By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Fort Hays State baseball team fell short in a Saturday (Feb. 29) duel with Pittsburg State, losing 11-5. The Gorillas (9-7, 1-1) blew the game open with seven runs in the fifth inning, which proved insurmountable for the Tigers. Fort Hays State (11-7, 1-1 MIAA) will look to take the rubber game of the series on Sunday (March 1) with first pitch set for noon.
Both the Tigers and Gorillas remained scoreless through three innings of play before FHSU broke the tie in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI double from Jared Maneth, plating Corbin Truslow for the first run of the game. Pittsburg State quickly responed with a single run of its own in the home half of the fourth.
FHSU countered the Gorillas by adding a second run in the top of the fifth. With one out, Jaxson Webb got the inning going with a double down the left field line. Jeb Sauer knocked Webb in with a single up the middle to give the Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
The Gorillas took a commanding lead with seven runs on five hits and three free bases, leading 8-2 after five innings.
The Tigers tacked on three runs later in the game, but Pittsburg State immediately responded with a three-spot in the eighth. Grant Schmidt drove in Tyler Olson with an seventh-inning single before Maneth added another RBI with a sac fly in the eighth. Olson capped off the scoring with a single to center, scoring Truslow in the eighth.
Padraic Walsh (1-3) took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings of work. The junior struck out six batters on the day and walked just one. Jacob Steinbring tossed 2.1 effective innings of relief, allowing two unearned runs on three hits while striking out three batters.
Brunson, Olson and Schmidt all collected multiple hits for the Tigers, while Jared Maneth led the Tiger offense with two RBI.