Fort Hays State Softball heads to Topeka this weekend (Feb. 24-26) for the Washburn Invitational. The Tigers face six teams, including five from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and one from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
The Tigers will play two games each day. On Friday, the Tigers will be at Gahnstrom Field on the campus of Washburn University for both of their games. On Saturday, they shift over to Lake Shawnee Softball Complex. On Sunday, they will play one game at each venue, starting at Gahnstrom Field before closing out the weekend at Lake Shawnee.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday
FHSU vs. Minnesota-Crookston  – 11:30 a.m. (Gahnstrom Field – WU Campus)
FHSU vs. Southwest Minnesota State – 1:30 p.m. (Gahnstrom Field – WU Campus)
Saturday
FHSU vs. Rockhurst – 9:30 a.m. (Lake Shawnee South Field)
FHSU vs. Wayne State (Neb.) – 3:30 p.m. (Lake Shawnee North Field)
Sunday
FHSU vs. Mary – 1:30 p.m. (Gahnstrom Field – WU Campus)
FHSU vs. Sioux Falls – 5:30 p.m. (Lake Shawnee South Field)

Live coverage
The games at Gahnstrom Field will have both a live stream (MIAA Network-Subscription required or pay-per-game) and live stats. The games at Lake Shawnee will only have live stats available.

FHSU vs. Minnesota-Crookston - Live Video / Live Stats
FHSU vs. Southwest Minnesota State - Live Video / Live Stats
FHSU vs. Rockhurst - Live Stats
FHSU vs. Wayne State (Neb.) - Live Stats
FHSU vs. Mary - Live Video / Live Stats
FHSU vs. Sioux Falls - Live Stats
 
Tiger Notes
Looking to Bounce Back
The Tigers are looking to bounce back from a tough 0-4 weekend in Oklahoma last week. FHSU now sits at 3-5 overall after a 3-1 start to the season. FHSU went 3-3 in the Washburn Invitational last year.

Extra-Base Hits
Fort Hays State has 15 extra-base hits this season. Eleven have been doubles, led by Madison Pierce's five. She also hit the first and only home run of the season so far for FHSU during the first weekend of play, a 3-run shot in the 12-0 (5 inn.) win over Southwestern Oklahoma State. Loren Beggs is the Tiger leader in triples with two.

Slugging Tigers
FHSU has a pair of players with slugging percentages above .500. Madison Pierce leads the way at .640, followed by Sarah Tiffany at .560. The pair has 9 of the team's 15 extra-base hits.

You Go, We Go
Peyton Shepard has done a good job as the Tiger leadoff hitter through four games. She has a .548 on-base percentage thanks to a .417 batting average and a team-best five walks. She has been hit by a pitch twice, also a team high.

ERA Leader
Morgan Schmidt leads the Tiger pitching staff in ERA right now at 2.69. She has surrendered five earned runs in 13 innings of work and has a 12.4 strikeouts/7 innings pitched ratio. She ranks 6^th in NCAA Division II for strikeouts per innings pitched.

Workhorse
Savanah Egger leads the pitching staff in innings pitched with 22.1. She also has a team-high 28 strikeouts and has thrown a pair of complete games. She averages 9.3 strikeouts/7 innings pitched, which ranks 32^nd in NCAA Division II.
 
The Opponents
Minnesota-Crookston (2-4)
2022 Record: 15-40 overall (6-24 NSIC)
Series History: FHSU leads 2-0
-FHSU won both previous meetings with UMC, the last occurring in 2020 by a score of 3-0 in Topeka.
-UMC is scoreless in the series history as FHSU won both previous meetings by shutout, 8-0 and 3-0.
-All games in the series history have taken place in Kansas, but at neutral sites.
-UMC played 6 games in Tucson, Arizona last week, picking up wins over Franklin Pierce (N.H.) and Mercyhurst (Pa.).
 
Southwest Minnesota State (0-0)
2022 Record: 21-31 overall (12-14 NSIC)
Series History: SMSU leads 2-1
-Southwest Minnesota State won last year's meeting with FHSU 4-1 in Topeka and now holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series.
-All three previous meetings between the teams were on neutral fields, twice in Topeka and once in St. Cloud, Minn.
-Madison Pierce went 2-for-3 at the plate against SMSU last year. Erika Flynn and Morgan Schmidt appeared in the circle for FHSU in that game.
 
Rockhurst (2-2)
2022 Record: 23-24 (15-13 GLVC)
Series History: FHSU leads 4-3
-Rockhurst won the first meeting with FHSU this year by a score of 2-1 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
-The Tigers scored their lone run in the first meeting this year on an error. Five separate Tigers had one hit in the contest.
-Savanah Egger threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts against Rockhurst earlier this year despite the tough loss.

Wayne State (0-4)
2022 Record: 15-38 (12-18 NSIC)
Series History: FHSU leads 10-4
-FHSU won the last 2 meetings with WSC, including the only meeting last year by a score of 8-6 in Topeka.
-Wayne State lost all four of its games played this season at a tournament in Bentonville, Ark. two weeks ago.
-Loren Beggs and Regan Curry each had 2 RBIs in the win against Wayne State last year. Morgan Schmidt picked up a win in relief in that game, while Savanah Egger recorded a save.
 
Mary (2-5)
2022 Record: 7-37 (5-19 NSIC)
Series History: FHSU leads 3-1
-FHSU has won the last 2 meetings with Mary, including a 10-7 win in Topeka last year. Two of the 3 wins in the series for FHSU have been 1-0 shutouts.
-Madison Pierce, Loren Beggs, and Regan Curry combined for 4 of FHSU's 9 RBIs against Mary last year.
-Morgan Schmidt picked up a win against Mary last year in relief, while Bailey Carlson recorded a save.
 
Sioux Falls (0-4)
2022 Record: 27-25 (11-14 NSIC)
Series History: USF leads 4-1
-FHSU snapped a 3-game win streak by USF in 2021 with an 8-0 win in Topeka, but then fell last year to the Cougars in Topeka by a score of 7-6.
-Loren Beggs, Madison Pierce, and Sarah Tiffany combined for 4 of 6 RBIs for the Tigers in last year's meeting with USF.
-Savanah Egger and Bailey Carlson pitched against USF last year. Carlson did not allow a run and only four of Egger's runs allowed were earned.