Mar 21, 2023

🥎🎙️ LISTEN - FHSU hosts Colorado School of Mines

Posted Mar 21, 2023 3:00 PM
Fort Hays State's Loren Beggs swings at a pitch in an NCAA softball game earlier this season in Hays, Kan. (FHSU Athletics photo/Nicole Heitmann)
Fort Hays State's Loren Beggs swings at a pitch in an NCAA softball game earlier this season in Hays, Kan. (FHSU Athletics photo/Nicole Heitmann)

FHSU Athletics

Colorado School of Mines (11-15) at
Fort Hays State (16-10)

Tuesday, March 21 - 2 PM (DH)
Wednesday, March 22 - 12 PM (DH)
Hays, Kan. - Tiger Stadium
Radio - KAYS (94.3/1400) 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Fort Hays State Softball will host Colorado School of Mines in a four-game non-conference series Tuesday and Wednesday (Mar. 21-22) in Hays. The Tigers enter the week at 16-10 overall, while the Orediggers come into the series at 11-15 overall. The teams will play doubleheaders each day with action set to begin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and then 12 p.m. on Wednesday.

Live stream and stats will be available for the entire series at the links provided above.

FHSU won three of four games in Colorado last week in non-conference action, while CSM most recently took three of four games in a conference series at Chadron State.

The Opponent
Colorado School of Mines (11-15)
-Fort Hays State leads the all-time series with Colorado School of Mines 20-13. The teams last met in a doubleheader during the 2016 season. CSM won both games of that doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 5-4.
-The teams are meeting in Hays for the first time since 2005, when FHSU was still a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The last 12 games between the teams have been played in Golden.
-The Orediggers are just 1-5 in non-conference games this season, all played in the state of Florida back in February. They fell in both games of doubleheaders with Palm Beach Atlantic and Barry, but split with Nova Southeastern. The Orediggers have played 20 straight conference games since, going 10-10.
-Sidney Wilson leads CSM in batting average at .389, while ranking second on the team in RBIs with 14. Kayleigh Kruger leads the team in RBIs with 17.
-Sadriena Rodriguez leads CSM pitchers with a 2.61 ERA, a 5-2 record, and 74 strikeouts in 67 innings of work.

Tiger Notes
Tigers Sweep Thunderwolves
Fort Hays State is coming off a doubleheader sweep of CSU Pueblo on March 15. The Tigers won by scores of 6-3 and 5-2. Sarah Tiffany's second career grand slam helped lift the Tigers to victory in the first game. Tiffany and Loren Beggs drove in three runs for the Tigers in the third inning of game two to push the Tigers into the lead, which they did not relinquish. Tiffany had six RBIs in the doubleheader. Savanah Egger and Bailey Carlson each threw complete games for the Tigers.

Tigers Nearly Sweep Roadrunners
Fort Hays State fell just one out short of a doubleheader sweep at MSU Denver. The Tigers were up 11-10 with one out to get in game one, but unfortunately saw the Roadrunners score the tying run on an RBI single then win the game on a walk-off home run. The Tigers went on to win game two 3-1, which started their current three-game win streak.

When the Tigers Score Four
Fort Hays State is 10-2 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game. The only losses when scoring four or more were on walk-off home runs, a 7-6 loss to Southern Nazarene and a 13-11 loss to MSU Denver. FHSU is 6-8 when scoring three or less runs this season.

Seven Shutouts
Seven of Fort Hays State's 16 wins this season have been by shutout. The 7 shutouts this season ranks second in the MIAA – only one behind defending national champion Rogers State which has 8. It ranks 13th in NCAA Division II. The 7 shutouts are already the most by a Tiger team during Adrian Pilkington's tenure as a head coach. The 2013 team set the record for most shutouts by a team with 19. The 2002 (10) and 2009 (11) squads were the only others in the program's NCAA Division II history to reach double figures in shutouts for a season.

Shepard of Speed
Peyton Shepard ranks among the top 10 players in the MIAA in stolen bases (T-3rd), on-base percentage (9th), hits (T-3rd), and hit-by-pitch (7th). She has 14 stolen bases, a .500 on-base percentage, 35 hits, and has been hit by a pitch five times. She is a perfect 14-of-14 on stolen base attempts this season.

Efficient Running
Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany have combined for 22 stolen bases so far this season. They are both perfect in their attempts, Shepard with 14 and Tiffany with 8. Carly Stuke is 2-of-2, while Sydnee Hoffman is the only Tiger to be caught stealing this season at 1-of-2. The Tigers are 25-of-26 as a team.

Tiffany Heating Back Up
Sarah Tiffany has the longest current hitting streak for the Tigers, standing at six straight games. She is hitting .381 (8-for-21) in that stretch, bringing her season batting average back up to .329. She had a 1-for-19 stretch at the plate prior to her six-game hit streak.

Tough to Strikeout
Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson has just one strikeout in 64 at bats this season. She ranks eighth in NCAA Division II for toughest to strikeout.

Put the Ball in Play
Fort Hays State ranks second in the MIAA for fewest strikeouts as a team with 86 for the season. Central Oklahoma has the fewest with 80. Nebraska-Kearney leads the MIAA in strikeouts with 162.

Moving Your Teammate Up
Fort Hays State ranks second in the MIAA in sacrifice bunts/hits with 19, only behind Washburn's 22. FHSU is also second in the conference in total sacrifices with 26 when adding on their seven sacrifice flies. Washburn leads the MIAA in total sacrifices with 30. Central Oklahoma leads the sacrifice fly category with 15 for the season.

Solid Pitching
Fort Hays State has a team pitching ERA of 2.87, which ranks sixth in the MIAA. Three of four Tiger pitchers have ERAs lower than 3.10 for the season, led by Savanah Egger at 2.05. The Tiger pitchers rank second in the MIAA in strikeouts with 173, only behind Washburn (226). All four Tiger pitchers have at least 25 strikeouts on the season, led by Egger with 77. FHSU is allowing just a .251 batting average to opponents, which is sixth in the MIAA.

Strong in the Circle
Savanah Egger has allowed two or less earned runs in nine of her 13 starts in the pitching circle this season. She had four consecutive shutouts from February 24 to March 4, which accounts for all of her shutouts this season. She ranks 11th in NCAA Division II for individual shutouts, and is tied for first in the MIAA with Hannah Harrison of Pittsburg State. She had a 32-inning scoreless streak snapped on March 6 against Northwestern Oklahoma State, but threw 38 shutout innings in a 41-inning stretch from February 24 to March 11.

Pair of Complete Games for Carlson
Bailey Carlson threw a pair of complete games last week in Colorado. She went the full seven innings in a 3-1 win at MSU Denver and a 5-2 win at CSU Pueblo. The complete game at MSU Denver on March 14 was her first since a 14-0 run-rule win in five innings over Sioux Falls back on February 26. With a 1.50 ERA over the two games last week, she lowered her season ERA to 2.70.