HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State baseball team finished its series against Missouri Western with an 11-4 victory Saturday afternoon (March 30) at Larks Park. The Tigers (20-14, 8-12 MIAA) recorded eight extra-base hits, including two homers.
 
The Griffons (15-17, 7-13 MIAA) scored three in the first inning on four hits, but Fort Hays State was quick to answer in the bottom half of the inning with an Elliott Herrmann homer to right field that scored two. The bottom of the second started with Jose Cintron reaching third after being hit by a pitch and advancing on a couple wild pitches. Luis Ayala scored Cintron with a double to right center. Then Trey DeGarmo notched an RBI to put the Tigers into the lead on a single to center field. Cesar Saavedra also notched an RBI on a fielder's choice to the right side of the infield. FHSU led 5-3 through two innings.

Tiger starter Rafael Espinoza found his stride after the first inning. Jared Munk from Missouri Western hit a solo homer in the top half of the fourth to make the score 5-4 Tigers. The Munk home run was the last run scored for the Griffons as Espinoza went on to pitch a gem, giving up just four runs on six hits in a complete game effort.
 
The sixth inning saw more Tiger scoring, with DeGarmo doubling to lead off the inning. After Saavedra moved DeGarmo over to third, Brady Kreutzer took a ball for a ride to deep center field for his 10th homer of the season to add two more, making the score 7-4 Tigers. After an Isaiah Ural walk, Herrmann hit a line drive double that hit the right-center fence, scoring Ural to make it 8-4.
 
Espinoza retired 10 batters in order from the last out of the fourth to retiring the side in the fifth through seventh. A Griffon single to leadoff the eighth broke up the string, but Espinoza went on to retire six more in a row to cap his complete game.
 
Fort Hays State added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Tigers led off the inning with back-to-back doubles by Ural and Herrmann to generate the first run. Ayala singled home Herrmann and a Griffon error on the play allowed another run to score.
 
Espinoza (3-1) struck out five with just one walk, while needing just over 100 pitches to throw a complete game. It was his first complete game at FHSU.
 
The Tigers finished the game with 12 hits, including two each from Kreutzer and Ayala, and three each from Herrmann and DeGarmo. Herrmann drove in four runs, while Kreutzer and Ayala each drove in two. Cesar Saavedra and DeGarmo each notched an RBI and three Tigers crossed the plate twice.
 
The Tigers will resume play next week in a three-game conference series with Northwest Missouri State at Larks Park in Hays. It will be Pack the Park on Friday (April 5) at 5 p.m.