Fort Hays State Softball heads to the Oklahoma City area this weekend (Feb. 17-18) for the Raising Cane's Softball Festival. The Tigers face four teams from the Great American Conference, playing two Friday and two Saturday. FHSU will play its first game in Bethany, Okla. before sliding over to Yukon, Okla. for its final three.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday
FHSU at Southern Nazarene – 12:30 p.m. (Bethany, OK – SNU Softball Field-Cypert Athletic Complex)
FHSU vs. Southern Arkansas – 4 p.m. (Yukon, OK – Yukon High School)
Saturday
FHSU vs. East Central – 10:30 a.m. (Yukon, OK – Yukon High School)
FHSU vs. Arkansas Tech – 1:00 p.m. (Yukon, OK – Yukon High School)
 
Live coverage
The game at Southern Nazarene on Friday at 12:30 p.m. will have both a live stream and live stats. Score updates will be available on Twitter for the game against Southern Arkansas. Only live stats will be available for both games on Saturday.
FHSU at Southern Nazarene - Live Video / Live Stats
FHSU vs. Southern Arkansas - Score Updates on Twitter
FHSU vs. East Central - Live Stats
FHSU vs. Arkansas Tech - Live Stats
 
Tiger Notes
Good Start
The Tigers are off to a 3-1 start for only the second time since the 2014 season. The other time FHSU started 3-1 since 2014 was the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Tigers started 4-1 that season.

First Bomb
Madison Pierce hit the first and only home run of the season for FHSU last week, a 3-run shot in the 12-0 (5 inn.) win over Southwestern Oklahoma State. Pierce tied for the FHSU lead in homers last year with seven.

Slugging Tigers
Sarah Tiffany led the Tigers with eight hits over the first four games, compiling a .571 batting average so far this season in 14 at bats. She also is making an impact with her legs, 4-of-4 on stolen base attempts so far. Madison Pierce leads the team in RBIs with eight, while hitting .500 so far. Loren Beggs drove in six runs over the first four games to go with a .385 batting average, and she leads the team in runs scored with seven. All three have slugging percentages of .690 or higher and all three have at least two extra-base hits for the season.

Get on Base and Score Runs
FHSU has five players with on-base percentages of .400 or higher, which includes Peyton Shepard (.625), Sarah Tiffany (.600), Madison Pierce (.571), Loren Beggs (.467), and Carly Stuke (.417). The quintet has scored 20 of Fort Hays State's 24 runs this season.

You Go, We Go
Peyton Shepard has done a good job as the Tiger leadoff hitter through four games. She has a .625 on-base percentage thanks to a .455 batting average and a team-best four walks. She has also been hit by a pitch. She has scored a quarter of the team's runs, crossing the plate six times so far this season.

K Machine
Morgan Schmidt dominated in her lone pitching outing last week, throwing a 5-inning shutout against Southwestern Oklahoma State with 10 strikeouts. She is averaging 2.0 strikeouts per inning. Her 14 strikeouts per 7 innings rate currently ranks third in NCAA Division II.

Workhorse
Savanah Egger saw the most work in the pitching circle last weekend with 14 innings thrown. She holds a 1.50 ERA with a 1-1 record, 19 strikeouts, and 1 save. Egger ranks 15^th in NCAA Division II for strikeouts per 7 innings pitched, averaging 10.5.

Solid Relief Effort
Bailey Carlson tossed 4.1 innings of relief in FHSU's 7-6 comeback win over Oklahoma Baptist last week. She held OBU to just two runs and struck out two, allowing FHSU to rally all the way back from a 6-0 deficit.
 
The Opponents
Southern Nazarene (4-4)
2022 Record: 25-25 overall (20-12 GAC)
Series History: FHSU leads 5-1
- FHSU won the first five meetings all-time with SNU until the string snapped last year when SNU won 14-9 in Oklahoma City at Oklahoma Christian's home field.
-This will be the first time the teams meet at a non-neutral site.
-Sarah Tiffany led the Tigers with 3 RBIs in the meeting with SNU last season.
-SNU went 2-2 in each of its first two weekends of play. The Crimson Storm are 2-3 against MIAA teams so far this year, which includes both a win and a loss to nationally ranked Washburn.
-SNU will play Nebraska-Kearney at 10 AM on Friday before taking on FHSU at 12:30 PM.
 
#16 Southern Arkansas (9-0)
2022 Record: 37-18 overall (26-7 GAC)
Series History: SAU leads 3-1
-Southern Arkansas has won the last three meetings with FHSU going back to 2016. FHSU won the first-ever meeting between the teams in 2013.
-This is the second-straight year the Tigers and Muleriders play each other in Oklahoma. SAU won last year's meeting in Piedmont 3-2. Loren Beggs had an RBI in that contest, while Erika Flynn pitched a complete game with a pair of strikeouts.
-Southern Arkansas received votes in the NFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll and moved up to No. 16 in the first regular season poll released earlier this week after a 9-0 start.
-Southern Arkansas will face Nebraska-Kearney at 1:30 PM Friday before playing FHSU at 4 PM.
 
East Central (0-4)
2022 Record: 13-31 (11-22 GAC)
Series History: FHSU leads 3-2
-Fort Hays State won last year's meeting with East Central by a score of 5-4 in Oklahoma City.
-Loren Beggs and Madison Pierce each went 2-for-4 in last year's meeting with ECU and Regan Curry had an RBI. Morgan Schmidt pitched a complete game with 7 strikeouts.
-Every meeting in the series history with ECU has been at a neutral field.
-East Central enters the weekend winless through four games and faces Missouri Southern and Central Oklahoma on Friday before taking on FHSU on Saturday morning.

Arkansas Tech (6-4)
2022 Record: 40-19 (26-7 GAC)
Series History: Tied 5-5
-FHSU won the last meeting with ATU last season by a score of 4-2 in eight innings in Edmond, Okla. FHSU rallied from a 2-0 deficit with single runs in the fifth and sixth to force extra innings. Erika Flynn had an RBI single, while Loren Beggs was 3-for-4 with a home run. Savanah Egger tossed an eight-inning complete game with eight strikeouts.
-This will be the sixth-straight neutral site contest between FHSU and ATU.
-ATU is 2-1 against MIAA opponents this season, including an extra-inning win over nationally ranked Washburn.
-Arkansas Tech will play Missouri Southern and Central Oklahoma on Friday before facing FHSU on Saturday.