8-State Classic last weekend … Ashley Thell leads the team offensively with a .417 average, four RBI, one double and one home run … As a team, the Mavericks are hitting just .204 while holding an 11.60 ERA … The team’s leading pitcher, Coley Ries, has struck out 18 in 13.2 innings pitched.
Picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches’ Poll … Sara Scheffert returns as an All-NSIC First Team pick from last year, finishing 2014 with an 18-13 record and a 2.74 ERA, throwing 19 complete games … Kaiti Williams was First Team All-NSIC as well, hitting .440 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI … WSC finished last season 35-18 overall and return eight position starters and its entire pitching staff.
Opened the season at the Desert Stinger in Las Vegas last week … Hitting .288 as a team with a 4.47 ERA … An All-American selection last year, Jenelle Trautmann leads the team with a .571 average through the first five games, hitting three home runs in the first weekend of the season … Trautmann is 2-0 from the circle as well, second on the team with a 3.67 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched (16 strikeouts) … Team’s leader in ERA is Karlee Koopman (3.00), who is 1-0 with one complete game on the year.