STORY BY CAYDEN SANDERS
PHOTOS BY TIM SCHOEPFLIN
The time to win for the Fort Hays State Baseball team is now; for the team, there are still goals left on the table that this year’s Tiger team wants to accomplish. With only a few weeks left in the regular season – including games against nationally ranked Central Missouri – FHSU first needed to address the Newman Jets in a midweek game on Tuesday to keep their postseason hopes alive.
FHSU entered Tuesday’s contest in a three-way tie for 10th place in the conference while Newman sat in the sixth spot. While Newman secured the series sweep against the Tigers, with a pair of wins earlier in the season, FHSU was able to rally and secure a 4-2 win in their final game against Newman.
For Head Coach Justin Wichert, a win is a win, but it was sweeter being a team win.
“At this point in the season, it’s do or die; we still have things to accomplish, and for them to happen, we need to start winning,” Wichert said. “It was a good team win, we had excellent fielding, great pitching from a pitcher in [Daniel] Bebee, and we got some bats from guys who needed some hits.”
FHSU threw their regular Friday starting pitcher against the Jets, Daniel Bebee. Recently Bebee has been dealing with a shoulder injury he’s had since the first game with Pitt State. For Fort Hays State, the Tigers squeezed as much as they could out of Bebee, as he completed the entire game and only gave up four hits.
“It was a great outing. I mean, those guys are good and they are one of the best in the league for a reason,” Bebee said. “I love competing and if it’s on the mound or on the field I will find my way on to the field and if it’s me throwing a complete game to get a win, then so be it.”
Personally, the game for Bebee was the day that he finally felt somewhat healthy.
“I have been dealing with a shoulder injury for the past couple of weeks, so for me to go out there and compete like I did was a great way to go out,” Bebee said.
In addition to Bebee’s performance on the mound, FHSU got both offensive and defensive production from Emile Boies, who hit a homerun in his first at-bat of the game. For Boies, the game against Newman was the first time he was able to get into the lineup since an injury that kept him in dugout for roughly two weeks.
“Getting that homerun in the first at-bat back for me was a great way to come back. It was in a book or something,” Boies said. “It was great to be back and to compete for the first time in a couple of weeks. I just want to keep going out on the field and compete.”
Boies’ play in the infield was also notable, turning three double plays against the Jets. Newman only grounded into seven double plays all season prior to Tuesday.
“The defense was great against Newman, getting the defensive plays we had just shows the work and the dedication this team is putting in to get wins,” Boies said.
FHSU is currently 10th in the MIAA (7-17) with three series left to play. With a overal record of 17-24, the Tigers look to improve against the Griffons of Missouri Western on the road this weekend. This is a key series for Wichert and Fort Hays.
“Going into the series with Western we know what we are going to get and they know what they are going to get,” Wichert said. “We just need to play our game, make the plays we need to and be on the winning side of the result.”
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