HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State split a pair of games on Sunday (Feb. 14) against Regis University. Regis won the first game 11-6 before FHSU was able to salvage the final game of the three-game weekend series. FHSU moved to 3-3 overall on the season, while Regis starts its year at 2-1.
Regis 11, Fort Hays State 6
Regis put four runs on the board in a hurry in the first game, opening with two singles, a hit batter, and then a grand slam. FHSU starter Kyle Vogt shook off the rough start and held Regis scoreless over the next two innings. He ran into more trouble in the mid-innings as Regis scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth, and was responsible for the first run scored in the sixth.
FHSU could not put up much resistance against Regis starter Chris Quackenbush in the early going. The Tigers took advantage of a Regis error in the fourth to plate two runs, but Quackenbush went 6.0 strong innings not allowing an earned run. He handed the ball over to the bullpen before the start of the seventh with a 10-2 lead.
The Tigers touched up Regis’ first reliever Jake Griffith for four runs in just two-thirds of an inning, bringing the margin to 10-6, but that was the last of the run scoring for FHSU. Relievers Casey Kennedy and Nick DiPaola combined to throw the final 2.1 innings with just three hits allowed. Regis added an insurance run in the ninth.
Austin Unrein had three RBI in the game with his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the four-run seventh for FHSU. Clayton Basgall had a two-RBI single in the fourth, and Caleb Cherryholmes tallied an RBI single in the seventh.
Fort Hays State 9, Regis 4
Fort Hays State took an early advantage in the second game when Connor Ross drove home a run in the first inning. It was the start of a four-RBI game for Ross as he recorded three hits in the contest.
Regis came back with three runs in the third, all uneared, but the Tigers answered with two in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run by Joe Mapes, who also had three hits in the game.
Both teams scored runs in the fifth before FHSU broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh on a Ross RBI single. The floodgates came open in the eighth as Austin Unrein started a four-run rally with an RBI single. Mapes followed with an RBI double and Ross drove home two with another single.
Justin Hersch allowed only one earned run over 4.2 innings of work in his start. He gave up seven hits and two walks, but struck out four. Jackson Rolfs entered and worked 2.1 innings to move to 2-0 on the season. He allowed only two hits and struck out two. With FHSU leading 5-4, Giles Fox saved the win for Rolfs entering in the eighth to keep a runner stranded on the base paths. Fox went 2.0 innings and struck out four to earn his first save of the season.
Alex Weiss, like Ross and Mapes, recorded three hits in the game and had one RBI in the fifth to get the game tied at 4-4.
Fort Hays State has four games scheduled on the road next week. The Tigers head to Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Wednesday before traveling to Golden, Colo., to take on Colorado Mines over the weekend.