Central Missouri (13-28, 6-12 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State (18-23-1, 4-10 MIAA)
Friday, April 14 – 2 pm
Hays, Kan. – Tiger Stadium
 
Lincoln (12-27, 0-18 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State
Saturday, April 15 – 12 pm
Hays, Kan. – Tiger Stadium
 
Fort Hays State softball will play four straight doubleheaders at home over a two-week span, starting this weekend with Central Missouri and Lincoln on Friday and Saturday. The doubleheader with Central Missouri begins at 2 p.m. on Friday, then Saturday's doubleheader with Lincoln begins at 12 p.m. FHSU enters the weekend at 18-23-1 overall, 4-10 in the MIAA, while UCM comes in at 13-28 overall, 6-10 in the MIAA.

Live stream (The MIAA Network) and stats will be available for all contests this weekend at the links above.
 
The Tigers picked up a split in their most recent conference doubleheader on Tuesday at Northwest Missouri State. After struggling to get much going offensively in the first game, the Tigers hit four home runs on their way to an 11-3 win in the second contest of the day. Fort Hays State has now split two MIAA doubleheaders and swept one so far this season.
 
Central Missouri is coming off a run of three straight MIAA doubleheaders at home, going 4-2 in that stretch. Last weekend the Jennies swept Newman before getting swept by nationally ranked Central Oklahoma. An NCAA Tournament team and MIAA Tournament champion just a year ago, Central Missouri has struggled this season to a 13-28 mark overall. The Tigers will be looking to snap a frustrating 11-game losing streak to the Jennies on Friday. The streak began back in 2016 and nine of the 11 games in that run have been decided by three or less runs, while four have been decided by just one run. The last win for the Tigers was by a score of 6-5 in eight innings in the second game of the conference doubleheader between the teams in Hays in 2016. Since then, UCM won an MIAA Tournament game between the teams in 2016, swept doubleheaders in Warrensburg in 2017, 2019, and 2021, and swept doubleheaders in Hays in 2018 and 2020. UCM owns a 29-13 advantage in the all-time series.
 
Lincoln enters this weekend as the only team in the MIAA without a conference win so far this season. The Blue Tigers will play at Nebraska-Kearney on Friday before heading to Hays on Saturday. Lincoln is 0-18 in the MIAA so far this season, but has had success outside of MIAA play at 12-9 in non-conference games. Fort Hays State has seen much success against Lincoln with the all-time series record at 22-2 in favor of FHSU. FHSU swept four straight doubleheaders between the teams since 2018 to account for an eight-game win streak entering this doubleheader. A pair of setbacks against Lincoln in 2017, which had to be played on a neutral field in St. Charles, Mo. due to weather issues, were the only blemishes in the all-time series for FHSU. The Tigers won their first 14 games against the Blue Tigers up until the 2017 season. Lincoln has never defeated FHSU in Hays, or on its home field in Jefferson City. FHSU is 12-0 against Lincoln in Hays and 8-0 in Jefferson City.
 
Sara Breckbill leads the Tigers offensively in RBIs (26), home runs (7), and extra-base hits (13). She is tied for the national lead in sacrifice flies with Danielle Dennis of Illinois-Springfield. Fort Hays State as a team is the national leader in sacrifice flies with 24, five more than Harding, Mount Olive, and Oklahoma Christian. Sarah Tiffany and Loren Beggs lead the Tigers in batting average at .324 and .322 respectively, while Jessica Espinoza leads the Tigers in on-base percentage at .446. Espinoza ranks fifth in the MIAA in walks and she is ninth in getting hit by pitches. Reese Curry has heated up at the plate with a .321 batting average in the last 11 games, including a grand slam in the 11-3 win at NWMSU on Tuesday.
 
In the pitching circle, Savanah Egger leads the Tigers with a 3.56 ERA in 118 innings of work. Her 111 strikeouts leads FHSU and ranks fourth in the MIAA. Her four saves are tied for the MIAA lead and ranks fifth nationally. Morgan Schmidt's season ERA continues to improve after a complete-game 12 strikeout performance at Northwest Missouri, now at 4.93 for the season. She is 7-3 on the season with 84 strikeouts in 71 innings. Bailey Carlson had 2.1 strong innings of relief at NWMSU, holding opposition hitless and lowering her season ERA to 4.45.