HAYS, Kan. - Due to rain and cold temperatures in the forecast for Friday, the Fort Hays State baseball team has announced a change in schedule for this weekend's home series against Northwest Missouri State. The Tigers and Bearcats will now face off in a doubleheader on Saturday (April 17) beginning at 1 p.m. before wrapping things up with a single contest on Sunday (April 18) beginning at 1 p.m.
The Tigers head into the weekend 5-20 on the year and 5-16 in MIAA play after sweeping Missouri Western on the road last week, while Northwest Missouri State brings in a 12-15 overall record and a 10-11 league mark. The Tigers currently sit four games out of eighth place in the MIAA standings with four series and 12 games remaining in the regular season, the final spot that will advance to the 2021 MIAA championship tournament.
The bats came alive for the Tigers last week, with FHSU pushing across 37 runs on 50 hits in the three wins over MWSU. The Tigers racked up 21 hits in game two against the Griffons, their most hits in a single game in more than eight years (2/13/13).
Jacob Bouzide was a perfect 6-for-6 in that 21-hit outburst, the most hits in a single game for a Tiger since 2015 (Dallas Christison at Colorado Mines, 5/8/05). Bouzide raised his batting average to .321 in the process, second-best on the team behind Drake Angeron at .351.
Grant Schmidt crushed his team-best sixth home run of the year against MWSU. He also leads the team with nine doubles, 54 total bases and 26 runs and is second with 17 RBI.
Hunter Parker struck out 10 batters over 8.0 innings in the finale against Missouri Western, bringing his season total to 35 strikeouts. He ranks sixth in the MIAA with an average of 11.12 punchouts per nine innngs.
Ryan Koski leads the Bearcats with a slugging percentage of .485 thanks to 33 hits, eight doubles and two home runs. The Northwest pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.50, led by starter Spencer Hanson at 3.70 over 41.1 innings of work.
Northwest Missouri State holds a slim 24-23 edge in the all-time series, while Fort Hays State leads 17-12 in games played at Larks Park. The Bearcats have won the last four meetings, with the last Tiger victory coming at home in 2018 (4-2, 3/3/18).
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