No. 13 Fort Hays State continues its homestand this weekend with doubleheaders against No. 21 Emporia State and Washburn at Tiger Stadium.  FHSU will take on ESU on Friday, March 14 in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m., followed by Saturday's (March 16) doubleheader with WU at 1 p.m.
 
FHSU (14-5, 4-0 MIAA) picked up four wins last weekend to start conference play, sweeping doubleheaders with Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist.  FHSU is led offensively by Courtney Dobson, who is hitting .393 with five doubles, 10 RBI and seven walks.  Rilee Krier is hitting .391 from the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the lineup with seven stolen bases, second on the team behind Bianca Adame's 10 swipes.  All told, the Tigers have seven starters hitting above the .300 mark, with Amanda Vaupel (three home runs, six doubles), Danie Brinkmann (seven doubles) and Kylie Strand (two home runs, four doubles) joining Dobson as leaders in power numbers.
 
In the circle, Katlyn Kern (0.81 ERA) is second in the NCAA with four saves in the early season, and starters Kelsey Kimminau (6-1, 2.59 ERA) and Paxton Duran (7-3, 2.75 ERA) each have sub-3.00 ERAs.  Duran leads the team with 46 strikeouts, including nine last week in Game 2 against Southwest Baptist.  Kimminau has 36 strikeouts thus far.
 
ESU (17-4, 4-0 MIAA) has won seven straight games as pitcher Kaitlyn Caston is 12-3 with a 2.65 ERA and 41 strikeouts so far this season.  Eryn Stockman (5-1) has a 3.71 ERA in nine appearances, striking out 16.  At the plate, ESU's Stephanie Goodwin is hitting .348 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI, while Tricia Vogel has 13 RBI, seven doubles and two home runs to go with a .324 average.
 
WU (9-3, 5-1 MIAA) split a conference series with Southwest Baptist earlier this season, but has won six consecutive games and is hitting .349 as a team this season.  Marina Quimby has found herself as the team's batting average leader, hitting .564 through 12 games with 13 runs and 10 RBI, though power hitter Lauren Thimmesch has provided 17 RBI with 11 home runs and a .372 average.  Thimmesch has also thrown 27.1 innings with a 5.12 ERA.  Samantha Carson's 3.06 ERA is a team-best, as she has posted a 4-0 record with 18 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched.