FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State Tiger baseball team picked up a 13-4 win against the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State on Sunday. Fort Hays State improved to 21-16 on the year and 9-14 in MIAA play, while the Bearcats fell to 17-20 overall and also 9-14 in conference action.
Freshman Rafael Espinoza took the mound as the starting pitcher and immediately set the tone for the game with his exceptional command. Espinoza shut down the Bearcat offense early, holding them scoreless through three innings.
Fort Hays State scored first on a Zane Knox sacrifice fly in the first inning. The bottom half of the third was successful for the Tiger bats, scoring four runs on five hits. Cesar Saavedra scored first in the inning from a ground rule double by Isaiah Ural. Trey DeGarmo lifted a ball over the fence later in the inning, adding three more to the run tally putting the Tigers up 5-0.
After the Bearcats scored two in the top half of the fourth, the Tigers scored three on three hits in the bottom half. Saavedra scored on a Brady Kreutzer double to left, then Kreutzer and Elliott Herrmann scored on a single by Knox. The Tigers led 8-2 after four.
Northwest Missouri's Jacob Selock hit a solo homer to begin the top of the fifth, marking his third homer in the series, and the Bearcats added another run in the sixth to make it 8-4.
The bottom half of the sixth saw the Tigers add on, scoring five more on six hits. After back-to-back singles by Ural and Herrmann, Kreutzer crushed a ball to left center for a three-run home run. The next batter, Knox, blasted a solo shot to center field for back-to-back homers. A Sebastian Burgon double down the left field line scored Luis Ayala, who doubled the at bat before, making the score the eventual final of 13-4.
Espinoza went all nine innings allowing just four earned runs on seven hits, striking out six batters. It marked Espinoza's second complete game in a row and of the season. He improved to 4-1 on the year.
Every Tiger starter tallied a hit on the day, going for 17 total hits. Ural, Kreutzer and DeGarmo had three hits each, while Herrmann and Knox finished with a pair of hits. Kreutzer and Knox finished the day with four runs batted in, while DeGarmo had three.
UP NEXT
Fort Hays State will travel to Wichita, Kan. for the rubber match of the season series against Newman on Tuesday, then head east to Topeka to face Washburn in a three-game series next weekend.