Story by MAYAN PAZ Photos by RORY MOORE and PARKER NISBETH
Tiger Media Network
Originally scheduled as a three-game series, FHSU baseball and UC-Coloraro Springs played a double-header on Sunday due to weather issues which caused the first game to be canceled. The teams enjoyed a beautiful Sunday afternoon for baseball, where the teams split the two-game series 1-1. The Tigers won 6-3 in the first game but fell short in the second, 8-2.
FHSU (23-9, 17-4) is ranked No. 22 in the country and entered as favorites in the series, but the first game saw a slow start with three scoreless innings until the Tigers managed to break through in the fourth with two runs. The Mountain Lions (19-14, 8-8) quickly responded in the fifth inning with three scores to turn the game around. In the sixth inning, the Tigers enjoyed pitching mistakes by UCCS to move batters around the park, and eventually tie the game. Later in the inning, the Tiger batters’ good form continued, and they scored three more runs, setting the score at what would ultimately be the final result of the first game.
Ty Riley pitched all seven innings against the Mountain Lions. 
Riley was the winning pitcher with 16 strike outs and one ball, improving his record to 7-1. 
Infielder Tony Moore races toward second base against a live ball. 
Moore steals second base. 
Infielder Derek Woolwine misses a Mountain Lion pitch before grounding out to second. 
Infielder Elliott Herrmann recorded one run, one hit and one RBI. 
Herrmann gets an approving high-five from Assistant Coach Cade Lott after producing his first base hit. 
Moore advances to third during a wild pitch. 
Infielder Cooper Howell beats out a throw to first base. 
Infielder Trey DeGarmo advances to home plate to give the Tigers a run. 
The Tigers fended off a surge by the Mountain Lions to reclaim their lead in the bottom of the sixth and win 6-3.
Senior pitcher Ty Riley had an excellent game, striking out a career-high 16 batters and allowing only three runs in his seven-inning game. Despite his great performance in the first game, Riley was disappointed that the team was not able to secure the second win as well.
“I think the first game really kind of handed it to us with all the errors they made. In the second game, we couldn’t string hits together just, and it happened all pretty quick, but that’s baseball,” he said.
The second game started with a two-run home run from Trey DeGarmo, which gave the Tigers an early lead, but from that point, the Mountain Lions managed to score eight straight runs, including three in the third inning and four in the fifth, to ease into a win and prevent the Tigers from getting a sweep.
Riley said there is disappointment in the team since they feel as if they are the better team, but concluded that it wasn’t the team’s best day, and they shifted their focus forward ahead of their upcoming game against Emporia State.
DeGarmo batted his 11th home run for the season and spoke about some changes he made throughout the offseason that improved his offensive game for his senior year.
“There ware a few minor adjustments with the swing. I just started looking for the bottom half of the ball at the plate and just moved my hands a little bit. But honestly, I prayed for it a little bit. It’s my last season, so I kind of was like God, just help me out a little bit here. I mean, it’s a lot of fun to play this game,” he said. “And then just talking with teammates. We know how to communicate with each other. And so what works for me, what works for another guy? We just bounce ideas off each other.”
DeGarmo also shared that doubleheaders, as they played against UCCS, are difficult and require plenty of physical preparation.
“When you play two in one day, you got to make sure you fuel your body. I make sure to eat a big meal right after we take batting practice before the game because those days get long,” he said. “And just our trainer, Coda, does a great job of, if you have a little thing, he’ll get you rubbed out and get you going pretty quickly.”
Moving forward, the Tigers will play Emporia State for a single game on the road on Wednesday and will be back at Hays to play Northeastern State for a three-game series this weekend.