Fort Hays State (0-0) at MSU Denver (0-0)
Saturday, February 5 – 1 pm CT/12 pm MT (DH)
Denver, Colo. – Assembly Athletic Complex
 
Fort Hays State at Regis (0-0)
Sunday, February 6 – 1 pm CT/12 pm MT (DH)
Denver, Colo. – Regis Softball Field
 
Fort Hays State Softball opens the 2022 season this weekend when they play doubleheaders at both MSU Denver and Regis University in Denver. The Tigers take on MSU Denver on Saturday at 1 pm (12 pm MT), then face Regis on Sunday at 12 pm (11 am MT). This weekend marks the start of the 2022 season for both MSU Denver and Regis as well.
 
The Tigers will get to open the 2022 season at the site of the last two NCAA Division II Softball Championships. The Assembly Athletic Complex, home of MSU Denver, was the championship site host in both 2019 and 2021, as well as 2016. It will be the site of the championship again this season. This is the second-straight year the Tigers will play at MSU Denver as they split last year's doubleheader with a 4-0 win and 4-3 loss. MSU Denver holds a 12-9 advantage in the all-time series and won six straight against the Tigers in Denver before FHSU snapped that streak last year with the 4-0 win in Game 1. All but three games in the 21-game series history between the schools have been played in Denver.
 
In the 4-0 win over the Roadrunners last year, Jessica Espinoza drove in three of the four runs with a 3-for-3 game at the plate. After drawing a bases loaded walk early in the game to give FHSU a 1-0 lead, she extended that to 3-0 in the 6^th with a 2-RBI triple. Sarah Tiffany had a solid 3-for-5 effort at the plate in that contest. All of the offense in that game was against Destinee Lopez, who returns for MSU Denver this season. In the 4-3 loss, Elise Capra had a 3-for-3 game at the plate with an RBI double.
 
Fort Hays State and Regis are set to meet for the first time since 2010 on Sunday. The all-time series sits in a 20-20 tie right now, but FHSU has won four of the last five. The last four meetings between the schools have been in Denver with a doubleheader sweep by the Tigers in 2009 and a split in 2010. Head coach Adrian Pilkington (then Mohr) was in her senior year at Fort Hays State the last time the teams met, when she went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader with a home run and three RBIs.
 
Regis is scheduled to host Cal Poly Humboldt in a doubleheader on Saturday while the Tigers are facing MSU Denver.
 
The Tigers enter in their eighth season under Pilkington's guidance, now with 140 wins leading the Tigers. FHSU is coming off a 24-22 season in 2021 when they made an appearance in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament.