Fort Hays State Softball prepares for another weekend of four games, this time in Topeka, Kansas at the Washburn Invitational on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 27-28). All four of Fort Hays State's games will take place at Hummer Sports Park. The Tigers will take on Missouri-St. Louis, Sioux Falls, Truman, and Wayne State (Neb.) over the weekend.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION PAGE
 
The Tigers will be playing their first contest Saturday and both contests Sunday on the Hummer Sports Park North Field. Their second contest on Saturday will be on the Hummer Sports Park South Field.
 
Live Coverage
Saturday - There will only be Twitter updates for both contests on Saturday.
Sunday – There will only be Live Stats coverage of both games HERE.
There is no live video stream available for any of the contests this weekend.

 
Schedule for FHSU
Saturday, February 27
FHSU vs. Missouri-St. Louis – 11 AM (Hummer Sports Park – North Field)
Twitter Updates

FHSU vs. Sioux Falls – 3 PM (Hummer Sports Park – South Field)
Twitter Updates

Sunday, February 28
FHSU vs. Truman – 10 AM (Hummer Sports Park – North Field)
Live Stats
 
FHSU vs. Wayne State – 4 PM (Hummer Sports Park – North Field)
Live Stats


FHSU Notes
-Fort Hays State enters this tournament at 2-6 on the season. The Tigers went 1-3 at the Edmond Regional Festival last week in the Oklahoma City area. The Tigers picked up a win over Southern Nazarene, but fell to East Central, Oklahoma Baptist, and Oklahoma Christian.
 
-Michaelanne Nelson received MIAA Pitcher of the Week honors on Tuesday (Feb. 23). She had a 1.83 ERA during the Edmond Regional Festival, making three appearances with one complete-game win. She struck out 13 batters in 15.1 innings of work. She has a 2.51 ERA for the season with 19 strikeouts in 22.1 innings overall.

-Hailey Chapman owns a 2.82 ERA through 27.1 innings of work in the pitching circle. She also leads the staff in strikeouts with 21 so far. The team holds a 2.89 ERA through eight contests this season. Jessica Espinoza also has a sub-3.00 ERA (2.33) in three innings of work.

-Kristen Reed leads the team in batting average at .308. Grace Philop is right behind at .304. Both have started all eight games for the Tigers so far. Sarah Tiffany leads the team in extra-base hits so far with four. Philop and Tiffany have a team-high three RBIs each for the season.
  
Opponent Notes
Missouri-St. Louis (0-0 entering tournament)
Fort Hays State and Missouri-St. Louis meet for the sixth time in history on Saturday. The Tritons lead the all-time series 3-2, but Fort Hays State won the meeting between the teams last year at the Washburn Invitational. The Tigers took that contest 3-0 with a pair of bases loaded walks by Lexi Kagan and Lily Sale, and a Loren Beggs RBI double. Michaelanne Nelson threw a complete game one-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. All meetings between FHSU and UMSL have been at neutral sites. UMSL finished 12-12 last year.

Sioux Falls (0-0 entering tournament)
Fort Hays State seeks its first-ever win over Sioux Falls. The Cougars lead the all-time series 3-0. USF won last year's meeting at the Washburn Invitational by a score of 5-3. The Cougars built a 5-0 lead through two and a half inning before the Tigers countered with a run in the third and two in the seventh. Kristen Reed had two RBIs, while Katie Adler, Terran Caldwell, and Lily Sale all had two hits in that contest. All meetings between FHSU and USF have been at neutral sites. The Cougars were 11-8 overall in 2020.

Truman (2-4 entering tournament)
Fort Hays State holds a 13-4 advantage in the all-time series with Truman. All but one of the games in the series history occurred while both FHSU and Truman were both members of the MIAA. The Bulldogs moved to the Great Lakes Valley Conference following the 2013 season. The last time the teams met was in 2015, when FHSU defeated Truman 11-1 in five innings in Bentonville, Arkansas. FHSU is 2-1 against Truman all-time on neutral fields. Truman finished last year with a record of 5-7.

Wayne State (0-0 entering tournament)
Fort Hays State holds an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series with Wayne State College. The last year FHSU and WSC met was in 2018 when they played three contests, all in Hays. FHSU took two out of the three games. Over the three in 2018, Grace Philop had eight hits with an RBI, Sara Breckbill had five hits with four RBIs, and Terran Caldwell had four hits and three RBIs. Hailey Chapman even recorded a two-RBI double in one of her two at bats for that season. The Wildcats finished with a record of 10-13 last season.