ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Fort Hays State baseball fell short in game two of their series against Missouri Western on Saturday afternoon (April 15) by a score of 5-4. The win helped the Griffons improve to 10-28 overall and 7-19 in conference play, while the Tigers dropped to 18-25 overall and 8-18 in the MIAA.
The Tigers got off to a great start in Saturday's contest after grabbing the 1-0 lead in the first at-bat of the game courtesy of an Ed Scott home run. The Griffons roared right back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first inning off of five hits. Fort Hays State struck back in the second inning with one run. Jenner Kehe legged out a one-out triple and was then scored by a Mikey Felton sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one, 3-2.
The middle innings were controlled by the pitchers and defenses as both teams went without runs from the third through the sixth. During that four-inning span, Tiger starter Jake Campbell struck out two batters and did not allow any walks.
The scoring drought was broken in the top of the seventh inning by the Tigers. Emile Boies started the inning with a hit by pitch. Two batters later Trey DeGarmo belted a double to left field. Zach Davis lined out to left, but the ball was placed deep enough to score Boies from third to tie the game at 3-3.
Missouri Western answered with a Travis Wiese home run and the Griffons reclaimed the lead, 4-3. The Griffons kept up the momentum with a single after the home run, forcing Fort Hays State to make a change on the mound. The Tigers brought in Andrew Hansen to face the middle portion of the batting order. Missouri Western laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner into scoring position and the following batter worked a walk. A single to center field loaded the bases with just one out, but Hansen put an end to the inning after getting a strikeout and a groundout to strand three Griffons on base.
Fort Hays State was down to their final five outs when Colter Maldonado recorded the team's second triple of the game to score Kehe from second to knot things up at 4-4. The Tigers had the go-ahead run at third base, but the Griffons pitching slammed the door shut on the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Griffon offense hit with urgency to start the inning, reaching base with a leadoff double. Emile Boies was then brought in to pitch for the first time since March 4 due to a lingering injury. A dropped third strike resulted in runners moving to first and third with no outs. Boies stayed composed and was able to retire the following batter on strikes. Missouri Western pushed the go-ahead run across after a fielder's choice ground ball where the Tigers were unable to get the second out on a double-play attempt due to a throwing error, their lone error of the game.
With their last at-bat the Tigers went quietly, failing to reach base in the top of the ninth inning. Despite the loss, the Tigers clubbed two triples, one home run, and 11 hits total as a team.
The final game of the series between the Tigers and the Griffons is slated for 12 p.m. on Sunday (April 16).