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. An Austin 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 Strunk knocked 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.