Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

The Fort Hays State softball team battled on Friday (April 27) at the MIAA Centennial Softball Championship in Overland Park, Kan., but they fell to the top two teams in the conference and were eliminated from the tournament. FHSU was downed 2-0 by top seed and No. 16 Emporia State before dropping a run-rule 14-5 game in five innings to the second seed, No. 21 Missouri Western.
 
Game 1: No. 16 Emporia State 2, Fort Hays State 0
Box Score
 
Fort Hays State struggled to get going offensively in the first game of the day, notching just two hits and being shutout for the first time in 13 games. The Tigers sent Maddie Holub to the circle against the MIAA's regular season champion and she responded with another strong outing, allowing two runs on six hits in a complete game.
 
Emporia State took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single and they tacked on their second run in the fourth on a leadoff solo home run. Fort Hays State had their best chance to strike in the top of the fourth inning after Callie Wright singled and Holub walked to give FHSU two runners with just one out. Adriana Wortley laid down a sacrifice bunt to get both runners in scoring position, but that's where they would be stranded after Amanda Vaupel grounded out to second base.
 
Holub pitched six innings and allowed only six hits, but she took the loss to drop her record to 19-9. She also added three strikeouts to give her 306 for the year, far and away a new Fort Hays State single-season record.
 
Game 2: No. 21 Missouri Western 14, Fort Hays State 5 (5 inn.)
Box Score
 
Missouri Western jumped on top of the Tigers early, leading off the game with a home run and adding two more long balls in the first inning for a 6-0 lead that they would not look back from. The Griffons lead reached 8-0 after three innings, but Fort Hays State would pull it to 8-2 in the bottom of the fourth after back-to-back solo home runs from Holub and Wortley.
 
Wortley added her second homer of the game, and eighth of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Griffons had done enough damage with a six-run fifth inning to put the game out of reach. Fort Hays State fell by a final of 14-5 and saw their season end with a 31-19 record.
 
Kaitlyn Shattleroe started for the Tigers, but did not record an out and gave up three earned runs. Abby Morrison pitched five innings in relief, but was shelled for 13 hits and 11 runs. Shattleroe took the loss and ends the year with an 8-5 record.
 
 
Fort Hays State ended the season one game shy of reaching the conference's championship series for the second consecutive year. The Tigers end the year 31-19, for a winning percentage of .620, which is the second best in school history.