Fort Hays State (17-22-1, 3-9 MIAA) at
Northwest Missouri State (7-32, 1-13 MIAA)
Tuesday, April 12 - 11 am/1 pm (DH)
Maryville, Mo. - Bearcat Softball Field

Fort Hays State Softball starts a run of six conference games this week with a make-up doubleheader at Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday (Apr. 12). The games are set to begin at 11 a.m. at Bearcat Softball Field in Maryville. FHSU enters at 17-22-1 overall, 3-9 in the MIAA, while NWMSU is 7-32 overall, 1-13 in the MIAA.
 
The Tigers went 1-3 this past weekend, picking up their lone win in a split with Emporia State. Northwest Missouri State also went 1-3 over the weekend, picking up their first conference win of the season against Northeastern State.
 
Fort Hays State has won its last four games with Northwest Missouri State, sweeping doubleheaders in both 2019 and 2021. All four of those games were in Hays. Northwest Missouri State swept the last doubleheader contested in Maryville in 2018.
 
Sarah Tiffany (.333) and Loren Beggs (.327) lead the Tigers in batting average, both with 11 extra-base hits and a combined 37 RBIs. Sara Breckbill and Regan Curry lead the Tigers in RBIs, each with 24, while Breckbill leads in extra-base hits with 12. Jessica Espinoza has done well at getting on-base for the Tigers, leading the team with a .443 on-base percentage. She leads the team in walks (22), hit-by-pitch (7), and runs scored (27).
 
In the pitching circle, Savanah Egger leads the Tigers with a 3.31 ERA. She has 106 strikeouts in 114.1 innings of work. Morgan Schmidt had strong relief appearances with 15 strikeouts over 9.2 innings, including a win in 5.1 innings of work against Emporia State. She continues to average better than a strikeout per inning with 72 in 65 innings of work. Bailey Carlson leads the team in individual shutouts with two and holds a 4.65 ERA for the season.
 
The Bearcats rank last in the MIAA in both team batting average (.266) and team ERA (8.64). Skylar Pieper leads NWMSU with a .333 batting average. In the circle, Hayden Simmons has a 7.71 ERA, while Breck Dickey is averaging almost right at a strikeout per inning with 85 in 85.1 innings pitched.