Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Tiger Softball team improved to 4-0 for only the third time in school history after picking up a pair of wins at the Midwestern State Invitational on Friday (Feb. 17). The Tigers made a late rally to knock off Texas A&M-International 2-1 in the first game before taking down Arkansas Tech by a score of 9-6 in the night cap.

The Tigers play two more games on Saturday (Feb. 18), facing Abilene Christian at 11:00 am and Missouri Southern at 3:00 pm.  Live stats links for those games can be found below.

Holiday Inn at the Falls / Midwestern State Invitational Fort Hays State vs. Abilene Christian Saturday, Feb. 18, 11:00 am Live Stats Fort Hays State vs. Missouri Southern Saturday, Feb. 18, 3:00 pm Live Stats

Fort Hays State 2, Texas A&M International 1
Box Score
 
Fort Hays State loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning but they were unable to push a run across after Adriana Wortley flied out to left field. The Tigers then went behind 1-0 when Regina Morales hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning off of Maddie Holub. Pitching dominated the next few innings of the game until the Tigers batted in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Taylor Nelson led off the seventh with a single before being sacrificed over to second by Kellsi Olsen. Nelson advanced to third on a wild pitch by Mariena Gallardo, who was brought in to pitch with one out in the final inning. Gallardo then walked Holub, who promptly stole second base to put two runners in scoring position for Chelsey Rottinghaus. Rottinghaus hit a ground ball to Dustdevil second baseman Kristie LaBuhn, who fielded and threw home to try and gun down Nelson at the plate. LaBuhn's throw was off the mark and allowed Holub to also come across and score, giving the Tigers a 2-1 victory.
 
Holub picked up the win to move to 2-0 on the year after giving up just three hits and one earned run while striking out nine batters. Rottinghaus had two of the six hits by FHSU, which were all singles, and lone RBI to lead the Tiger offense. Gallardo took the loss after facing two batters and not recording an out.


Fort Hays State 9, Arkansas Tech 6
Box Score
 
The Tigers jumped on top early, taking a 1-0 lead on a Holub sacrifice fly which plated Nelson in the top of the first inning. Arkansas Tech tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning after Cassady Haworth came across to score on a wild pitch by Tiger pitcher Katelyn Shattleroe.
 
Wortley led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run to put the Tigers again on top 2-1. Callie Wright then singled and would come around to score on a single by Olsen, putting FHSU on top 3-1. The Golden Suns again had an answer, scoring five runs in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 6-3. Most of the damage was done on a two-run triple by Maddie Roncketto.
 
Rottinghaus and Amanda Vaupel led off the third inning with singles before advancing to second and third after a wild pitch. Wortley again came through, hitting a double down the right field line drive in both runs and cut the Arkansas Tech lead to 6-5.
 
Shattleroe settled in at that point, allowing the Golden Sun offense just one hit the rest of the way. She got the run support that she needed in the top of the fifth, when Rottinghaus scored on an Arkansas Tech error and Breanna Beckerman drove in two runs on a single down the right field line. FHSU led 8-6 at that point and would add another run in the sixth on an RBI single by Rottinghaus.
 
The Tiger offense generated 12 hits, including multi-hit games from Olsen, Rottinghaus, Wortley and Wright. Shattleroe picked up the win and improves to 2-0 after allowing six runs on five hits while also recording seven strikeouts. Vicotoria Huie took the loss for Arkansas Tech after pitching the final six innings and giving up four earned runs.