By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
After splitting wins with the Northwest Missouri Bearcats in the first two matchups between the teams last weekend, senior day hosted the series’s tie-breaking match and the season’s last home game for the Tigers. In a nerve-wrecking finish, the Tigers scored four runs in the eighth inning to overturn the score and secure the victory.
The Tigers, battling for first place in the MIAA, won the first game of the series 4-1 and lost the second, 13-2. After recognizing the seniors prior to the first pitch of the series finale, the Bearcats started strong with a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Pressure piled on in the stands and among the Tiger players with six consecutive scoreless innings, but in the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers scored four runs off a Luis Ayala RBI double, a Tony Moore sacrifice fly, and a Derek Woolwine RBI single. FHSU also scored on a walked-in run.
A successful half inning from relief pitcher Brett Jacobs sealed the game for the Tigers (32-12, 26-7) with a 4-3 win.
FHSU Head Coach Justin Wichert was happy with how the team responded late in the game.
“They’ve done a good job all year of late in the game, starting to get better at bats. We should have done it earlier,” he said. “We talked to them about patterns developing on pitchers and guys starting to get out of the zone. You don’t want to bail them out, especially when the wind’s blowing in as hard as it is today. I think some guys went in there and had really good at-bats.”
Senior pitcher Ty Riley used the term “Tiger baseball” to describe the team’s spirit that carried them to this win.
“I never had a doubt, we just had to stay Tiger baseball,” Riley said. “So I’m gonna keep saying Tiger baseball, we gotta stay with what we do.”
The Tigers are now second in the MIAA with a three-game series against Rogers State on the road this weekend. While FHSU is favored, they will hope to see Central Missouri drop at least one game against last-place Newman to steal first place in the MIAA during the final regular season weekend.
Riley said the team is now adjusting to being favorites, and they will have to take care of business against RSU to show that they are ready for the offseason.
As the season winds down, the Tigers are now ranked No. 19 in the National Coaches’ Poll. FHSU plays a three-game series at Rogers State starting on Thursday to end the regular season.