By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
OKLAHOMA CITY – Fort Hays State fell in its first game of five over the weekend in Oklahoma on Friday (Feb. 14). The Tigers battled to a 1-1 tie up until the sixth inning when Oklahoma Christian rallied for seven runs. Oklahoma Christian, an NCAA Tournament participant from last year, won 8-1 moving to 10-2 overall on the season, while FHSU moved to 4-2 overall.
The Tiger bats struggled to find hits on Friday evening, scratching out just three. The biggest of the three came from Alexis Velazquez with two outs in the third. After Oklahoma Christian used a pair of walks and a pair of singles in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead, Velazquez responded with the clutch base knock in the third, scoring Terran Caldwell from third. Caldwell reached by error to open the inning.
Kristen Reed gave the Tigers their final hit of the game to lead off the top of the sixth. Unfortunately, it did not spark a rally as the left fielder made a diving catch on a looping fly ball off the bat of Velazquez in the next at bat. A strike out and pop up left Reed stranded at first and the score still knotted 1-1 going into the bottom half of the inning.
With the exception of the one run allowed in the second inning, FHSU starter Hailey Chapman was able to work around runners in scoring position in the first, third, and fifth innings. However, she could not find put away pitches in the sixth in key two-strike situations. Chapman was up 1-2 in the count to start the inning, but Oklahoma Christian’s Daelyn Denny fouled off a pair of pitches and worked the count full. She then sat on a pitch on the outer half of the plate and drove the ball into right-center field for a leadoff triple. It was the start of a big Eagle rally.
Chapman got the next batter to pop up, leaving the runner at third momentarily, but could not escape danger from there on out. Kelsey Gammage laced the first pitch she saw into center field, plating the go-ahead run for the Eagles. However, instead of limiting damage and giving the offense a chance in the seventh, Tiger pitchers were unable to stop the bleeding. A single, double steal, and a walk loaded the bases. Like in the key at bat to open the inning, Chapman had Katelyn Dunckel down two strikes right away, but Dunckel pushed a ball on a 1-2 count through the right side of the infield for a single plating two more runs. Chapman walked another batter before yielding the ball to Michaelanne Nelson looking for the final out. Nelson had a two-strike count on pinch hitter Karrah Dean, but made a mistake over the heart of the plate that Dean drove over the left-center field wall for a grand slam. Oklahoma Christian tallied seven runs in the sixth, six on hits with two-strike counts.
Following her grand slam, Dean came in to pitch in the seventh and retired the Tiger side by surrendering just a walk. She spelled Eagle starter Kali Crandall, who struck out eight in her six innings of work. Crandall moved to 5-0 on the season. Crandall nearly replicated her performance against the Tigers from a year before. In 2019, she shut the Tigers out on four hits with 10 strikeouts through seven innings of work. This time she allowed just three hits in six innings, and the one run allowed was unearned.
Chapman took the loss for FHSU, moving to 2-2. She allowed nine hits and six walks in 5.2 innings, while registering one strikeout. Four of the nine hits and two of the six walks occurred in the sixth inning.
The Tigers look to scrap Friday’s finish and look forward to a new day Saturday when they play back-to-back games against St. Edward’s and Chadron State. Both games are at Broncho Softball Stadium in Edmond, the home of the University of Central Oklahoma softball team. Games are at 10 am and 12 pm.