Fort Hays State (23-16, 12-8 MIAA) at Missouri Southern (14-28, 6-12 MIAA) Friday, April 11, 2014 - Joplin, Mo. - Lea Kungle & Gene Wild Softball Fields - 4 and 6 pm Live Stats Fort Hays State (23-16, 12-8 MIAA) at Pittsburg State (21-21, 7-11 MIAA) Saturday, April 12, 2014- PIttsburg, Kan. - PSU Softball Complex - Noon and 2 p.m. Live Stats

Fort Hays State Softball continues its stay away from Tiger Stadium with a four-game road trip this weekend, swinging through Joplin, Mo., and Pittsburg, Kan., to take on Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State this Friday (April 11) and Saturday (April 12).  The Tigers, fifth in the MIAA standings with eight games to go, will look for a weekend sweep to improve their position and solidify a chance at the MIAA postseason.
 
FHSU (23-16, 12-8 MIAA) squares off with MSSU (14-28, 6-12 MIAA) in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday and Pittsburg State (21-21, 7-11 MIAA) in a doubleheader at Noon on Saturday.
 
The Tigers halted a four-game skid last weekend with a split at Northwest Missouri in a comeback effort that lasted eight innings.  Offensively, FHSU's Courtney Dobson leads the team with a .356 batting average, followed by Bianca Adame's .338 average.  Dobson, who has started all 39 games at second base, has seven doubles and blasted her first home run last week against Northwest Missouri State.  Dobson is tied with Danie Brinkmann (.296 average, eight doubles) for the team lead with 21 RBI.  Adame leads the team with five triples, and Samantha Villarreal (.318 average, 19 starts) has four home runs – two of which came last Saturday at NWMSU.
 
Paxton Duran (14-7) has 11 complete games in 23 appearances (19 starts), striking out 107 batters in 115.2 innings pitched, posting a 2.66 ERA.  Kelsey Kimminau has started 17 games, throwing 94 innings with a 2.98 ERA and 60 strikeouts.
 
MSSU, 12th in the MIAA standings, dropped both games to PSU earlier this week, and is led offensively by Dawn Grass, who is hitting .354 with nine doubles and six home runs.  Her 27 RBI leads the team, one ahead of Shelby Romines, who is hitting .299 with five doubles and five home runs.  In the circle, Haley Kinnison and Sarah Williams each have 25 appearances, with Kinnison leading the team in ERA (5.89), wins (8-13 overall) and strikeouts (87).  Williams' five wins (5-10 overall) is second highest on the team.
 
PSU swept MSSU in a doubleheader earlier this week and is currently 10th in conference standings.  Tiffany Brown has proven herself dangerous at the plate, leading the team with 22 home runs, six doubles and 63 RBI in 42 games, hitting .435 with 29 walks on the season.  McKenzie Rynard's .417 average is second highest on the team to go with nine doubles and 13 home runs.  Samantha Grove is 10-9 on the season with a 3.03 ERA in the circle, striking out 49 and allowing 47 walks in 120 innings.