By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
EMPORIA, Kan. – Fort Hays State dropped both games of its doubleheader at Emporia State on Saturday (Apr. 8) by scores of 4-3 and 6-0. The Hornets were able to pull even with the Tigers in the MIAA standings with the wins. ESU is now 25-15 overall, 7-7 in the MIAA, and FHSU moved to 25-16 overall, also 7-7 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Emporia State 4, Fort Hays State 3
Emporia State initially took a 1-0 lead in the first contest with a pair of hits in the second inning. After a leadoff single, a two-out double by the Hornets produced their run.
Fort Hays State went hitless through four innings, but finally broke through against Sydney Righi in the fifth when Regan Curry led off with a walk. Carly Stuke picked up FHSU’s first hit on a single, then Madison Pierce moved the pair up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson tied up the game with a sacrifice fly RBI, but the Tigers could not get the potential go-ahead run across.
The Hornets had a controversial call go their way in the fifth when a drive by Haley Garnett down the left field line with two outs was first ruled foul as it went over the wall. But then the third-base umpire changed his call and ruled it fair for a three-run home run, pushing the Hornets in front 4-1.
The Tigers looked as though they were going to get all the way back to even with the Hornets in the seventh, only to see their late rally come up short. A fielding error by the Hornets allowed Curry to reach base to start the inning. Stuke singled to put runners at first and third, then Pierce singled home the Tigers’ second run. Ramirez-Johnson really turned up the pressure on the Hornets with a flare single to right field to load the bases. Adysen Burghartdrove a ball deep to right field for a sacrifice fly to score Stuke and pinch runner Sydnee Hoffman moved up to third base as well. The Tigers had runners at first and third with one out, prime to score a game-tying run, but Hoffman was cut down at the plate on a weak grounder to the right side. Peyton Shepard extended the Tigers’ life with a chopper single to load the bases once again, but on a 2-0 count Sarah Tiffany grounded out to end the game.
Savanah Egger took a loss by the same score for a second day in a row, now 11-7 for the season. She finished with seven strikeouts in her complete-game effort, allowing four hits and two walks. Righi held on for her complete-game win, allowing six hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Game 2: Emporia State 6, Fort Hays State 0
The Tigers struggled to get much of anything going offensively in the second contest of the day. Errors and miscues early in the game also allowed the Hornets to get an early advantage and never look back.
In the bottom of the first inning, a two-out walk ballooned into the game’s first run. After a stolen base, the Tigers committed a pair of errors on an infield chopper that allowed the Hornets to score. The Tigers had an aggressive runner dead to rights at home plate after pitcher Bailey Carlson collected the ball, but the ball jarred loose on the tag of the runner who was easily going to be out at the plate.
In the second, the Hornets put together a two-out rally by loading the bases. A two-RBI single pushed their lead to 3-0 and then a wild pitch brought across their fourth run. Carlson turned the ball over to Morgan Schmidt after just 1.2 innings of work in the circle. Schmidt threw the remaining 4.1 innings for the Tigers. She yielded a pair of runs in the fourth after leadoff triple and walk by the Hornets. Schmidt finished with five strikeouts, while Carlson had a pair. Carlson took the loss, now 9-6 on the season.
The Tigers had just four hits in the game, scattered among four different players. They had hits to lead off the second, third, and fourth innings, but never got a runner past second base.
Gracie Rabe threw the first 6.0 innings for the Hornets, striking out six. Hannah Norquest threw the final inning and recorded one strikeout.
Fort Hays State returns to the road next week for MIAA contests at Central Missouri and Lincoln.
Friday
TOPEKA, Kan. – Fort Hays State Softball had a great chance to sweep No. 17 ranked Washburn on Friday (Apr. 7), but saw Washburn rally late in game two to dash that opportunity. In a pair of tightly contested games, the Tigers took game one 2-1 before the Ichabods rallied for a 4-3 win in extra innings of the second contest. FHSU moved to 25-14 overall, 7-5 in the MIAA, while Washburn moved to 30-8 overall, 9-5 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 2, Washburn 1
Bailey Carlson outdueled Jaycee Ginter in the pitching circle in the first contest. Carlson held the Ichabods scoreless through six innings, while the offense netted her a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Ichabods scored their only run of the game with two outs in the seventh when Ginter broke up the shutout bid with an RBI single up the middle, but Carlson shut the door by winning a long 10-pitch battle against Jaden LaBarge. She got LaBarge to fly out to right field, stranding runners at first and second as the Tigers held on for the 2-1 win.
