By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Softball fell twice to conference-leading Missouri Southern on Sunday (Apr. 2) at Fleharty Family Field. The Tigers scored only one run on the day, falling 6-0 and 9-1. Errors were also costly to the Tigers as only five of 15 runs scored by the Lions on the day were earned. FHSU moved to 24-13 overall, 6-4 in the MIAA, while MSSU moved to 26-7 overall and 11-1 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Missouri Southern 6, Fort Hays State 0
Missouri Southern took an early lead with back-to-back doubles in the second inning of what was shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel in the opening contest. However, an error committed by the Tigers to open the fifth inning led to four unearned runs by the Lions. A triple cleared the bases for three of four runs in the inning. Morgan Schmidt relieved Savanah Egger with two outs in the fifth and went on to allow just one earned run in the sixth when the Lions tripled and singled.
The Tigers had the chance to break through early with back-to-back singles to open the game by Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany. Each stole a bag to set up a golden opportunity with runners at second and third, but three straight strikeouts by the Tigers left the game scoreless.
From that point, the Tigers collected just three more hits off Missouri Southern starter Bailey Lacy, who threw a complete game shutout. She struck out eight Tigers and walked just one, moving to 8-0 on the season. Egger moved to 11-5 on the year, picking up two strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work. Morgan Schmidt struck out three and allowed two hits in her 2.1 innings of relief.
Game 2: Missouri Southern 9, Fort Hays State 1
A tough call against the Tigers in the first inning gave the Lions another early lead in the second contest. A throw to cut down the lead runner at the plate led Madison Pierce to a point where she caught the ball and immediately tagged the runner coming home. But the umpires got together and decided to call obstruction, though Pierce had no time to make an adjustment of where she was due to where the throw took her.
The Tigers bounced back in the bottom half of the inning for their only run of the day to knot the score at 1-1. Peyton Shepard led off with a chopper single and then a throwing error allowed Sarah Tiffany to reach base. Moments later, Shepard came in to score on a Regan Currysacrifice fly RBI.
The Lions immediately took advantage of a mental miscue by the Tigers in the second. Adrianna Young doubled down the right field line and thought she had a triple, but teammate Ashlynn Williams put on the brakes in front of her at third base and left Young stranded between second and third. But in the Tigers’ haste to try to get Young, Williams then broke for home and scored and Young moved over to third on the throw home. Emily Perry then put down a bunt single for an RBI and it was 3-1 Lions in the blink of an eye.
A two-out error by the Tigers in the fourth ballooned into six unearned runs by the Lions. The error allowed the first run of the inning to score, then a single scored another run. At that point, Bailey Carlson turned the ball over to Morgan Schmidt, who could not find an out and gave up three straight hits which plated three more runs. Emma Montoya relieved and surrendered a run-scoring double before eventually getting the final out of the inning. The three runs Schmidt allowed were earned on her total for the year, since she doesn’t get the benefit of previous errors in the inning when she enters. But all three of her runs are team unearned runs, since the Tigers should have been out of the inning.
The Tigers put together three singles in the fifth off MSSU reliever Natalie Bates to load the bases, but a frustrating day ended with a strikeout as the Lions won by run rule in five innings, 9-1. The Tigers slipped back into a tie for fourth in the MIAA standings with Rogers State at 6-4, while the Lions took over the conference lead at 11-1.
The Tigers go on the road to Washburn and Emporia State next week on Friday and Saturday (Apr. 7-8), which starts a string of three straight conference weekends away from Hays.
Saturday
Fort Hays State Softball picked up a big doubleheader sweep of Pittsburg State on Saturday at Fleharty Family Field. The Tigers improved to 24-11 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA by scores of 3-0 and 3-2. Savanah Egger threw a complete-game shutout in the opener, her MIAA-leading seventh, then saved Bailey Carlson’s win in game two by getting the final three outs.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 3, Pittsburg State 0
Savanah Egger won the battle between two of the MIAA’s top pitchers, outdueling Hannah Harrison in the circle. Egger improved to 11-4 on the season in her complete-game shutout, while Harrison also threw a complete game but moved to 10-4 with the loss.
Egger worked around leadoff singles in both the first and fourth innings, stranding runners at third each time. She allowed a one-out double in the seventh after a dropped foul ball elongated the at bat, but stranded a runner at third once again with a flyout to end the game. Egger had eight strikeouts with just four hits allowed and did not walk anyone. She had six of her eight strikeouts through three innings, punching out two in each of the first three innings.
The Tigers scored their first run of the game by stringing together three singles in the second inning. Regan Curryand Carly Stuke had back-to-back singles to open the inning, moved up on a sacrifice by Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson, and Curry scored on an RBI single by Madison Pierce.
Adysen Burghart helped generate a Tiger run in the fifth, hit by a pitch to open the inning. She eventually came around to score on a two-out RBI single by Loren Beggs. The Tigers got another big two-out knock in the sixth when Pierce drove a ball off the left center field wall that brought home Stuke. It was Pierce’s second RBI of the game and capped the scoring for the Tigers.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 3, Pittsburg State 2
Fort Hays State took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second, only to see Pittsburg State knot the score 2-2 in the top of the third. But the Tigers bounced back for the decisive run of the game in the third and held the Gorillas scoreless the rest of the way.
Regan Curry and Carly Stuke got a rally started for the Tigers in the second. Curry singled, then Stuke doubled her home from first with a drive to the right-center gap. Madison Pierce moved Stuke up with a good piece of hitting to the right side of the infield. That set up Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson for an RBI single chopper back up the middle that jumped up to a spot that was tough to handle for the second baseman.
The Gorillas used some good fortune to get their runs in the third. A bloop hit between the pitching circle and first base may have spun foul, but the Tigers touched it in fair territory resulting in an infield hit. After a walk and wild pitch, the Gorillas had runners at second and third. Tiger pitcher Bailey Carlson dodged one bullet by getting a fielder’s choice grounder where Regan Curry threw the lead runner out at home. But then a well-placed chopper single that Carlson fielded resulted in the first Gorilla run since she had no play anywhere. Paxtyn Hayes then drove home the tying run with a sacrifice fly.
After Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany picked up one-out singles in the third, Regan Curry had a timely two-out double down the right-field line to score Shepard and put the Tigers back on top 3-2.
Carlson took that gift from her offense and made good on it holding the Gorillas scoreless in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. She allowed just five hits in the game with one walk before handing the ball to Savanah Egger in the seventh after a leadoff single. Egger got a swinging strikeout of the first batter she faced, nearly had the second batter looking but it was called a ball for a walk. She then got a line out to left field and finished the game on a nasty pitch with movement for a strikeout, picking up her second save of the season. Egger finished the day with eight scoreless innings, lowering her season ERA to 1.59.