FHSU Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Fort Hays State baseball team opened conference play Thursday (Feb. 19) at Northwest Missouri State, with the Tigers dropping game one on a walk off base hit before game two was suspended due to darkness with the Bearcats leading 7-6 after seven innings. Fort Hays State is now 3-8 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play, while the Bearcats improve to 9-4 on the year and 1-0 in conference play.
Game 1: Northwest Missouri State 11, Fort Hays State 10
The Tigers never trailed in the opener until the final at bat of the contest, taking advantage of a pair of walks to jump in front in the top of the first when Erick Ordonez drove in the first run with a single. The Bearcats responded in the home half with a solo home run, tying things at 1-1.
FHSU regained the lead in the top of the third when Cooper Howell worked a leadoff walk. Garrettson Cook later singled to put runners on the corners before Derek Woolwine plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice bunt. Woolwine drove in another run with a single down the first-base line in the top of the fifth, plating Antonio Avila to make it a 3-1 lead.
The home team responded with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score thanks to a pair of extra-base knocks. But FHSU answered right away, plating five unearned runs in the top of the sixth to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
Dylan Salcido worked another leadoff walk before Justin Lipka and Alvin Santiago both reached on errors off sacrifice bunt attempts. One run scored on the second sac bunt before two runs came in on a throwing error following a sacrifice fly. Cook kept things rolling with his first career home run, recording FHSU's first hit in the five-run inning.
Lipka led off the top of the seventh with a single before coming in to score on an infield groundout, pushing the Tiger lead to six, 9-3.
Northwest, the league leaders in home runs, tallied its second long ball of the game with a two-run bomb in the seventh, closing within 9-5 before adding another run following two free passes in the seventh.
Cook led off the top of the eighth with a single and later came in to score on an RBI fielder's choice from Salcido, extending FHSU's lead back to four. The Bearcats rallied with two outs in the home half of the inning, plating three runs on three hits to close within one, 10-9. Northwest then took its first lead of the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with an 11-10 win.
Brett Jacobs tossed six-plus innings, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out three batters. The Bearcats scored six runs on five hits and six free bases off the FHSU bullpen.
Cook was 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, with Woolwine adding three hits and Ordonez tallying two.
Game 2: Northwest Missouri State 7, Fort Hays State 6, End 7th, Suspended due to darkness
The Tigers got to work right away in game two, rattling off five hits to plate a trio of runs. Howell and Avila led off with back-to-back doubles before a Cook single and a Woolwine walk loaded the bases. Ordonez kept the line moving with a single to right before Tytin Goebel laced a single to right, putting the Tigers up 3-0.
Luke Berry worked out of trouble in each of the first three innings, leaving multiple runners on base to post a trio of scoreless frames. But the Bearcats broke through in the fourth, taking a 6-3 lead thanks to four runs, four free bases and one error.
After leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, the Tigers were able to tie things up in the top of the sixth thanks to four hits. Howell made it 6-4 with an RBI double before Cook closed the gap to one with a single to center. Woolwine followed with a game-tying double, but NWMSU escaped the inning with two men on to keep things tied.
A double, walk, catcher's interference and fielder's choice helped the Bearcats take a 7-6 lead before the game was suspended due to darkness.