WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Fort Hays State Softball started the 2024 season 2-0 with a pair of wins on Friday (Feb. 9). The Tigers knocked off Midwestern State 5-4 in the first contest of the day and then notched a 9-1 run-rule win in five innings over Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Tigers had a pair of strong pitching performances from Savanah Egger and Morgan Schmidt, yielding just one earned run on the day. It marked Fort Hays State's first 2-0 start to a season since 2013.
 
Fort Hays State 5, Midwestern State 4
Savanah Egger gave the Tigers a strong outing in the pitching circle with a complete-game win to open the season. She had a no-hitter going through the first 3.2 innings until an error led to a double that produced Midwestern State's first hit and run of the game.
 
The Tigers grabbed the lead early and never surrendered it. Sarah Tiffany drew a walk in the first inning and eventually came in to score on a Loren Beggs RBI single, putting the Tigers up 1-0 after a half inning.
 
FHSU extended its lead to 4-0 in the third inning when Alondra Dominguez, Beggs, and Madison Pierce strung together three-straight hits. Pierce's single drove in Dominguez. Carly Stuke followed with a sacrifice fly RBI to score Beggs and then Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson doubled home Pierce.
 
After MSU picked up its first run in the fourth, the Tigers got it back in the sixth to get their cushion out to four again. Peyton Shepard drew a walk, moved up to third after a couple wild pitches, and Tiffany drove her in with a sacrifice fly RBI.
 
Egger retired the Mustangs in order in the fifth, but then had to navigate trouble in the sixth. An error to start the inning opened the door for an MSU rally and a double to follow put runners at second and third. After recording one out, MSU cut the Tiger lead down to two with an RBI single. With two outs, another RBI single tightened the Tiger advantage to just one at 5-4. The early error in the inning resulted in two of the three runs being unearned.
 
Egger bounced back to nail the door shut in the seventh, retiring the Mustangs in order with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. She finished the game with eight strikeouts overall and punched out the side in the second inning for nearly half of her total. Only one of her four runs allowed in the game were earned.
 
Dominguez finished with a perfect 4-for-4 game at the plate, all on singles. Shepard, Beggs, and Pierce all had two hits. One of Pierce's hits was a double. Stuke's lone hit of the game was a triple.
 
Fort Hays State 9, Northwestern Oklahoma State 1 (5 inn.)
Just like in game one, the Tigers took the lead in the first inning and never gave it up. They put the hammer down with a six-run fourth inning and then added a run in the fifth to bring the run rule into play. Also, just like game one, Morgan Schmidt held a no-hitter through 3.2 innings before Northwestern Oklahoma State picked up its lone hit of the game.
 
Peyton Shepard got the Tiger offense triggered with a leadoff walk to open the game. Sarah Tiffany then singled and Shepard came in to score on an Alondra Dominguez RBI single. Madison Pierce drove in Tiffany with a sacrifice fly to put the Tigers up 2-0 through a half inning.
 
NWOSU scored its only run of the game on a Tiger error in the second inning. After a pair of walks, a Tiger miscue allowed a runner to come in to score to cut the lead to 2-1. But Schmidt got out of the inning without allowing a hit.
 
The Tigers quickly put the game out of reach in the fourth all on a two-out rally. Regan Curry had doubled with one out, but Tiffany came up clutch with a two-out RBI single to drive her in following a Shepard walk. The floodgates opened after that as Dominguez continued her blazing hot opening day at the plate with an RBI ground-rule double. NWOSU changed pitchers, but that did not stop the Tigers as Pierce delivered a two-RBI single and then Loren Beggs capped the offensive avalanche with a two-run homer. FHSU led 8-1 through three and a half innings. Lexi Mohr brought the run-rule into play with a sacrifice fly RBI in the top of the fifth following a Lilliana Ramirez-Johnson double to open the inning.
 
Schmidt surrendered her only hit of the contest with two outs in the fourth, but she went on to retire the final four hitters she faced in the game for the complete-game win. Schmidt finished with seven strikeouts in her five innings of work.
 
Tiffany led the Tigers with three hits in the game, while Dominguez and Beggs each had two. Shepard drew three walks in the game and crossed the plate twice, while Tiffany also scored twice.
 
Fort Hays State returns to action on Saturday with two more games. The Tigers face Southwestern Oklahoma State at 1:15 p.m. With potential weather looming for Sunday, a switch was made to the schedule and the Tigers will face Cameron at 3:30 p.m. Keep an eye on fhsuathletics.com for any further changes.