Fort Hays State Softball enters the final week of regular season play in position to potentially host an opening round three-game series in the MIAA Tournament next week. The Tigers sit alone in fourth place in the MIAA standings with four games to play. The top four seeds for the eight-team MIAA Tournament will host in the opening round of the tournament. FHSU heads on the road to play Newman and Central Oklahoma this week.
The Tigers will play at Newman on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 2 pm. On Saturday, FHSU will be at Central Oklahoma for a doubleheader starting at 12 pm. Newman enters the final week out of contention for the MIAA Tournament, currently 13th in the MIAA standings at 4-18. Central Oklahoma enters the final weekend of play leading the MIAA at 18-4. The Bronchos will face Nebraska-Kearney on Friday before taking on the Tigers. FHSU enters the weekend 15-7 in MIAA play.
The Tigers are among a tight seven-team race for the top four spots in the MIAA standings. Central Missouri is only one game back of Central Oklahoma at 17-5, currently alone in second place. Missouri Southern has jumped up to third in the standings, now 15-6-1. Since MSSU tied with Northeastern State earlier this year due to weather, FHSU (15-7) will need to finish one game better than MSSU this weekend to leap them in the standings. Breathing down the neck of the Tigers for the fourth and final spot to host in the opening round are Rogers State and Missouri Western, both at 14-8 in the MIAA. Washburn is still alive for a top-four spot at 11-9, but has three doubleheaders ahead scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Monday. All seven teams own 22 or more wins overall on the season.
The Tigers are mathematically still alive for the MIAA regular season title. Pending results of games Friday, the Tigers will know if they can mathematically catch Central Oklahoma going into their doubleheader with each other on Saturday. All teams among the top seven except Central Missouri will be in action on Friday.
One thing for certain is the Tigers will snap their string of missing the last three MIAA postseason tournaments, mathematically locked for one of the top eight spots. There was no MIAA Tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time the Tigers appeared in the tournament was 2016. Every player on the current FHSU roster will be making their first MIAA Tournament appearance.
Tiger Notes
-Fort Hays State owns the second-best team ERA in the MIAA at 2.37.
-Michaelanne Nelson ranks second in the MIAA in ERA (1.95) and strikeouts (113). She leads the MIAA in strikeouts looking (42). She is fourth in the MIAA in innings pitched (118.1) and complete games (14).
-Hailey Chapman ranks third in the MIAA in innings pitched (129.1) and complete games (16), seventh in strikeouts (85), and 10th in ERA (2.65).
-Loren Beggs enters the final week of play as the team leader in home runs (5) and extra-base hits (13). She is tied with Sara Breckbill for the team lead in RBIs with 22.
-Breckbill leads the team in batting average (.342) and doubles (9). Both Breckbill and Grace Philop have on-base percentages north of .400 for the season.
-The Tigers are 7-4 so far this season in games decided by one run.
-FHSU is 15-1 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game.
Newman Notes
-The Jets are 4-6 in MIAA games at home this season. The Jets took a game on their home field in doubleheaders against first-place Central Oklahoma and third-place Missouri Southern earlier this season.
-The Jets average 3.7 runs per game in MIAA play. Newman has scored 2 or less in 11 of its 22 conference games, but scored 7 or more in six conference games. The Jets have scored 3 or more in six of their 10 conference games at home.
-All four of Newman's pitchers own an ERA above 6.50. The Jets allow an average of 7.37 earned runs per game for the season and 7.66 per game in MIAA play.
-Fort Hays State has dominated the all-time series with Newman 26-7, but it looks to snap recent struggles against Newman in Wichita. The Jets have won six of the last eight meetings with the Tigers on their home field and five of those six wins have been in walk-off fashion by one run. Three of the walk-offs happened in the seventh inning, while two were in eight-inning contests. In all 6 of those wins, Newman plated what proved to be the winning runs in their final inning at bat.
Central Oklahoma Notes
-The Bronchos are 16-0 on their home field so far this season. They are 8-0 in MIAA play at home, but three of those eight wins have been by just one run. UCO won all three of those one-run games in walk-off fashion.
-UCO has not been swept in an MIAA doubleheader this season. All four of its losses in conference play have been on the road, occurring in splits with Rogers State, Newman, Missouri Western, and Emporia State.
-The Bronchos currently own a No. 13 ranking in the NFCA Top 25 Poll.
-The Bronchos were ranked No. 2 in the nation the last time they met FHSU, occurring in a doubleheader during the 2019 season in Hays. The Tigers won the second game of that twin bill in walk-off fashion on an RBI single by Sara Breckbill in the 8th inning.
-The Tigers look to snap a five-game losing skid to the Bronchos in Edmond. FHSU's last win at UCO occurred in 2014.
-The Bronchos are all about putting the ball in play on both offense and defense. At the plate, the Bronchos strike out an average of only 3.3 times per game, but their pitching staff only averages 3.4 strikeouts per game. Corinna Rivas, who leads the Bronchos in innings pitched (109.2), averages just 2.7 strikeouts per seven innings. The Bronchos lead the MIAA in fielding percentage (.980), committing only 21 errors in 38 games this season. UCO has a team ERA of 2.65, which is fifth-best in the MIAA.
FHSU Athletics