Fort Hays State (24-13, 6-4 MIAA) at
Washburn (29-7, 8-4 MIAA)
Friday, April 7 – 4 PM (DH)
Topeka, Kan. – Gahnstrom Field
 
Fort Hays State at
Emporia State (21-15, 3-7 MIAA)
Saturday, April 8 – 1 PM (DH)
Emporia, Kan. – Trusler Sports Complex
 
Fort Hays State Softball hits the road for the first of three consecutive weekends away from Hays. This weekend they stay within the confines of Kansas playing doubleheaders at Washburn on Friday (Apr. 7) and Emporia State on Saturday (Apr. 8). The Tigers enter the weekend at 24-13 overall, 6-4 in the MIAA. Washburn is 29-7 overall, 8-4 in the MIAA, while Emporia State enters the weekend at 21-15 overall, 3-7 in the MIAA.
 
Live stream and stats will be available for both conference doubleheaders.
 
The Opponents
Washburn (29-7, 8-4 MIAA)
-The Ichabods are ranked No. 17 in the latest NFCA Top 25 Poll.
-Washburn is coming off splits of doubleheaders with Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western last weekend, which is the same result FHSU had against those opponents earlier this season.
-Washburn leads the NCAA Division II series history between the teams 34-23. The Tigers and Ichabods split their last two conference doubleheaders played in Topeka (2019 and 2021).
-Washburn swept last year's doubleheader between the teams in Hays by scores of 4-0 and 6-1.
-Marrit Mead leads Washburn in batting average at .461.
-Jaycee Ginter is a dual threat as a pitcher and on offense. She has a 1.40 ERA and leads the MIAA in strikeouts with 194. She also leads WU in extra-base hits (15) and RBIs (32) at the plate.
 
Emporia State (21-15, 3-7 MIAA)
-The Hornets will host Nebraska-Kearney on Friday before playing FHSU on Saturday.
-Emporia State leads the NCAA Division II series history between the teams 34-21. FHSU and ESU split last year's doubleheader in Hays as FHSU won 7-6 before ESU won 8-0.
-The Hornets went 1-3 in MIAA action last weekend, splitting with Northwest Missouri State before getting swept by Missouri Western. The Hornets swept a non-conference doubleheader with William Jewell on Tuesday.
-The Hornets have three players hitting over .300 for the season, led by Emma Furnish at .324.
-Gracie Rabe leads ESU pitchers in ERA (2.37), wins (8), and strikeouts (40).
 
Tiger Notes
Tigers win 11 of last 14
Fort Hays State won 11 of its last 14 games. The Tigers had a 9-game win streak snapped at Southwestern Oklahoma State on March 28 when it fell in the second contest of a doubleheader. The nine-game win streak was the longest for the Tigers 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 11-11 when scoring three or less runs this season.
 
12 Shutouts
Twelve of Fort Hays State's 24 wins this season have been by shutout. The 12 shutouts lead the MIAA and rank 7^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 (8^th), stolen bases (6^th), on-base percentage (8^th), and hits (3^rd). She has 17 stolen bases, 49 hits, a .415 batting average, a .485 on-base percentage, and 27 runs.
 
Efficient Running
Peyton Shepard and Sarah Tiffany have combined for 27 stolen bases so far this season. Shepard leads the team with 17, caught just one time, while Tiffany is a perfect 10-of-10 on her attempts. Carly Stuke is 2-of-2, while Sydnee Hoffman is 1-of-3. The Tigers are 30-of-33 as a team.
 
Pierce Churning Out Doubles
Madison Pierce hit safely in 10 of the last 12 games. She has six doubles in that stretch and leads the team with 15. She ranks second in the MIAA in doubles and 9^th in NCAA Division II. Sydni Hawkins of Missouri Western leads the MIAA with 16. Her 15 doubles is just three 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 16. Beggs is tied for the MIAA lead in triples with 4, while also having 10 doubles and 2 home runs. Pierce has one home run to go with her team-leading 15 doubles.
 
Putting the Ball in Play
Fort Hays State leads the MIAA in fewest strikeouts per game as a team, averaging just 3.08 per game with 114 in 37 games. Nebraska-Kearney leads the MIAA in strikeouts with 218, averaging 6.4 as a team per game.
 
Moving Your Teammate Up
Fort Hays State ranks second in the MIAA in sacrifice bunts/hits with 25, only behind Washburn's 31. FHSU is also second in the conference in total sacrifices with 36 when adding on its 11 sacrifice flies. Washburn leads the MIAA in total sacrifices with 40. Central Oklahoma leads the sacrifice fly category with 19 for the season.
 
Solid Pitching
Fort Hays State has a team pitching ERA of 2.43, which ranks fourth in the MIAA. Savanah Egger leads FHSU pitchers in ERA at 1.59 for the season. The Tiger pitchers rank second in the MIAA in strikeouts with 233, only behind Washburn (283). All four Tiger pitchers have at least 31 strikeouts on the season, led by Egger with 115. FHSU is allowing just a .242 batting average to opponents, which is fourth in the MIAA.
 
Strong in the Circle
Savanah Egger has allowed two or less earned runs in 14 of her 18 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 5^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 13. She ranks 2^nd in the MIAA in strikeouts and 31^st in NCAA Division II with 115. She had a 32-inning scoreless streak at one point during the season.
 
Carlson Steady in the Circle
Bailey Carlson holds a 2.56 ERA for the season. She has allowed three or less earned runs in all of her outings in the pitching circle this season. Carlson is on the same pace in several stat categories as she was last year. She pitched 72.2 innings her freshman year and is nearly right at that same point as a sophomore now with 71 innings. She has matched her number of complete games (6), shutouts (2), walks (21) from a season ago, while she has one more strikeout this year. She has shown big improvement in her ERA, currently down over 2 runs from last year (4.62). She has allowed 19 less runs this season.
 
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 10.2. She has 50 Ks in 34.1 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. With still nearly a whole month to play, the conference 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.