BY FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Softball begins a 20-game road stretch on Thursday and Friday (Mar. 12-13) by heading to Oklahoma for a pair of MIAA doubleheaders. The Tigers take on No. 17 ranked Rogers State in Claremore on Thursday at 2 pm before heading to Tahlequah to face Northeastern State at 11 am on Friday. The games have been moved up a day earlier due to a threat of inclement weather.
Like Fort Hays State, both Rogers State and Northeastern State are out to 2-2 starts in MIAA play. Northeastern State split with both Central Oklahoma and Newman, while Rogers State swept Newman but lost twice to Central Oklahoma. Fort Hays State dropped a pair to Central Missouri in Hays last weekend before bouncing back in a sweep of Lincoln.
Rogers State jumped out to a 17-4 start to the year, but lost four of six contests last week and now sits at 19-8. Outside of the two losses to Central Oklahoma last weekend, the Hillcats dropped a pair to nationally ranked Texas A&M-Commerce earlier in the week. Northeastern State has went 5-5 in its last 10 contests, but sits at 14-8 overall.
Since a doubleheader sweep of Kansas Wesleyan in mid-February, the Tigers have posted a record of 7-7. The Tigers are 15-11 overall for the season. Katie Adler leads FHSU in batting average at .365, while starting every game at second base this season. The Tigers have a pitching staff ERA of 3.12 for the season, led by Michaelanne Nelson with a 1.87 ERA and 7-4 record. The Tigers are nearly averaging a strikeout per inning with 171 in 177 innings pitched.
FHSU and Rogers State have met just twice before this year, playing single contests in 2018 and 2019. Rogers State won both of those contests by shutout. The Hillcats are a new member of the MIAA this year, along with Newman University. Last year, FHSU and Northeastern State split a doubleheader in Hays. The all-time series between the Tigers and RiverHawks is knotted 9-9.