FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State baseball team fell to No. 9 Pittsburg State in a slugfest Friday afternoon, losing 21-7. The teams combined to hit 12 home runs and 18 extra-base hits.
Neither side scored in the first two innings before Pittsburg State (28-6, 17-6 MIAA) got on the board with a two-run home run in the third. The Gorillas tacked on six runs on four home runs in the fourth before Derek Woolwine and Mac Bowie clubbed back-to-back solo home runs in the home half of the inning to help the Tigers (9-24, 6-17 MIAA) pull within 8-2.
Pittsburg State responded with 11 runs on seven hits in the fifth to blow the game open. The Tigers didn't go down quietly, however, with the home team adding one run in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh. Tony Moore got a rally going in the fifth with a single to left before a walk to Justin Lipka and another single from Antonio Avila loaded the bases. Cooper Howell plated a run with a double to center, but the Tigers ran into a pair of outs on the bases to end the threat.
FHSU pushed across a pair of unearned runs in the sixth thanks to two Gorilla errors. Bowie plated the first run on an RBI groundout before pinch hitter Bret Deegan sent an RBI-double down the left-field line, scoring Woolwine. Lipka later opened the seventh with a single before Avila crushed FHSU's third home run of the game to left, completing the scoring.
Avila and Bowie both had two hits and two RBI apiece, with Woolwine leading the team with two runs scored.
Dagen Brewer hit four home runs and drove in 10 runs for Pittsburg State. Grant Nottlemann added three home runs.
The Tigers and Gorillas will wrap up the series on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. inside Larks Park.