FHSU Sports Information Department
OKLAHOMA CITY – Fort Hays State saw its 2016 season come to an end on Thursday (Apr. 28) as it fell twice on the opening night of the MIAA Tournament. Northwest Missouri State defeated the Tigers by run-rule in the opening round, 10-0 in five innings, then FHSU fell 1-0 to Central Missouri in the elimination game that followed.
Northwest Missouri State 10, Fort Hays State 0
Northwest Missouri State rallied for two unearned runs in the first inning with two outs and never looked back as they scored 10 runs on 10 hits in a run-rule decision over the Tigers.
Jessica Rawie broke the game open for NWMSU in the third with a three-run homer to make it 5-0, then she hit another three-run homer that was part of a five-run fourth for NWMSU to make it 10-0.
The Tigers scratched out just two hits over five innings against NWMSU starter Kendle Schieber. Paxton Duran had a double and Rilee Krier had a single. Duran took the loss in the circle, with eight runs earned and just two strikeouts.
Central Missouri 1, Fort Hays State 0
After a frustrating first game in the circle, Paxton Duran held Central Missouri scoreless for six innings in the nightcap. However, the Jennies scored the game’s only run on a seeing-eye single up the middle by Ali Jo Rogers to plate a runner from second in the seventh inning. Fort Hays State had a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh, but could not find a way to get a run across to extend the game.
Duran scattered two hits and struck out three, finishing the season at 15-19 overall. She became the second Fort Hays State player to reach 200 strikeouts in a season. She finished with 202 for the season. Duran threw the second most innings in a single season at FHSU, coming up just 0.2 innings shy of the record held by Kayla Rupa. Rupa had 225.0 innings in a season, Duran had 224.1 this year, and Maddie Holub had 224.0 in a season.
Tori Beltz had two hits in the game, a double and a single. Claudia Vazquez, Duran, Kylie Strand, and Erin Elmore all recorded one hit in the game.
Allison Tonyan, who took the loss in relief for Central Missouri in game one, kept Fort Hays State hitters off balance throughout the game and moved to 10-8 on the season with the shutout win.
Fort Hays State finished the season at 21-30 overall.