FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State baseball team dropped Friday's series opener against No. 14 Missouri Southern, 14-10. The Tigers (10-3, 0-1 MIAA) led early in the contest, but five Lion (13-2, 1-0) home runs over the final five innings powered the visitors to victory.
Fort Hays State starting pitcher Cade Flaherty worked around a two-on, one-out jam thanks to a foul pop up and a called third strike, giving the Tigers a chance to strike first in the home half of the inning. Brady Kreutzer reached on an error before Trey DeGarmo smashed his first home run of the season soaring over the wall in left center, putting the home team in front 2-0.
The Tigers allowed a pair of unearned runs in the second before Flaherty again stranded a pair of runners in the third inning. DeGarmo led off the home half of the third with a single before sprinting home on an RBI double from Isaiah Ural, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead. That lead quickly doubled when Elliott Herrmann followed with an RBI single to left, plating Ural. The Tigers later loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to do any more damage in the inning.
The Lions closed within one with a solo home run in the fourth, but the Tigers managed to grab the run right back in the bottom of the inning when Kreutzer and DeGarmo led off with back-to-back singles. Kreutzer later scored on an RBI groundout from Herrmann.
MSSU's bats came to life in the fifth inning when a two-run home run tied the score at five. The home run kicked off a five-run inning, including another two-run home run that gave the visitors an 8-5 lead. The Tigers went to the bullpen to get out of the inning, with Tanner Vaughn striking out the next two batters to prevent any further damage.
The Tigers manufactured a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, closing within 8-7. Kyle Morrell worked a leadoff walk before coming in to score on a double down the right-field line from Shaun Gomez. DeGarmo later drove in a run with a bases-loaded groundout before the Lions got out of the inning with a strikeout.
Missouri Southern strung together three weakly-hit singles to score a run in the sixth before adding two more on a bloop single in the seventh. Fort Hays State cut the gap to three, 11-8, when Kreutzer crushed his third home run of the season soaring to left center, but the Lions responded with three solo home runs of their own in the eighth to push the lead to six, 14-8.
Brandon Chavez came on to pitch in the top of the ninth for FHSU, working around a double to keep the Lions off the scoreboard. Fort Hays State got a rally going in the bottom of the ninth when Gomez reached on a dropped third strike. Zane Knox followed with a pinch-hit double before the pair came around to score on a double from DeGarmo. The rally was cut short, however, with MSSU finishing things out with their 14th strikeout of the game.
DeGarmo batted 4-for-6 on the day, driving in five runs and scoring two while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Kreutzer scored three times, with Gomez adding a pair of runs. Herrmann added two RBI.
Flaherty (2-1) worked 4.1 innings, striking out five while allowing eight runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks. Vaughn struck out four batters in 3.2 innings of relief, surrendering six runs on eight hits without walking a batter. Chavez worked the final scoreless inning, striking out one and allowing one hit.
The Tigers and Lions will continue their MIAA series Saturday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. from Larks Park.