TOPEKA, Kan. – Fort Hays State Softball split a pair of games to open the Washburn Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 26). The Tigers opened the day with a 6-3 win over St. Cloud State, but fell on a late comeback to Missouri-St. Louis in the nightcap.
 
Fort Hays State 6, St. Cloud State 3
Fort Hays State jumped out to an early lead and never let go in their first contest of the day. Loren Beggs hit a solo home run in the first inning to put the Tigers in the lead. FHSU tacked on a couple more runs in the third when Sara Breckbill made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly RBI and Madison Pierce had an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0.
 
Meanwhile in the pitching circle, Savanah Egger retired the first nine batters of the game, including four by strikeout. An error by the Tigers in the fourth inning put a runner on right before a St. Cloud State home run to cut the lead to 3-2. However, Egger went right back to work striking out the next three batters.
 
Hits by Regan Curry and Sarah Tiffany in the fourth led to an RBI for Lindsey Kelly. Sara Breckbill then led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homer to get the Tiger lead back to three at 5-2. Another Tiger error in the sixth led to another St. Cloud State run on an RBI double, but the Tigers answered once again in the bottom half of the inning when Kelly scored on a throwing error by the Huskies.
 
Egger went on to throw a complete game and struck out nine. She allowed just four hits and one earned run. Kylie Thomsen threw the first five innings for SCSU and allowed just three earned runs. Reliever Emma Eickhoff of SCSU pitched an inning and gave up one unearned run.
 
Missouri-St. Louis 7, Fort Hays State 6
The Tigers had a potential 2-0 day get away from them late when the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis rallied late. The Tigers took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh only to see the Tritons rally to score four runs with the game down to its last out.
 
The Tigers built an early 2-0 lead through an inning and a half. Madison Pierce had an RBI single in the first inning and Kiana Blake hit her first collegiate home run in the second. In the bottom half of the inning, the Tritons tied the game with a solo home run and an error wound up putting another runner on that scored on a sacrifice fly.
 
The Tigers vaulted back in front in the third when a pair of walks preceded Erika Flynn's first collegiate home run, a three-run shot to put the Tigers up 5-2. FHSU moved up 6-2 in the sixth when Loren Beggs launched her second solo homer of the day. The Tritons got that run back in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run of their own.
 
After a leadoff single and a one-out walk in the seventh, Flynn relieved Morgan Schmidt in the pitching circle. A pop up to second base gave the Tigers the second out of the inning with runners still at first and second. But, the Tritons found some magic late as they strung together three straight hits to win the game. A double triggered the late rally, which scored two runs. Another double tied the game, and then a single to left field fell in a good enough spot to score the runner from second and give the Tritons the game.
 
Flynn took the loss by allowing the winning run in a short relief stint. Schmidt pitched the first 6.1 inning and allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with nine strikeouts. Mimi Bradley lasted only 2.2 innings in the circle for UMSL and allowed five runs to the Tigers. Reliever Annie Scaramuzzi limited the Tigers to just one run in 4.1 innings of work and struck out nine to grab a win with her team's late rally.
 
The Tigers will return to action on Sunday with games against Southwest Minnesota State at 1:30 pm and University of Mary at 3:30 pm. Both games will be at the Lake Shawnee East Field.