FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State earned a split in a crucial doubleheader with No. 8 Rogers State on Saturday at Fleharty Family Field in Hays. After falling in game one 6-1, Savanah Egger spun a shutout gem in the circle against the defending national champions and was backed by a fourth-inning RBI single from Reese Curry for a 1-0 FHSU game two win.
The Tigers remain in good position in the MIAA standings at 12-12 heading into the final day of the regular season, but their work is not done yet as they host an 11-13 Northeastern State team (29-20 overall) still alive in the conference tournament picture on Sunday. With the game-two win, Fort Hays State clinched its first 30-win season since 2013 and the first under head coach Adrian Pilkington. They now look to lock down their second MIAA Tournament appearance in the last three seasons on Sunday.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Game 1: Rogers State 6, Fort Hays State 1
Rogers State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and one in the second and never looked back in its win to open the doubleheader. FHSU picked up its only run in the fifth on an RBI single by Sarah Tiffany, but RSU found three more insurance runs in the seventh with a two-out rally.
Bailey Carlson threw the first 4.1 innings of the contest, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks. She struck out one. Morgan Schmidt threw the next 2.1 innings and allowed three runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Emma Montoya picked up the final Rogers State out of the game.
The Tigers had a hard time getting anything going against MIAA earned run average leader Sara Llamas-Howell who surrendered four hits, two walks, and a hit batter. She struck out five in her six innings of work, moving to 20-2 on the season. Courtney Hill pitched the final inning for the Hillcats and walked two.
The run in the fifth by FHSU was set up on a triple to center field by Peyton Shepard. Tiffany brought her in on a one-out single to center field.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 1, Rogers State 0
Game two was a pitcher's duel between Savanah Egger of Fort Hays State and Jade Sanders of Rogers State. Egger was masterful in her MIAA-leading ninth shutout of the season in a critical battle to set up the Tigers' position in the MIAA standings going into Sunday.
After having golden run-scoring opportunities in both the first and third innings, FHSU finally broke through against Sanders in the fourth on a clutch two-out RBI single by Reese Curry. She scored Carly Stuke who led off the inning by beating out a deep infield single up the middle. Sanders (14-5) went on to finish with 10 strikeouts in her complete-game loss.
Egger had a perfect game rolling in the fifth inning, retiring the first 14 batters of the game before Jaylan Gibson snuck a ball down the third-base line that either crossed over top of the bag or barely clipped the foul line past the bag for a double. But she ended that RSU threat with a ground out.
Egger mowed through the Hillcats in order in the sixth with three ground outs, but then finally had to face her biggest challenge in the seventh. A perfectly placed infield single by Nicole Price and then a one-out half swing single by Abbey Rogers that fell into left field gave Rogers State one last chance to crack through. But, Egger battled and got MaKayla Jackson to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out, then induced a weak pop up on the infield out of Gibson to end the game. Egger finished with three strikeouts and did not allow any free passes to first in her complete-game effort, moving to 13-8 on the season.
Fort Hays State plays host to Northeastern State on Sunday (Apr. 30) at 12 p.m. at Fleharty Family Field, looking to snag one of the last two spots available for the conference tournament.