Fort Hays State Softball dropped both contests on day two of the Kelly Laas Memorial MIAA/NSIC Crossover Softball Invite, falling to host St. Cloud State and Minnesota State on Saturday evening (Feb. 21).
 
The Tigers close out the invite this Sunday (Feb. 22) with two games at the Husky Dome, taking on Wayne State College at 8 a.m., and No. 23 Augustana College at 10 a.m.
 
Complete recaps of Saturday's games are below…
 
St. Cloud State 7, Fort Hays State 5
A seventh inning comeback fell short as Fort Hays State dropped its first game of the day, 7-5, to St. Cloud State.  FHSU trailed SCSU, 7-2, headed into the seventh but loaded the bases with no outs and eventually scored three, though they could not complete the rally.
 
Individual stats were not immediately available.  Stay tuned to fhsuathletics.com for a complete box score and play-by-play.
 
Minnesota State 9, Fort Hays State 1 (Five innings)
Seven runs for Minnesota State in the first two innings proved too much for the Tigers to overcome as Fort Hays State fell, 9-1, in five innings to close out the second day at the Husky Dome.
 
Paxton Duran (1-3) was tagged with the loss, throwing three innings and allowing nine runs (four earned) on six hits while striking out four.  Savannah Price threw the final two innings, allowing one hit with a walk and a strikeout.
 
Offensively, the Tigers mustered just three hits in the game, spread between Duran, Savannah Price and Veronica Knittig. 
 
MSU took a 4-0 lead in the first off two hits, two walks and an error before adding to the lead with three in the second, stringing together three hits and a walk in that inning.  Errors continued to hurt the Tigers in the third, when back-to-back mishaps allowed the Mavericks to score two and push the lead to 9-0.
 
From there, the Tigers settled down defensively and kept MSU off the board the remainder of the game, but could only score one in its half of the fourth, eventually falling by run-rule.
 
In the fourth, Kylie Strand drew a one out walk before taking second on Price's infield single.  With two outs, Knittig singled into center field, driving Strand in.