FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Softball picked up a split in its doubleheader with Missouri Western on Sunday at Tiger Stadium. The Griffons took game one 8-2, but the Tigers bounced for a come-from-behind 3-2 win in game two. FHSU is now 13-9 overall, 2-2 in the MIAA, while MWSU went to 11-4 overall, 1-1 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Missouri Western 8, Fort Hays State 2
Missouri Western built an 8-0 lead in game one with two runs in the second, two in the third, and four in the fourth. They were one out away from invoking the run rule in the fifth, but Peyton Shepard legged out an infield RBI single to score Regan Curry who led off the inning with a hit. The Tigers got another run in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Loren Beggs and Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson to make it 8-2, which turned out to be the final.
The Griffons scored their first four runs off Tiger starter Savanah Egger. Adrian Pilkington turned the ball over to Morgan Schmidt with two outs in the third and she surrendered four runs in the fourth, but only two were earned. Egger returned to pitch at the start of the fifth inning and held the Griffons scoreless the rest of the way. Three of her four runs surrendered were earned and she moved to 6-4 on the year with the loss. Egger struck out eight Griffons in 5.2 innings of work, while Schmidt fanned one in her 1.1 innings thrown.
Kennedy Preston collected three of seven RBIs in the game for MWSU. Sam Pederson threw a complete game for the Griffons, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. She remained unbeaten on the season, now at 5-0.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 3, Missouri Western 2
Fort Hays State fell behind 1-0 in the second contest of the day, but turned the tide in its favor in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Carly Stuke. Harley Pruetting leveled the score in the fifth with a solo homer for the Griffons, but the Tigers benefitted from a pair of errors in the bottom of the fifth to manufacture a run and take the lead for good at 3-2. Loren Beggs knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.
Pitcher Emma Montoya and the Tigers were able to dance out of danger several times throughout the contest. In the first, Missouri Western tried to execute a double steal of second and home, but Adysen Burghart cut down the runner at the plate to keep the inning scoreless. Montoya escaped a bases-loaded situation in the fourth with a strikeout of red-hot Mackenzie DeVine, who was 4-for-4 on the day to that point. With runners at second and third in the sixth she got DeVine again, this time looking at strike three to get the second out, and then Peyton Shepard tracked a ball down in foul territory for the third out. In the seventh, the Griffons led off with a single and got the runner to third before Montoya punched out Rian Gere looking to end the game.
Montoya threw 146 pitches in her complete-game win to move to 2-1 on the season. She struck out eight and allowed seven hits and seven walks. Pruetting was the starting pitcher for the Griffons and lasted 3.0 innings. She gave up two runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts before handing the ball to Natalie Kissinger in the fourth following Stuke's home run. Kissinger did not allow a hit and struck out four, but took the loss with the run surrendered in the fifth via a pair of errors, a walk, and the sac fly by Beggs.
The Tigers step outside of conference play for their next eight games. They play doubleheaders at MSU Denver and CSU-Pueblo in Colorado on Tuesday (Mar. 14) and Wednesday (Mar. 15) this week, then host Colorado School of Mines for a four-game series on March 21-22 before returning to MIAA play.