Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Fort Hays State swept its second day of action at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark., defeating Southern Nazarene, 9-4, and using a late innings comeback to defeat Quincy, 6-4, in eight innings.
 
FHSU improves to 3-1 in the early season and will play two games tomorrow to close out the tournament.  The Tigers take on Minnesota State at 9:30 a.m., followed by an 11:30 a.m., contest with Arkansas-Monticello.
 
A complete recap of today's games is below…
 
FHSU 9, Southern Nazarene 4
Fort Hays State racked up 14 hits in a 9-4 victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday (Feb. 15).
 
FHSU (2-1) had five players with multi-hit games, led by Bianca Adame's 3-for-4 performance.  Rilee Krier, Courtney Dobson, Amanda Vaupel and Kylie Strand each had two hits, as Vaupel hit the Tigers' first home run of the season on her way to a three RBI performance.
 
Tori Beltz was 1-for-3 on the day, but had two RBI.  Danie Brinkmann finished 1-for-2 at the plate with two walks.
 
In the circle, Paxton Duran started her second game of the season, throwing 2.1 innings and allowing four runs (all earned).  In relief, Katlyn Kern (1-0) earned the win with 4.2 innings pitched and three strikeouts.  Kern allowed just one hit in her performance.
 
For the second time this season, FHSU jumped out to a first inning lead.  Adame and Krier started the game with back-to-back bunt singles and stolen bases, putting runners on second and third with no outs.  After Brinkmann walked to load the bases, Beltz's sacrifice fly brought home Adame.  Later in the inning, Vaupel's RBI-single scored Krier to put the Tigers ahead, 2-0.
 
SNU answered in its half of the first with a lead-off home run from Lindy Fluman, setting the score at 2-1.
 
In the third, FHSU broke out with a long ball of its own to increase its lead.  Dobson walked with one out in the third, and Vaupel's first home run of the season – a two-run blast – followed.  FHSU led, 4-1 at that point.
 
The Crimson Storm tied the game in the bottom of the third, using five hits, including four straight to start the inning, for three runs.
 
That tie was short-lived, as Fort Hays State took off with four runs of its own in the next half inning to regain control for good.  Kellsi Olsen started the inning with a bunt single, and then moved to second when Adame reached on an error.  Krier's sacrifice bunt moved Olsen and Adame into scoring position, and after a Brinkmann walk, Olsen scored on a wild pitch.  The Tigers' next run of the inning came soon after, when Kelli Koehler, who pinch ran for Brinkmann, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing effort by SNU's Kylee Webb (catcher) – scoring Adame.  Beltz followed with a single to left center, scoring Koehler.  Later in the inning, with runners on first and second and two outs, Strand singled to center field, scoring Madison Putman (who pinch ran for Beltz).
 
FHSU's final run of the day came in the fifth.  With two outs and Krier on second base, Brinkmann singled to advance Krier to third, and Krier came home on a throwing error by SNU's second baseman.
 
FHSU 6, Quincy 4 (8 innings)
Fort Hays State used a three-run fifth inning to tie and force extra innings against Quincy, taking advantage of two-out opportunities in a 6-4 victory in the second game of Saturday's 8-State Classic.
 
Courtney Dobson led the way with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Tori Beltz, Amanda Vaupel and Kylie Strand each added hits.
 
In the circle, Sarah Cochran earned the start, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing three runs on six hits.  Cochran struck out two, but it was Paxton Duran (2-0) who earned the victory after throwing the final four innings with five strikeouts and just one earned run.
 
Down 3-0 after the second inning, FHSU struggled to find its bats until the fifth, when a one-out single from Dobson started a three-run inning for the Tigers.  After Dobson reached first, Amanda Vaupel doubled to center and moved Dobson to third.  Kylie Strand followed with a double of her own, driving in Dobson and Vaupel to pull the Tigers within one (3-2).  After a pitching change, Strand moved to third on a wild pitch and came home when Samantha Villarreal (who pinch hit for Amy Dunn), sacrifice bunted to shortstop.
 
Tied at 3-3 the remainder of the game, FHSU and Quincy headed for extra innings with the international tie-breaker rule in effect. 
 
In the top of the eighth, Kellsi Olsen was placed on second base to begin, and moved to third with one out on Rilee Krier's sacrifice bunt.  With two outs, Danie Brinkmann earned a walk and was pinch ran for by Kelli Koehler.  Tori Beltz followed the walk with a single through the left side, scoring Olsen and advancing Koehler to second.  With two on and two out, Dobson's third single of the day saw Koehler score from second.  Additionally on that play, Dobson reached third and Beltz scored on an error by Quincy's Rebecca Powers.  That put FHSU ahead by three (6-3) at the mid-point of the eighth inning.
 
Quincy added one more in the final half inning, but it was too little, too late as Duran closed out the contest with a strikeout.