FHSU Athletics
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Fort Hays State softball opened its 2025 season on Friday in Wichita Falls Texas at the Mustang Round Up, hosted by Midwestern State University. The Tigers won their first contest of the season by a score of 3-2 over Northwestern Oklahoma State before falling to Cameron 9-1.
Fort Hays State 3, Northwestern Oklahoma State 2
Fort Hays State fell down 2-0 to Northwestern Oklahoma State in the fourth inning on a two-run home run, but rallied back for a 3-2 victory in its season opener with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. Gracie Johns flipped the game in Fort Hays State's favor with a two-run home run in the fifth and Morgan Schmidt made it hold up by retiring the final 10 batters of the game for a complete-game with seven strikeouts.
Neither team recorded a hit until the third inning. Schmidt worked around danger in the third after a leadoff triple. She got a pop up, ground out, and a strikeout to strand the runner at third. The Tigers loaded the bases in the bottom of the third on a single and a pair of walks, but unfortunately could not push a run across.
The Rangers struck first in the fourth with a single and then two-run home run by Rachel Sherwood. However, Schmidt would buckle down from that point on as the last out of the inning started her string of 10 consecutive retired to close out the game.
The Tigers cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the fourth. Madison Pierce led off with a walk and then sisters Lilly Mohr and Lexi Mohr had back-to-back singles to generate FHSU's first run. Emily Mayer came in to score on the RBI single by Lexi Mohr, but the Tigers stranded runners at second and third.
Lilianna Ramirez-Johnson triggered Fort Hays State's quick burst in the fifth with a leadoff single. Then Gracie Johns followed with her first collegiate home run, a blast to right-center field to put the Tigers on top 3-2.
Fort Hays State had eight hits in the game compared to four for NWOSU. Johns and Regan Curry each had a pair of hits. Schmidt allowed just one walk to go with her seven punchouts.
Kathryn Jones took the loss for the Rangers. She entered in relief in the fifth, but immediately yielded the single and homer that put the Tigers on top. NWOSU starter Chloe Brown threw 5 total innings with seven strikeouts and four hits allowed. Jones had two strikeouts and four hits allowed in 1 inning.
Cameron 9, Fort Hays State 1 (6 inn.)
Fort Hays State left a lot of potential runs stranded in a 9-1 loss to Cameron. The Tigers loaded the bases in three different innings, but never pushed a run across in any of the three situations. A solo home run by Madison Pierce with two outs in the fifth was the only run the Tigers produced. Pierce went 2-for-2 in the game.
Cameron put on an offensive display in its first game of the season, scoring nine runs on 10 hits. The Aggies scored five runs on seven hits against FHSU starter Savanah Egger in 2 2/3 innings. They added four more runs on three hits against Korryn Johnson, who pitched the final 3 innings before the Aggies ended the game by run rule in the bottom of the sixth. The Aggies scored in every inning except the first. Egger and Johnson combined for five strikeouts in the game.
Stormee Reed threw a complete game for the Aggies, even though she had to work out of danger several times. She allowed six free passes and five hits to the Tigers, but struck out eight. The Tigers left 10 runners on base against Reed.
UP NEXT
After splitting its first day of action, Fort Hays State now prepares to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southwest Baptist on Saturday. Games will be at Holliday High School in neighboring Holliday, Texas. There will be no live stream or stats coverage of either game. Score updates will be provided on the FHSU Softball X account.