FHSU Athletics
EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State saw its 2024 season come to a close on Friday in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament, hosted at Gerry Pinkston Stadium. The No. 10 seeded Tigers fell 7-0 to No. 4 ranked Pittsburg State, the tournament's No. 2 seed. The Tigers finished at 27-25 overall, while the Gorillas improved on their best season in program history, reaching the 50-win mark, now 50-5 overall.
The Tigers had runners in scoring position in the first three innings, but could not find key hits when they needed them as they went scoreless. On the flip side, the Gorillas built a 3-0 lead through the first three innings. They benefitted from a Tiger throwing error in the first to generate their first run. They scored a pair of earned runs in the third. All of their first three runs of the game occurred on RBI singles.
Courtney Storey broke the game open for the Gorillas in the fifth with a two-run home run. The Gorillas went on to add another pair of runs in the sixth. Storey finished with three RBIs in the game to lead PSU, while Hannah Burnett had two.
Savanah Egger threw the first 2 1/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) before handing the ball to Morgan Schmidt, who threw the final 3.2 innings and allowed four runs. Schmidt had the only strikeout of the game between the two. Egger finished the year with a 15-12 record.
MIAA Freshman of the Year Ava Laurent moved to 19-1 overall, throwing the first 6 innings for the Gorillas. She struck out four batters and allowed just three hits with one walk. Peyton Shepard had two of the three hits for the Tigers, while Sarah Tiffany had the other.
The 27 wins on the season were the second-most for an Adrian Pilkington coached Tiger team, following the 31 produced by last year's team. FHSU made the MIAA Tournament for a third time in the last four years. They grabbed their first MIAA Tournament win since 2014 by knocking off Missouri Western in the opening round.