Fort Hays State Softball opens MIAA play this weekend at home with doubleheaders against Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western. The Tigers and Bearcats open conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m., then the Griffons come to Hays on Sunday for a 12 p.m. start. FHSU enters the weekend 11-7 overall, while NWMSU is 12-6 and MWSU is 10-3.
 
Live stream (The MIAA Network) and live stats will be available for all contests this weekend.
 
The Opponents
Northwest Missouri State (12-6, 0-0 MIAA)
-Fort Hays State has won 5 of the last 6 meetings with NWMSU. The teams split a doubleheader in Maryville last year with NWMSU winning game one 6-0 before FHSU won game two by run rule 11-3.
-The all-time series between the teams is tied 17-17.
-The Bearcats had a six-game win streak snapped by Missouri S&T on March 5. They have won 9 of their last 11 games.
-The Bearcats scored at least 4 runs in all 12 of their wins this season. They lost only one time this season when scoring at least 4 runs, that being a 5-4 setback to Winona State.
-NWMSU is 0-5 this season when scoring 3 or less runs in a game.
 -Olivia Daugherty leads the Bearcats in hits (24), runs (16), extra-base hits (10), home runs (8), RBIs (24), and slugging percentage (.909).
-Omara Love and Lillie Filger are both 9-of-9 on stolen base attempts this season, and the Bearcats are a perfect 28-of-28 as a team on stolen base attempts.
-Hayden Simmons is the only Bearcat pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA, sitting at 1.50 for the season with a 4-0 record in 23.1 innings of work. The Bearcats have four pitchers with at least 20 innings of work this season.
 
Missouri Western (10-3, 0-0 MIAA)
-Missouri Western leads the all-time series with FHSU 26-12.
-The Griffons have won 14 of the last 17 games against the Tigers, including 8 of the last 9.
-MWSU swept the doubleheader with FHSU in St. Joseph last year by scores of 2-0 and 9-1.
-The Griffons are currently on a 9-game win streak. Their last loss was on February 4 to Minnesota State by a score of 7-6.
-The Griffons are averaging 5.9 runs per game. They have scored at least 4 runs in all but one game this year, that being a 2-1 loss to Concordia-St. Paul.
-Sydni Hawkins leads MWSU in batting average (.479) and runs (14). Mackenzie DeVine leads MWSU in extra-base hits (10), home runs (5), RBIs (18), and slugging percentage (.932).
-Missouri Western has a 1.79 ERA as a team with two individuals owning sub-2.00 ERAs. Harley Pruetting has an 0.76 ERA and a 4-1 record, while Sam Pederson has a 1.86 ERA and 4-0 record. Pruetting averages 9.1 strikeouts/7 innings pitched and Pederson averages 8.8 per 7 innings pitched.
 
Tiger Notes
8-Game Win Streak Snapped
Fort Hays State saw its 8-game win streak snapped at the hands of Northwestern Oklahoma State this past Monday. The Tigers were just three outs away from a game-one win, but saw the Rangers rally for two runs in the seventh to tie the game and they got past the Tigers with a run in the eighth. NWOSU went on to claim the second game of the doubleheader as well.
 
Egger's Scoreless Innings String Reached 32
Savanah Egger nearly threw a fifth consecutive shutout against Northwestern Oklahoma State, but saw her consecutive scoreless innings string end at 32 when NWOSU scored in the seventh inning of game one on Monday. Egger recorded 31 strikeouts during the 32-inning stretch that saw her vault into the MIAA lead in individual shutouts thrown. She ranks seventh in NCAA Division II for shutouts, just two off the national lead of six thrown by Kayla Betts of Saint Leo. During the streak, she threw 2-0 shutouts against Southwest Minnesota State, Rockhurst, and William Jewell, and a five-inning 9-0 run-rule shutout against Mary.
 
Seven Shutouts
Over half of Fort Hays State's 11 wins this season have been by shutout. The Tigers have 7 shutouts this season, which ranks second in the MIAA – only one behind defending national champion and No. 1 nationally ranked Rogers State which has 8. The seven shutouts are already the most by a Tiger team during Adrian Pilkington's tenure as a head coach. The 2013 team set the record for most shutouts by a team with 19. The 2002 (10) and 2009 (11) squads were the only others in the program's NCAA Division II history to reach double figures in shutouts for a season.
  
Seven-Game Hit Streak
Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson owns a seven-game hitting streak going into the weekend, which is the longest current streak on the team. She recorded two hits in five of the last seven games during the streak. She has gone 12-for-21 (.571) at the plate during the streak and all 12 hits were singles. She has elevated to the team leader in batting average, now at .462 for the season. Peyton Shepard recorded the longest hitting streak of the season on the team so far, a nine-game streak from February 18 to March 4.
 
Shepard of Speed
Peyton Shepard leads the Tigers in stolen bases, runs, and on-base percentage so far this season. She is hitting .446 for the season and is a perfect 10-of-10 on stolen base attempts. She has crossed the plate 16 times. She ranks fourth in the MIAA in both on-base percentage and stolen bases.
 
Efficient Running
Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany have combined for 17 stolen bases so far this season. They are both perfect in their attempts, Shepard with 10 and Tiffany with seven. Carly Stuke is 2-of-2, while Sydnee Hoffman is 1-of-1 on the season to make the Tigers a perfect 20-of-20 overall for the season.
 
Put the Ball in Play
Fort Hays State is tied for the fewest strikeouts in the MIAA with Central Oklahoma, both with 57 on the season. Nebraska-Kearney leads the MIAA with 139, more than double the total of four teams in the MIAA, which also includes Central Missouri and Lincoln each with 63 team strikeouts.

Moving Your Teammate Up
Fort Hays State ranks second in the MIAA in sacrifice bunts/hits with 13, only behind Washburn's 21. FHSU is third in the conference in total sacrifices with 16 when adding on their three sacrifice flies. Washburn leads the MIAA in total sacrifices with 25, while Central Oklahoma is second with 18. UCO leads the sacrifice fly category with 13 for the season, which is third-best in NCAA Division II.

Solid Pitching
Fort Hays State has a team pitching ERA of 2.55, which ranks fifth in the MIAA. Savanah Egger, Bailey Carlson, and Morgan Schmidt all own ERAs lower than 3.00 for the season. The Tiger pitchers rank third in the MIAA in strikeouts with 128, only behind Washburn (201) and Rogers State (142). All four Tiger pitchers have at least 17 strikeouts on the season. FHSU is allowing just a .243 batting average to opponents, which is fourth in the MIAA.
 
K Machine
Morgan Schmidt has the second-best strikeouts per seven innings average in NCAA Division II. She averages 12.7 strikeouts per seven innings with 35 in 19.1 innings of work. She ranks second only to Lindsey Hibbs of Adelphi, who averages a whopping 15.5 per seven innings (88 in 39.2 innings). She reached double figures in strikeouts in all three games she pitched at least five innings. She matched her career high for strikeouts in a game with 12 against William Jewell