Fort Hays State Softball looks to get back on the winning track when it travels to Missouri for a pair of MIAA doubleheaders. The Tigers will take on Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Sunday (Apr. 16) at 1 p.m., then head to Jefferson City to face Lincoln on Monday (Apr. 17) at 12 p.m. The Tigers enter the four-game stretch at 25-16 overall, 7-7 in the MIAA.
 
Live stream and stats of both doubleheaders will be available. Lincoln will face Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday before hosting FHSU on Monday.
 
Central Missouri (27-14, 11-7 MIAA)
-UCM leads the all-time series history 29-15
-FHSU swept last year's doubleheader in Hays by scores of 5-3 and 5-1.
-FHSU snapped an 11-game losing streak to UCM last year with its doubleheader sweep.
-Makenzie McAtee, Abbey Fischer, and Ashlyn Cook lead UCM with 5 homers each. All three have over 20 RBIs on the season.
-Andi Siebeneck and Paige Petefish each have 9 wins on the season and both have ERAs inside of 2.60.
 
Lincoln (5-31, 1-17 MIAA)
-FHSU leads the all-time series 24-2.
-Lincoln's only wins over FHSU were in 2017 in a doubleheader sweep played on a neutral field in St. Charles, Mo.
-FHSU has won the last 10 games between the teams, which includes five doubleheader sweeps going back to 2018.
-Leslie Callahan leads Lincoln in batting average at .301, while Maris Ollison leads LU in RBIs with 12.
-Jordan Galliher leads Lincoln pitchers with a 5.46 ERA, 3 wins, and 35 strikeouts.
 
Tiger Notes
Tigers 13-7 in last 20
Fort Hays State is six games above .500 in its last 20 contests played. The Tigers had a tough 1-3 weekend last week with a pair of one-run losses, but they were 12-4 in the 16 games prior. The Tigers' longest winning streak this season was nine games, which was the longest win streak in Adrian Pilkington's time as head coach.
 
When the Tigers Score Four
Fort Hays State is 13-2 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game. The only losses when scoring four or more were on walk-off home runs, a 7-6 loss to Southern Nazarene and a 13-11 loss to MSU Denver. FHSU is 12-14 when scoring three or less runs this season. FHSU has not scored four or more runs since March 28 in a 4-0 win at Southwestern Oklahoma State. They have played nine games since then.
 
12 Shutouts
Twelve of Fort Hays State's 25 wins this season have been by shutout. The 12 shutouts ranks 2nd in the MIAA and 14^th in NCAA Division II. The national lead is 20 by Saint Leo, led by former FHSU head coach Erin Kinberger. The 12 shutouts are already the most by a Tiger team during Adrian Pilkington's tenure as a head coach, and now the second-most for a team in program history. The 2013 team, led by Kinberger, set the record for most shutouts by a Tiger team with 19. The 2002 (10) and 2009 (11) squads were the only other teams in the program's NCAA Division II history to reach double figures in shutouts for a season.
 
Shepard of Speed
Peyton Shepard ranks among the top 10 players in the MIAA in batting average (10^th), stolen bases (6^th), and hits (T-3^rd). She has 18 stolen bases, 53 hits, and a .398 batting average. She leads the Tigers in runs scored with 29.
 
Efficient Running
Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany have combined for 28 stolen bases so far this season. Shepard leads the team with 18 and Tiffany ranks second with 10, both caught just one time this season. Carly Stuke is 2-of-2, while Sydnee Hoffman is 1-of-3. The Tigers are 31-of-35 as a team.
 
Pierce Churning Out Doubles
Madison Pierce hit safely in 13 of the last 16 games. She has seven doubles in that stretch and leads the team with 16. She ranks second in the MIAA in doubles and 7^th in NCAA Division II. Sydni Hawkins of Missouri Western leads the MIAA with 17. Pierce's 16 doubles is just two shy of the FHSU season record of 18 held by Emily Herl and Jessika Anastos.
 
Beggs and Pierce Lead in Extra-Base Hits
Loren Beggs is tied for the team lead with Madison Pierce for extra-base hits this season. Both have 17. Beggs ranks second in the MIAA for triples with 4, while also having 11 doubles and 2 home runs. Pierce has one home run to go with her team-leading 16 doubles.
 
Moving Your Teammate Up
Fort Hays State ranks second in the MIAA in sacrifice bunts/hits with 27, only behind Washburn's 35. The Tigers are also second in sacrifice flies with 14, only behind Central Oklahoma's 21. FHSU is second in the conference in total sacrifices with 41. Washburn leads the MIAA in total sacrifices with 45.
 
Solid Pitching
Fort Hays State has a team pitching ERA of 2.55, which ranks fourth in the MIAA. Savanah Egger leads FHSU pitchers in ERA at 1.86 for the season. The Tiger pitchers rank third in the MIAA in strikeouts with 254, only behind Washburn (318) and Missouri Western (269). All four Tiger pitchers have at least 31 strikeouts on the season, led by Egger with 128. FHSU is allowing just a .243 batting average to opponents, which is fourth best in the MIAA.
 
Strong in the Circle
Savanah Egger has allowed two or less earned runs in 14 of her 20 starts in the pitching circle this season. She had four consecutive shutouts from February 24 to March 4, and has since thrown three more for a total of seven for the season. She ranks 6^th in NCAA Division II for individual shutouts and leads the MIAA. She is tied for the MIAA lead and ranks 21^st in NCAA Division II for complete games with 15. She ranks 2^nd in the MIAA in strikeouts and 34th in NCAA Division II with 128. She had a 32-inning scoreless streak at one point during the season.
 
Carlson Steady in the Circle
Bailey Carlson holds a 2.64 ERA for the season. She has allowed three or less earned runs in all of her outings in the pitching circle this season. She is 9-6 on the season and ranks second among Tiger pitchers in wins. She has seven complete games and two shutouts to her credit for the season. She has shown big improvement in her ERA, down nearly 2 runs from last year (4.62).
 
Schmidt Tosses 14^th No-Hitter in Program's NCAA Division II History
Morgan Schmidt threw the 14^th no-hitter in FHSU Softball's NCAA Division II history back on March 28 at Southwestern Oklahoma State. She was the first to throw a no-hitter since Michaelanne Nelson's 8-inning no-hitter against Oklahoma Baptist back on February 16, 2020 in Oklahoma City. The last three FHSU no-hitters have been thrown in the state of Oklahoma as Paxton Duran threw a no-no at Northeastern State in Tahlequah back on March 21, 2014. Schmidt is the seventh individual to join the individual no-hitter club at FHSU. Six of the seven have all thrown one, while Maddie Holub threw seven in her career. Head coach Adrian (Mohr) Pilkington joined Holub for the only combined no-hitter in the program's NCAA Division II history. Schmidt owns the highest strikeouts per 7 innings rate on the team, averaging 10 per seven innings. She has 55 Ks in 38.2 innings of work this year.
 
Deep Conference
The MIAA may be the deepest it has ever been in softball since the conference has had 14 or more teams, starting back in 2013. The conference already has 11 teams with at least 20 wins this season and all 11 still have winning records overall at this point. The only other year the conference had at least 11 of 14 teams with 20 or more wins overall was the 2017 season, but four of those 11 finished with records under .500 overall.