BY CAYDEN SANDERS
PHOTOS BY MADISON SHAPLAND
The Fort Hays State baseball team looked to get back into the win column Tuesday, as they entered yesterday’s contest riding a six-game losing streak. After getting swept by previous opponent Pitt State, the Tigers faced the Newman Jets for a midweek game.
The previous game between the Tigers and Jets ended in a 15-10 Tiger win on March 15th in Wichita. However, it was Newman extending their own streak, picking up their third consecutive win, 18-6.
Tuesday’s game was going to be difficult for both teams as the wind was a major factor, blowing 30 mph from the right-field foul line to the left-field wall.
“On a day like today in Larks Park with the wind blowing as much as it is, you need to be offensively ready to put the ball into play,” FHSU Head Coach Jerod Goodale said. “Especially when you have the wind blowing to the left-field wall, you don’t need to put much onto the ball and the ball will fly out of the park.”
Fort Hays got on the scoreboard first with an RBI hit bringing Jenner Kehe around to score in the bottom of the first. The Jets did not let the Tigers keep the lead for long as they had back-to-back home runs in the top of the second to lead 2-1. Newman scored another two runs in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th innings. The Jets’ offense did not stop there as they used the 9th inning to increase their lead to 18-1, as they tallied on 8 more.
“Normally you preach to the guys not to pop up and make the defense make the play to get the out but on days like today, you want to make the ball in the air and let the wind take it. Watching the game, it seemed that when we did make contact on the ball we were hitting for line drives and ground balls.” Goodale said.
The Tigers’ offense came alive in the bottom of the 9th but it was too little too late for FHSU. The Tigers are back on the road this weekend to take on the Missouri Southern State Lions in Joplin, Missouri.
