FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - After spotting Emporia State a 7-0 lead, the Fort Hays State baseball team used a pair of home runs from Isaiah Ural, Cesar Saavedra and five innings of scoreless relief from Trevor Baugh to come from behind and defeat the Hornets 10-7 Sunday afternoon at Larks Park. The win gives the Tigers (24-21, 11-19 MIAA) their first series win over Emporia State (19-27, 9-21 MIAA) since 2004 and their first at home s9ince 1999.
With one series remaining in conference play, the Tigers currently sit in a three-way tie for seventh in the league standings. FHSU, Northwest Missouri State and Northeastern State are one game behind Rogers State in sixth and two games in front of Newman, Missouri Western and Emporia State in a tie for 10th. The top eight teams in the standings at the end of the regular season advance to the MIAA Championship Tournament.
Andrew Hansen got the start for the Tigers and retired the side in order in the first before finding trouble in the second, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks. Brett Jacobs got out of the inning with a pop up before surrendering four runs on four hits in the third, giving ESU a seven-run lead.
ESU starter Ian Lanik retired the side in order in both the first and second innings before issuing Kyle Morrell a leadoff walk in the third. Sebastian Burgos followed with a single before Luis Ayala laid down a sacrifice bunt. The Tigers closed within 7-1 on an RBI groundout from Saavedra before Ural crushed his first home run of the game, sending a 1-0 pitch soaring to left center where it bounced off the top of the wall and over the fence.
Brady Kreutzer followed with a single before the left fielder sprinted around the bases and scored from first on a bloop single from Elliott Herrmann, helping the Tigers close within 7-4.
Jacobs worked around a pair of walks in the fourth inning to post a scoreless inning before the Tigers had two men on with zero outs in the home half of the inning but were unable to score. Jacobs then allowed the first two batters to reach in the fifth, prompting the Tigers to go to Baugh. The Tigers got the first out of the inning when Ayala gunned down a would-be base stealer before Baugh escaped the jam with two flyouts.
The Tigers closed within 7-5 in the bottom of the fifth when Ural tallied his second home run of the game, this time a no-doubter to left center.
Baugh continued to puzzle the Hornet lineup for the remainder of the game, tossing five scoreless innings without giving up a hit. He struck out six batters and scattered three walks across the five frames.
Fort Hays State took the lead in the sixth when a pitch hit leadoff hitter Trey DeGarmo. Morrell followed with his second walk of the game, prompting the Hornets to go back to the bullpen. Ayala came through with a two-RBI double that bounced just inside the third-base bag and proceeded into the left-field corner, tying things up at seven.
Next up was Saavedra, who hammered his third home run of the season to left field on a 2-2 pitch to put the Tigers in front, 9-7.
With Baugh dealing on the rubber, the Tigers came up with a big insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Saavedra and Ural led off with back-to-back singles. Saavedra went first-to-third on Ural's base knock, allowing the leadoff man to score on a sacrifice fly from Herrmann.
ESU's leadoff hitter reached on an error in the top of the ninth before Baugh issued a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate. The righty was not phased, however, with Baugh (3-2) retiring the next hitter on a lazy fly ball to center before completing the win with his sixth strikeout of the game.
Five Tigers recorded multi-hit games, including three from Ural and two each from Saavedra, Kreutzer, Herrmann and Burgos. Ural and Saavedra each drove in three runs, while Ural, Saavedra and Morrell all scored twice.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will wrap up the regular season with four games on the road next week beginning Tuesday at William Jewell before travelling to Pittsburg State over the weekend for the final conference series of the year.