WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Fort Hays State split its pair of games on its first day of the 2023 season in Texas. The Tigers knocked off Oklahoma Baptist in comeback fashion, 7-6, before falling to Rockhurst 2-1 in the second contest. Madison Pierce and Loren Beggs combined for all seven of FHSU's RBIs on the day.
 
Fort Hays State 7, Oklahoma Baptist 6
Fort Hays State rallied back from a 6-0 deficit through three innings, scoring once in the fourth, twice in the fifth, and four times in the sixth to topple an Oklahoma Baptist squad that entered the game 5-0 on the year.
 
Loren Beggs jump started the Tiger offense in the fourth with a leadoff triple. She came in to score on an RBI groundout by Madison Pierce. In the fifth, the Tigers dented the Bison lead even more when Beggs tripled again to knock in Peyton Shepard. Pierce followed with a double to drive Beggs in, making the score 6-3.
 
The middle of the order combo shined once more for the Tigers in the sixth when Beggs came up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. She singled up the middle for her second and third RBIs of the game, knocking in Carly Stuke and Shepard to get the Tigers within one run. Pierce immediately pushed the Tigers into the lead with a double to right field scoring pinch runner Caiya Stucky and Beggs.
 
Bailey Carlson, who surrendered just a two-run homer in the third inning, did her job in relief over 4.1 innings to allow the Tigers to storm back. She held the Bison scoreless in the fourth, fifth, and sixth and found herself with a lead to open the seventh. She surrendered a walk to open the frame and then handed the ball to Savanah Egger, who kept the Bison scoreless for the final inning and stranded the lead-off batter at third base with an infield pop up and strikeout. Egger earned the save, while Carlson picked up the win. Emma Montoya threw the first 1.2 innings for the Tigers and allowed four runs.
 
The Tigers did all of their offensive damage against OBU starter Morgan Max, who allowed all seven runs (six earned) to the Tigers on 11 hits. Kayleigh Jones came in to keep the Tigers from scoring any more runs, getting the final two outs of the sixth.
 
Beggs led the Tigers with three hits in the game, followed by Pierce, Sarah Tiffany, and Regan Curry all with two. Shepard drew three of four Tiger walks in the game.
 
Rockhurst 2, Fort Hays State 1
After the three-inning outburst in the first contest of the day, the bats cooled in the second contest as the Tigers fell 2-1 in a low-scoring game against Rockhurst. All of the scoring occurred in the first two innings before goose eggs were posted for the final five innings.
 
The Hawks did all of their damage with a two-out rally in the first inning. With no one on base, Gwen Bostick and Jayla Pierce had back-to-back singles before Lauren Good scored both on a double down the left field line.
 
The Tigers got a run back in the second on a throwing error by the Hawks, allowing Regan Curry to score all the way from first base. The Tigers looked to have tied the score on a Peyton Shepard dribbler to the right side she beat out for a hit, scoring Carly Stuke, but the run was waved off and Shepard was called out for apparently being out of the batter's box when she struck the ball. Unfortunately, the Tiger offense could not muster any more runs from there on out.
 
Rockhurst's Anna Newcomer threw a complete game, scattering five hits to the Tigers. She struck out two, walked three, and hit a batter. The Tigers had five players record one hit each, including Shepard, Stuke, Madison Pierce, Sarah Tiffany, and Aubrey Martinez.
 
Savanah Egger took the tough-luck loss after holding the Hawks scoreless over her final five innings in a complete-game effort. She struck out 10, walked two, and scattered seven hits.
 
Fort Hays State returns to action on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Tigers face Southwestern Oklahoma State in the first contest before a meeting with Northwestern Oklahoma State to wrap up their weekend in Wichita Falls.