FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State takes to the diamond again this weekend in Arkansas at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville. The tournament lasts over three days (Feb. 17-19) as the Tigers will play two games each day. Outside of a non-conference game against Southwest Baptist of the MIAA, the Tigers will meet five Great American Conference teams at the event.
Live stats will not be available due to the massive size of the tournament. Thirty Division II colleges from the Midwest compete at this tournament, which has seven fields of action going at one time. Here is a link to the entire tournament schedule… 8-State Classic Schedule.
Live updates of the games will be given on Twitter as they are made available.
Friday
FHSU vs. Henderson State – 9 am
The Tigers face Henderson State to open up the weekend on Friday morning. This will be the second meeting all-time against HSU. Fort Hays State won the first meeting back in 2013 by a score of 7-1. Henderson State finished 35-26 overall last year and placed sixth in the GAC standings. The Reddies are off to a 2-6 start this season.
FHSU vs. Southern Nazarene – 3 pm
Fort Hays State and Southern Nazarene will meet for the first time since 2014. The Tigers are 2-0 all-time against SNU as they won the 2014 contest by a score of 9-4. The Crimson Storm finished eighth in the GAC last year, posting an overall mark of 28-31 and conference mark of 18-26. SNU has started the season 1-3 overall.
Saturday
FHSU vs. Southwest Baptist – 11 am
Fort Hays State meets Southwest Baptist in a non-conference contest on Saturday morning. This is the second straight week the Tigers are meeting an MIAA team in a tournament. FHSU fell last week to Missouri Southern in the same type of meeting 16-14. FHSU split its conference doubleheader with SBU last year in Hays. SBU finished eighth in the MIAA last year right behind FHSU at 24-35 overall and 12-14 in conference play. The Bearcats are off to a 2-2 start overall.
FHSU vs. Southern Arkansas – 1 pm
The Tigers meet Southern Arkansas in a neutral-site game for the second straight year. SAU was the season-opening opponent last year for FHSU and SAU won that contest 13-0 to even up the all-time series at 1-1. Southern Arkansas went on to win the Central Regional title last year and was one of eight teams to compete at the NCAA Championship site in Denver, Colo. SAU fell just a win shy of competing in the National Championship 3-game series. The Muleriders finished last season at 53-11 overall and are off to a 7-1 start this year. They are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation.
Sunday
FHSU vs. East Central – 1 pm
Fort Hays State meets East Central (Okla.) for the first time since 2014. ECU was the season-opening opponent for FHSU that year with FHSU winning the contest 7-3. ECU finished last year at 25-31 overall and 21-21 in conference, good for a seventh-place finish in the GAC. East Central is off to a 5-1 start this season.
FHSU vs. Ouachita Baptist – 3 pm
Fort Hays State meets Ouachita Baptist for the first time ever on Sunday. OBU finished 11th in the GAC last year with an overall record of 19-32 and a conference mark of 11-30. Ouachita is off to a 5-1 start this season with a 2-1 record against MIAA teams so far.