Ryan Busboom earned Athlete of the Week honors for his performance in the Tiger baseball team's four-game sweep of Pittsburg State over the weekend. FHSU won 2-1 and 11-6 on Friday (April 6) and exploded for 25 runs in a 25-5 win on Saturday (April 7) then won 5-4 in the series finale. The Tigers upped their record to 15-15 and 13-12 in the MIAA.
Busboom totaled at least two hits in all four games, finishing the weekend with 10 hits, including two home runs. He hit .625 with 10 RBI.
Busboom produced seven of his nine RBI on the weekend in the 25-5 blowout win over Pittsburg State in the third game of a four-game series. He produced the first run of a six-run first inning for the Tigers with a sacrifice fly RBI, then pushed Fort Hays State’s advantage to 8-2 in the second inning with a RBI double and his 3-run home run in the fifth pushed the FHSU lead to 14-5. He delivered a bases-loaded 2-RBI single in the sixth, part of an 11-run inning for the Tigers.
Busboom was key in a pair of close wins for FHSU. His RBI single in the third inning of the first game of the series broke a 1-1 tie in the third. That run would hold up as the winning run in a complete game effort by pitcher Shawn Lewick. In the final game of the series, he triggered the FHSU comeback from trailing 4-0 with a solo home run in the sixth. He doubled and scored in the seventh, an inning where the Tigers scored four runs to overtake PSU and go on to win 5-4. In the second game of the series, he had two doubles in the second and third innings and came around to score both times.
Seven of the 10 hits he had in the series went for extra bases, which included five doubles and two home runs. Busboom also had a key assist from the outfield in the first game of the series, cutting down the potential tying run at the plate on a single in the fourth inning that ended the inning.
Busboom, who has started all 30 games for the Tigers this sesason, leads the team in batting average (.405), hits (49), doubles (12), home runs (10) and slugging percentage (.752). He also leads the team defensively with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
The Tigers, now at 13-12 in the MIAA, are just a half game back of fourth-place Washburn (14-12) in the conference standings. FHSU made a giant leap in the conference standings with the sweep of Pitt State, now in fifth place alone, but Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist lurk just a half game back of FHSU, each at .500 in conference play.
