Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The 11th-ranked Fort Hays State softball team split its final conference road games of the season at Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday (Apr. 24). After winning game one 6-1, the Tigers fought hard to erase an early six-run deficit leading twice late. However, Nebraska-Kearney rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh all on two outs to pull out a wild 14-13 win over the Tigers. Fort Hays State is now 39-9 overall and 19-5 in the MIAA.

Game 1: Fort Hays State 6, Nebraska-Kearney 1

Fort Hays State took the early advantage on a Maddie Holub single in the third inning to lead 1-0, but Holub allowed her first home run in over a month in the bottom half of the inning, making it 1-1. Holub buckled down to hold the Lopers scoreless the rest of the way.

Paxton Duran put the Tigers back in front with her first home run of the season in the fourth, a solo shot. Adara Erickson, who pinch ran for Tori Beltz, scored the second run of the inning, coming in from third on an illegal pitch. Bianca Adame generated the third run of the inning with her speed, swiping second base and then coming all the way in to score on an overthrow of second base. Jenna Lang tacked on two more runs for the Tigers in the fifth with a pinch hit two-run home run.

Holub struck out 11 Lopers and allowed just two hits, moving to 23-1 overall. With her third strikeout in the game, Holub recorded the 900th strikeout of her career at FHSU. Holub also had a solid game at the plate, going 4-for-4 with four singles.

Game 2: Nebraska-Kearney 14, Fort Hays State 13

Nebraska-Kearney jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, striking for five hits in the inning, capped by a grand slam. Starter Paxton Duran could only get one out in the inning before Erin Kinberger turned the ball over to Maddie Holub. Even with a solid first game effort, Holub struggled in relief, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks in just 2.2 innings of work.

Though the Lopers scored 10 runs through the first three innings, the Tigers did not go away without a fight. Duran put FHSU on the board in the second with a RBI single in the second and Tori Beltz followed with a two-run home run to immediately cut the six-run lead in half. After UNK plated one run in the second to make it 7-3, the Tigers punched back with three more runs in the third on a three-run Amanda Vaupel home run. The Lopers pushed the Tigers back once again with three runs in the bottom of the third to make it 10-6.

With Holub struggling in relief, Kinberger turned to Katlyn Kern in the circle, who pitched for the first time in 2013. Kern battled tough, keeping her team in the game by holding the Lopers scoreless in the fourth and fifth. Her effort allowed the Tigers to finally climb over the top of the mountain, scoring two in the fifth on Tori Beltz's second two-run homer of the game to make it 10-8 UNK, then four in the top of the sixth to take a 12-10 lead. Kern helped herself in the sixth with a RBI groundout, then Beltz produced her fifth and sixth RBI of the game on a single to put FHSU on top 11-10 for its first lead of the game. Beltz came around to score on a throwing error off a Jenna Lang single.

The Lopers would not roll over, despite the impressive come back effort by the Tiger offense. A two-run double knotted the game at 12-12 going into the final inning.

Bianca Adame led off the seventh with a single, stole a base, and then came in to score on a RBI single by Courtney Dobson. That looked as though it was going to be enough as Kern got the first two Loper batters out in the bottom of the seventh. But, Nebraska-Kearney found a way to scratch out three consecutive singles, scoring two runs on the final single. The second run came into score due to a misplay in the outfield by the Tigers.

The loss now puts FHSU two games back of Central Oklahoma in the loss column in conference play, but the Tigers still have a shot at the conference regular season title as the Bronchos have four games to play over the weekend.

The Tigers look to regroup from the loss in the final regular season home doubleheader against Lincoln on Friday (Apr. 26). It will be fan appreciation day at Tiger Stadium as hot dogs and hamburgers will be on sale at the games. The doubleheader begins at 4 pm in Hays.