A crafty Carlson navigated runners in scoring position every inning, while limiting the Ichabods to just six hits in the game. The Tiger defense was air tight for her, since she had only one strikeout in the game. Carlson worked around a runner getting to third base with two outs in each of the first two innings. In the fourth, a runner got to third with one out, but she was doubled off on an infield liner to second baseman Adysen Burghart to end the inning. She then worked around a runner at second base in the fifth and runners at first and second in the sixth before finally yielding a run in the seventh.
After the Tigers went hitless through their first seven at bats, Burghart broke through against Ginter, her old high school teammate, with a single in the third (both played at Shawnee Heights in the Topeka area). The Tigers went hitless again all the way up until Burghart’s next at bat in the fifth and she drove a ball into the right field corner for a two-out triple, but the Tigers went scoreless once again. FHSU finally broke through in the sixth when Peyton Shepard led off with a bunt single. The throw was low at first and went down the right field line allowing Shepard to motor to third. Right after that, Sarah Tiffany hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Shepard and break the scoreless stalemate through five innings.
Carly Stuke, another Topeka area native, started the FHSU rally in the seventh with a base hit. She got to second before Burghart completed a 3-for-3 game at the plate with a single to right field to score Stuke. It proved to be enough for Carlson, who moved to 9-5 on the season with the complete-game win. Ginter moved to 20-4 on the season with the complete-game loss.
Game 2: Washburn 4, Fort Hays State 3 (8 inn.)
Not tacking on insurance runs when they had the chance came back to bite the Tigers late in the second contest of the day. FHSU went into the sixth inning with a 3-1 lead, only to see Washburn rally with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game, then another run in the eighth for the win.
Peyton Shepard helped get the Tigers get out in front right way with a leadoff single in the first. She stole second, moved up to third on a wild pitch, then came in to score on a Loren Beggs double. The Tigers had runners at second and third with two outs, but they were stranded on a strikeout.
Washburn leveled the score in the third when a weak contact dribbler to the right side turned into a single with one out. Hadley Kerschen, who went 3-for-4 in the game for Washburn, flared a ball into left center to tie the game, but Tiger starter Savanah Egger shut down any further rally by getting out of a bases loaded jam.
The Tigers immediately jumped back in front in the top of the fourth as Carly Stuke doubled to lead off the inning. Madison Pierce put down a sacrifice bunt to move her over to third and then Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson roped a single into left field to plate Stuke. The Tigers were able to load the bases with just one out, but once again stubbed their toe with a strikeout and fielder’s choice grounder to leave more crucial runs on the paths.
Regan Curry started a one-out rally for the Tigers in the fifth with a single. That chased Washburn starter Sadie Walker from the game, who went 4.1 innings and was charged with all three Tiger runs. Sheyenne Cheek took over in the circle and yielded two straight hits to the Tigers, a Stuke single and then a Pierce double down the right field line to plate Curry. But once again with one out, the Tigers left valuable runs on the paths. A strikeout helped the Washburn cause before Adysen Burghart was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But, the Tigers could not find a timely two-out hit, grounding out to end the inning.
The Ichabods were able to come up with timely two-out hits late in the game that allowed them to escape a potential sweep by the Tigers. Washburn led off the sixth with a double and a well-place flare down the right field line for a triple brought the score to 3-2. A leadoff walk in the seventh was costly for the Tigers as she made it to third base with one out. Jaycee Ginter knocked the tying run home on a sacrifice fly RBI to left field. The runner was ruled safe at the dish, just barely getting to the plate before the tag applied by Pierce in the eyes of the home plate umpire. In the eighth, a one out double eventually set up a walk-off two-out double by Erin Boles over the head of right fielder Peyton Shepard.
Egger moved to 11-6 on the season with the loss in a complete-game effort. She notched six strikeouts in the game. Ginter, who entered in the seventh and held the Tigers scoreless over the final two innings, picked up the win.