FHSU Sports Information Department
KEARNEY, Neb. – Needing just one win on Saturday (Apr. 23) to secure a spot in the MIAA Tournament, Fort Hays State punched its ticket with a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska-Kearney. The Tigers secured the tournament berth with a 4-2 win in game one, then rallied in the nightcap for a 7-6 win in eight innings.
With the wins, Fort Hays State improved to 19-28 overall and finished 13-13 in MIAA play. The sweep pulled FHSU into a tie for sixth with Central Missouri in the standings. However, FHSU will have the No. 7 seed in the MIAA Tournament since Central Missouri owned the tiebreaking criteria on FHSU for the higher seed. FHSU will play No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State in the opening round.
The MIAA Tournament has a new home this year, the famed ASA Hall of Fame Stadium complex in Oklahoma City. The tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday (April 28-30). Hall of Fame Stadium is home of the NCAA Division I Softball World Series. The stadium field has three other fields next to it, so all four fields will have opening round games on Thursday starting at 5 pm.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 4, Nebraska-Kearney 2
Fort Hays State did all of its damage in the first and second innings and then held on to earn a berth in the MIAA Tournament with a 4-2 win.
A pair of doubles in the first inning produced the first run for FHSU. Rilee Krier led off the game with a double, then after a Tori Beltz walk, Samantha Villarreal doubled home Krier to make it 1-0. The walk for Beltz gave her the FHSU career record for walks, her 80th.
Beltz provided the blow in the second for FHSU. With the bases loaded and two outs, she roped a double down the left field line that cleared the bases, pushing the FHSU lead to 4-0.
That was enough for Paxton Duran, who battled through pressure situations to spoil any hope of the Lopers making the MIAA Tournament. She struck out five and walked three, while scattering eight hits in the complete-game effort.
Nebraska-Kearney got single runs in the fourth and sixth innings on solo home runs. In the seventh, UNK led off with a double and single. After a steal of second, Duran had to battle through runners at second and third with no outs. The first out was a weak grounder to first base, stranding the runners, then the second was a pop out to shortstop. Duran then struck out pinch hitter Kayla Carter to end the game.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 7, Nebraska-Kearney 6 (8 inn.)
Fort Hays State put together a big late-inning rally to get the doubleheader sweep of the Lopers and secure the No. 7 seed in the MIAA Tournament. Trailing 5-0 through four innings, the Tigers scored one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and three in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. UNK scored a run in the seventh to force extra innings, but the Tiger offense stayed hot and scored the decisive run in the eighth.
Carrie Clarke struggled to find the third out of the first inning as four consecutive hits with two outs plated four runs for the Lopers. The Lopers got greedy on a double to the gap, trying to score all three runners on base and the runner from first was cut down at the plate by centerfielder Claudia Vazquez to end the inning. UNK tacked on a solo homer in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Even with the rough start, Clarke settled in to hold the Lopers scoreless in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
Getting no-hit through the first 3.1 innings of the game, Courtney Dobson finally notched the first Tiger hit in the fourth. The Tigers finally broke through in the fifth on the speed of Rilee Krier. She had a bunt single then moved to third on a single by Vazquez. She took advantage of a passed ball to score, making it 5-1.
Dobson was the spark in a two-run sixth inning for the Tigers. Her leadoff double set up an RBI single by Madeline LaPolla and then Erin Elmore added another RBI single to make it 5-3.
In the seventh, Vazquez worked a leadoff walk and Tori Beltz singled to put runners at first and second, then a fielding error off the bat of Samantha Villarreal loaded the bases with no outs. Dobson showed patience and drove home the first run with a grounder to the right side that was nearly mishandled. Mackenzie Villarreal tied up the game with an RBI single to left field, then a RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Kylie Strand plated the go-ahead run for FHSU.
Paxton Duran entered in the seventh looking to pick up a save and had UNK down to its last strike, but a shot back up the middle by Kami Merrill deflected off Duran and allowed the tying run to score from third. A leadoff walk led to the tying run.
In the eighth, Krier reached by error and a Vazquez bunt single put runners at the corners with one out. Beltz hit a ball deep to left center field for a sacrifice fly RBI to score Krier from third and put the Tigers back in front. Duran shut the door on the Lopers in the bottom half of the inning, retiring the side in order to give FHSU the win.
Fort Hays State will play a non-conference doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday in Hays to close out the regular season. It will be Senior Day at Tiger Stadium with games starting at 2 pm. It will be the final home games for seniors Paxton Duran, Tori Beltz, Courtney Dobson, Rilee Krier, and Erin Elmore.