By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State picked up a much-needed game two win against Newman University on Saturday after seeing its lead in game one slip away on Saturday (April 20) at Fleharty Family Field. FHSU led game one 5-0, but saw Newman rally for eight runs in the fifth to get past and take game one 8-6. The Tigers bounced back for a 5-1 win in game two, moving to 24-22 overall and 8-14 in the MIAA. Newman moved to 20-30 overall, 6-16 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Newman 8, Fort Hays State 6
Fort Hays State built a strong 5-0 lead through three innings, but saw Newman break through with a humongous two-out rally in the fifth, turning the tables drastically in the first contest of the day. The Tigers scored one in the sixth, but could not rally back as the Jets stole game one.
A Loren Beggs double and Lilliana Ramirez-Johnsonsingle in the second inning set up an RBI single by Audrey Gillespie and RBI single by Madison Pierce to put the Tigers up 2-0. In the third, FHSU put together a two-out rally as Sarah Tiffany singled, Ramirez-Johnson walked, and Gillespie tripled down the right field line to drive in two more. Regan Curry capped the rally with an RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0 Tigers.
Morgan Schmidt threw three shutout innings to open the game and handed the ball to Emma Montoya in the fourth. Montoya escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but could not escape an offensive surge by the Jets in the fifth. Newman picked up its first run on a one-out RBI double and then loaded the bases. The next seven runs for the Jets came on six straight hits with two outs. A 2-RBI double made it 5-3, chasing Montoya from the game. Schmidt returned in the circle, but an RBI single and then a 2-RBI triple pushed the Jets in front 6-5. Three more singles produced two more runs to cap the big rally. Bailey Carlson relieved to get the final out, but Newman produced nine of their 16 hits in the game in the fifth.
A Madison Pierce double and Carly Stuke single put the Tigers in business in the sixth, but they only pushed one run across on an Alondra Dominguez RBI groundout. FHSU got a baserunner with one out in the seventh, but Newman pitcher Jackie Gold retired the next two Tigers to finish her complete-game effort. Gold moved to 11-10 on the year with the result, while Schmidt took the loss and moved to 7-11 on the season.
Gold finished with seven strikeouts for the Jets, while Schmidt had three in 3.0 innings of work. Montoya (1.2 innings) and Carlson (2.1 innings) each had one strikeout. FHSU had 11 hits in the game, led by Tiffany, Gillespie, Curry and Pierce all with two.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 5, Newman 1
Savanah Egger shut the door on any hope of a Jet sweep by going the distance for her 19th complete game of the season in the second contest of the day. Egger held the Jets scoreless through five innings before yielding her only run allowed in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Tigers gave her a four-run lead with three in the fourth and one in the fifth before getting the run back given up in the bottom of the sixth.
FHSU blitzed Newman in the fourth with six-straight hits to open the inning. Loren Beggs singled and Alondra Dominguez doubled down the left field line to drive in Beggs. Audrey Gillespie then drove in Dominguez with a single. Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson and Regan Curry each singled to load the bases and then a Madison Pierce RBI single up the middle capped the rally.
The Tigers picked up a run in the fifth when a two-out single by Gillespie led to an RBI triple by Ramirez-Johnson. A Pierce double to open the sixth led to a sacrifice fly RBI by Carly Stuke to cap the scoring in the game.
Egger scattered five hits and struck out one for her 13thwin of the season. Gillespie and Pierce each had 3-for-3 games at the plate, while Ramirez-Johnson had two hits. Seven of the nine Tigers in the lineup contributed to their 12 hits in the game.
Fort Hays State heads on the road for its final two MIAA doubleheaders next week. The Tigers play at Northeastern State on Friday (April 26) and then Rogers State on Saturday (April 27). The Tigers will be looking to potentially clinch a spot in the MIAA Tournament, which will involve the top-10 teams in the conference this season.
Friday
Fort Hays State picked up a big win on Friday (April 19) by knocking off No. 6 ranked Central Oklahoma in game two of a doubleheader to get a split in MIAA play. The Bronchos took game one 7-0, but FHSU bounced back with a 2-1 win in eight innings in the second contest on the wings of a complete-game effort from Morgan Schmidt. FHSU moved to 23-21 overall, 7-13 in the MIAA, while UCO moved to 38-8 overall, 18-2 in the MIAA.
For Fort Hays State, it snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bronchos going back to the 2019, when FHSU also defeated UCO in an eight-inning game in Hays by a score of 7-6. UCO was a top-10 ranked team also that year, holding the No. 2 rank in the nation when they last lost in Hays. It was FHSU’s first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season.
Game 1: Central Oklahoma 7, Fort Hays State 0
Central Oklahoma put together a big two-out rally in the first inning of the first contest. Three straight singles helped produce a 3-0 start to the game for the Bronchos. UCO pitcher Terin Ritz made that hold up as she went on to throw a complete-game two-hit shutout with five strikeouts to move to 19-3 on the season. The Bronchos picked up an unearned run in the fifth and three more runs in the seventh to produce their seven runs in the game.
Alondra Dominguez and Regan Curry had the only two hits for FHSU, both singles. Savanah Egger threw a complete game for the Tigers, finishing with six strikeouts. She moved to 12-10 on the season.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 2, Central Oklahoma 1 (8 inn.)
Game two was a pitcher’s duel between Morgan Schmidt and Shelby Beard, who matched each other with zeros on the board through five innings.
The game took some wild twists and turns in the sixth when Terin Ritz launched what looked to be a two-run homer over the left center field wall. But she was called out of the batter’s box as she stepped into the area between the box and home plate when making contact. The home run was wiped off the board as Ritz had to come back to bat and she struck out instead. However, teammate Jacee Minter followed with an RBI double to the left-center gap to break the scoreless tie.
The Tigers fought right back in the bottom of the sixth when Carly Stuke led off the inning with a single. UCO coach Cody White opted to put Ritz back into the pitching circle and Peyton Shepard greeted her with a sacrifice bunt that Ritz threw wide of her first baseman for an error. The Tigers loaded the bases and then Loren Beggs tied up the game with a sacrifice fly RBI to score Stuke. FHSU did not get anything else out of the inning, leaving a wild sixth inning tied at 1-1.
Morgan Schmidt only allowed one hit over the next two innings, keeping the Bronchos scoreless and the Tigers pounced on their opportunity in the bottom of the eighth. Shepard guided a one-out single to right field and then moved up to third on a fielding error by UCO. Ritz then walked Beggs to load the bases and create a force at any base. Sarah Tiffany then delivered a deep fly to left field over the head of the fielder for a game-winning walk-off single.
Schmidt finished the game with eight strikeouts in her complete-game effort, holding the Bronchos to just four hits. She worked around three walks in the game and moved to 7-10 on the season. Ritz took the loss for UCO in 2.1 innings of relief, striking out three. UCO starter Beard went 5.0 innings and struck out four with five hits allowed.
The rally starter and rally completer in the eighth, Shepard and Tiffany, led the Tigers with two hits each in the game.