Fort Hays State (13-15, 0-2 MIAA) at
Nebraska-Kearney (14-12, 4-0 MIAA)
Saturday, March 26 - 1 & 3 p.m. (DH)
Kearney, Neb. - Patriot Park

Fort Hays State Softball returns to conference play on Saturday when it travels to Nebraska-Kearney for a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm. The games will be played at Patriot Park in Kearney, Nebraska. The Tigers enter the games at 13-15 overall, 0-2 in the MIAA, while the Lopers are 14-12 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA. Live stream (The MIAA Network) and stats will be available for both contests.
 
The Tigers will be looking to stop one of the hottest teams in the MIAA. After a 5-12 start to the season, Nebraska-Kearney has won its last nine games to move to two games above .500. The streak started with a win against William Jewell, continued with a pair of sweeps in MIAA play at Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western, and reached nine this past weekend with four wins in neutral site games in St. Joseph, Mo. Saturday will mark the first home games of the season for Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney have played each other 76 times within the NCAA Division II era of the Tiger softball program that began in 1999. The Tigers hold a 40-36 edge in the all-time series, pushing their lead to four with a pair of wins in Hays last year by scores of 7-3 and 4-3. UNK swept a pair of games the last time the teams met in Kearney, winning by scores of 12-4 and 2-1 in 2019.
 
Fort Hays State took three of its first four home games of the season last week. The Tigers split a doubleheader with Oklahoma Baptist before sweeping a pair from Bethany College. The Tigers now have a team batting average of .272 for the season with four players north of .300 for the season. Sarah Tiffany leads that group of four at .391. Sara Breckbill is the team leader in home runs (6) and RBIs (20). The Tigers have six players with 10 or more RBIs for the season.
 
Bailey Carlson leads the Tiger pitching staff in ERA at 2.29, while Savanah Egger leads in innings pitched (78.1) and strikeouts (76). Morgan Schmidt is averaging more than a strikeout per inning with 45 in 42 innings.