FHSU Athletics
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Fort Hays State softball team was three outs away from a doubleheader sweep of No. 17 ranked Washburn on Friday, but the Ichabods rallied late in game two to salvage a split. The Tigers took game one 2-1 before the Ichabods rallied for a 4-3 win in extra innings of the second contest.
FHSU moved to 25-14 overall, 7-5 in the MIAA, while Washburn moved to 30-8 overall, 9-5 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 2, Washburn 1
Bailey Carlson outdueled Jaycee Ginter in the pitching circle in the first contest. Carlson held the Ichabods scoreless through six innings, while the offense netted her a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Ichabods scored their only run of the game with two outs in the seventh when Ginter broke up the shutout bid with an RBI single up the middle, but Carlson shut the door by winning a long 10-pitch battle against Jaden LaBarge. She got LaBarge to fly out to right field, stranding runners at first and second as the Tigers held on for the 2-1 win.
A crafty Carlson navigated runners in scoring position every inning, while limiting the Ichabods to just six hits in the game. The Tiger defense was air tight for her, since she had only one strikeout in the game. Carlson worked around a runner getting to third base with two outs in each of the first two innings. In the fourth, a runner got to third with one out, but she was doubled off on an infield liner to second baseman Adysen Burghart to end the inning. She then worked around a runner at second base in the fifth and runners at first and second in the sixth before finally yielding a run in the seventh.
After the Tigers went hitless through their first seven at bats, Burghart broke through against Ginter, her old high school teammate, with a single in the third (both played at Shawnee Heights in the Topeka area). The Tigers went hitless again all the way up until Burghart's next at bat in the fifth and she drove a ball into the right field corner for a two-out triple, but the Tigers went scoreless once again. FHSU finally broke through in the sixth when Peyton Shepard led off with a bunt single. The throw was low at first and went down the right field line allowing Shepard to motor to third. Right after that, Sarah Tiffany hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Shepard and break the scoreless stalemate through five innings.
Carly Stuke, another Topeka area native, started the FHSU rally in the seventh with a base hit. She got to second before Burghart completed a 3-for-3 game at the plate with a single to right field to score Stuke. It proved to be enough for Carlson, who moved to 9-5 on the season with the complete-game win. Ginter moved to 20-4 on the season with the complete-game loss.
Game 2: Washburn 4, Fort Hays State 3 (8 inn.)
Not tacking on insurance runs when they had the chance came back to bite the Tigers late in the second contest of the day. FHSU went into the sixth inning with a 3-1 lead, only to see Washburn rally with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game, then another run in the eighth for the win.
Peyton Shepard helped get the Tigers get out in front right way with a leadoff single in the first. She stole second, moved up to third on a wild pitch, then came in to score on a Loren Beggs double. The Tigers had runners at second and third with two outs, but they were stranded on a strikeout.
Washburn leveled the score in the third when a weak contact dribbler to the right side turned into a single with one out. Hadley Kerschen, who went 3-for-4 in the game for Washburn, flared a ball into left center to tie the game, but Tiger starter Savanah Egger shut down any further rally by getting out of a bases loaded jam.
The Tigers immediately jumped back in front in the top of the fourth as Carly Stuke doubled to lead off the inning. Madison Pierce put down a sacrifice bunt to move her over to third and then Lillian Ramirez-Johnson roped a single into left field to plate Stuke. The Tigers were able to load the bases with just one out, but once again stubbed their toe with a strikeout and fielder's choice grounder to leave more crucial runs on the paths.
Regan Curry started a one-out rally for the Tigers in the fifth with a single. That chased Washburn starter Sadie Walker from the game, who went 4.1 innings and was charged with all three Tiger runs. Sheyenne Cheek took over in the circle and yielded two straight hits to the Tigers, a Stuke single and then a Pierce double down the right field line to plate Curry. But once again with one out, the Tigers left valuable runs on the paths. A strikeout helped the Washburn cause before Adysen Burghart was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But, the Tigers could not find a timely two-out hit, grounding out to end the inning.
The Ichabods were able to come up with timely two-out hits late in the game that allowed them to escape a potential sweep by the Tigers. Washburn led off the sixth with a double and a well-place flare down the right field line for a triple brought the score to 3-2. A leadoff walk in the seventh was costly for the Tigers as she made it to third base with one out. Jaycee Ginter knocked the tying run home on a sacrifice fly RBI to left field. The runner was ruled safe at the dish, just barely getting to the plate before the tag applied by Pierce in the eyes of the home plate umpire. In the eighth, a one out double eventually set up a walk-off two-out double by Erin Boles over the head of right fielder Peyton Shepard.
Egger moved to 11-6 on the season with the loss in a complete-game effort. She notched six strikeouts in the game. Ginter, who entered in the seventh and held the Tigers scoreless over the final two innings, picked up the win.
The Tigers look for more success on Saturday in another key MIAA matchup at Emporia State. First pitch will be at 1 p.m. The Tigers look to hold off the Hornets in the MIAA standings, who enter at 23-15 overall, 5-7 in the MIAA after a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska-Kearney on Friday.