By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
TOPEKA, Kan. – Both the Tiger offense and pitching shined on the final day of the Washburn Invitational. The Tigers finished the weekend 6-0 and improved to 9-5 overall. They posted a pair of run-rule shutouts, both in five innings, defeating Mary 9-0 and Sioux Falls 14-0. The Tiger offense produced 21 RBIs of the 23 runs scored, while Savanah Egger tossed her third shutout of the weekend and Bailey Carlson also picked up a shutout victory.
Fort Hays State 9, Mary 0
The Tigers generated a run in the first and then erupted for seven in the second to take control of their contest with Mary. They added on another run in the third and Savanah Egger kept the Marauders scoreless over her five innings of work. Egger finished with two strikeouts, while allowing two hits and two walks. She moved to 4-2 on the season.
Loren Beggs had five RBIs in the game. She drove in Peyton Shepard in the first with a ground out. She delivered the big blow in the second with a grand slam, which put the Tigers up 8-0. An error scored the first run of the second for FHSU before Reese Curry knocked home a run and Sarah Tiffany walked with the bases loaded before Beggs’ blast. Tiffany picked up another RBI in the third on a sacrifice fly.
Mary starter Hannah Chambers allowed six runs to the Tigers over 1.1 innings of work. Reliever Nicole Eckhardt allowed the final three.
Fort Hays State 14, Sioux Falls 0
Fort Hays State scored in every inning of its 14-0 shutout of Sioux Falls. It tied the fifth-largest margin of victory for the Tigers in their NCAA Division II history.
Beggs remained hot in the first inning, driving in the first run with a single. Regan Curry followed moments later with a two-RBI double to make it 3-0 after one inning. The Tigers added two in the second with RBI singles from Sarah Tiffany and Madison Pierce. Lilliana Ramirez-Johnsonjumped into the RBI act in the third on a single and the Tigers plated an extra run on the play due to an outfielder error, then Tiffany recorded another RBI single to make it 8-0 after three innings.
Aubrey Martinez drove home a run in the fourth on a double. The Tigers tacked on five more runs in the fifth started by Beggs with her seventh RBI of the day on a double. Carly Stuke was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, then Sydnee Hoffman and Reese Curry each picked up RBI singles. Ramirez-Johnson capped the scoring with another RBI single. FHSU finished with 19 hits in the game.
Bailey Carlson struck out three and allowed just four hits and a walk in her complete game, moving to 3-1 on the season. Kait Van Der Zwaag took the loss allowing five runs and reliever Kennedy Thomas surrendered nine.
The Tigers head to Liberty, Mo. next weekend to face William Jewell in a doubleheader on March 4.
Saturday
TOPEKA, Kan. – Fort Hays State pushed its win streak to four games, now 4-0 at the Washburn Invitational with a pair of wins on Saturday (Feb. 25). The Tigers posted their third straight shutout with a 2-0 win over Rockhurst, then held Wayne State scoreless for six innings in a 6-2 win. Savanah Egger threw her second-straight shutout, while Bailey Carlson flirted with a shutout in a complete-game win.
Friday
TOPEKA, Kan. – Fort Hays State moved back to .500, now 5-5 overall on the season with a pair of shutout wins on day one of the Washburn Invitational in Topeka. The Tigers ran away with their first contest, 13-0 over Minnesota Crookston, before taking their second contest 2-0 over Southwest Minnesota State. Emma Montoya threw a five-inning shutout, followed by a seven-inning shutout by Savanah Egger as the pair combined to punch out 16 batters over 12 innings.
Fort Hays State 13, Minnesota Crookston 0
Fort Hays State took an early 1-0 lead after an inning and then poured on six runs in both the second and third innings to put away Minnesota Crookston.
After Emma Montoya mowed down the first three Golden Eagles by strike out, the Tigers benefitted from a pair of wild pitches to score their first run. In the second inning, singles by Regan Curry and Lexi Mohr and a fielding error by UMC set the table for a big Tiger rally. The first run came in to score on a passed ball, then Peyton Shepard knocked a two-RBI double down the left field line. Madison Piercepicked up an RBI single and another fielding error allowed the Tigers to plate their fifth run of the inning. Mohr walked with the bases loaded to make it 7-0 after two innings.
Carly Stuke got the scoring started in the third by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Aubrey Martinez followed with a 2-RBI single, Regan Curry added an RBI single, and then Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson had a 2-RBI single to account for all of the Tiger scoring.
UMC did not have a runner get past second base as Montoya finished with 10 strikeouts in just a five-inning run rule shutout. She allowed two hits and two walks, while picking up her first win of the season. Charlott Dombrowski took the loss for UMC, allowing seven runs (five earned) over 1.2 innings in her start.
Fort Hays State 2, Southwest Minnesota State 0
Savanah Egger retired the first nine batters she faced and the Tigers did all of their offensive damage for the game during that stretch. Regan Curry set the table for the first run in the second with a leadoff triple. Lexi Mohr put a sacrifice bunt down to score Curry. Carly Stuke added the second run in the third when she wheeled all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Egger allowed her first hit in the fourth inning and went on to get five of the final six outs by strikeout over the sixth and seventh innings. She struck out six and allowed just three hits with no walks.