Baseball is back in Hays on Saturday (Feb. 13) as the Fort Hays State baseball team takes to Larks Park for the first time in 2016 with a three game series against Regis University. The series was initially scheduled to be played in Denver, Colo., but with uncertain field conditions due to moisture, the series moves to Hays. The Tigers will be the home team throughout the series.
Instead of a one-game-a-day format, the series will be played as a single game on Saturday at 3 pm, and a doubleheader on Sunday starting at noon. All games will be nine inning contests.
The Tigers are off to a 2-1 start on the young season and won their season opener for the first time since 2012 in a 12-9 10-inning affair against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday (Feb. 6). The Tigers took the middle game of the series by the score of 9-7 on Sunday, then dropped the finale on Monday, 15-12.
The Tigers have incorporated speed into their offensive arsenal, averaging 1.67 stolen base per game so far after only 0.83 per game in 2015. Offense was the key to Fort Hays State’s early success as six players have four or more hits and nine of the 11 position players have at least one RBI through three games.
Connor Ross, Austin Unrein, Alex Weiss, and Caleb Cherryholmes were all scorching hot at the plate in the opening series for the Tigers. Ross went 8-for-14 (.571) with two doubles, a home run, five runs scored, and nine RBI. Unrein led the team in hits going 9-for-16 (.563) and stolen bases (2), scored five runs and added three RBI. Weiss was an extra base machine with five of his six hits going for at least two bags (four doubles and one home run), while collecting six RBI of his own. Cherryholmes had five hits to his name going 5-for-12 (.417), with two doubles, four RBI, while getting plunked five times for an on-base percentage of .588.
The weekend matchup will be the first games of the year for the Rangers after a 20-30 season in 2015. Returning 14 starters, Regis will have an experienced group of players taking the field in Hays, including three returning All-RMAC performers from 2015, designated hitter Ty Overboe, second baseman Drew Lacomb, and pitcher Matt Heibult.