Fort Hays State welcomes Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State to Tiger Stadium this Friday and Saturday (March 13-14) for its home opening weekend. The Tigers and Lions square off in a doubleheader on Friday at 2 p.m., and FHSU will host the Gorillas on Saturday for a 1 p.m., doubleheader.
FHSU (7-8, 2-2 MIAA) will look to climb above the .500 mark this weekend in overall and conference play, hoping to stay within striking distance of the top spot in the MIAA standings. FHSU went 4-2 last week with doubleheader sweeps of then-No. 13 Arkansas Tech and Southwest Baptist, beginning conference play with two losses at Central Missouri.
Kelsey Kimminau leads the Tigers with a 3.03 ERA and five complete games and is second in strikeouts (16) in 39.1 innings pitched.
Paxton Duran's 3.09 ERA is second on the team to go with four complete games and a team leading 58 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched. Kimminau and Duran each have 3-4 records in the circle.
The Tigers saw their team average rise last week to .240 thanks in part to a 21-hit doubleheader against SBU last weekend. Individually,
Samantha Villarreal's .385 batting average leads the team while
Tori Beltz is second with a .366 average. Beltz additionally paces the Tigers in power numbers, slugging .780 with five home runs and two doubles, driving in 11 through 15 starts.
Amanda Vaupel's nine RBI is second on the team, as the senior centerfielder is tied with Villarreal and
Erin Elmore (.222) for the team lead in doubles, with three.
MSSU (1-11, 0-0 MIAA) will come into its first conference game Friday on an 11-game losing streak. Michala Wood leads the Lions with a .414 batting average, 12 hits, and nine RBI. Pitcher Ashley Lutz (1-4) has thrown 21 strikeouts in 22 innings while Kali' Hodson (0-4) has 10 strikeouts in 16 innings.
PSU (8-4, 2-0 MIAA) picked up its two conference wins against Southwest Baptist this season and will take on Nebraska-Kearney on Friday (March 13) before traveling to Hays. The Gorillas are batting .346 this season, led by McKenzie Rynard (.459) who has 14 runs and 17 hits. Jordan Bradshaw (.444), Cheslyn Mitchell (.386), and Katy Remy (.381) are also showing up at the plate for Pittsburg State. Spending the most time in the circle for the Gorillas is Emmie Roberston. Her 5-2 record consists of six complete games and two shutouts. Robertson has a 2.07 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 40.2 innings pitched.
