Fort Hays State (22-12, 7-7 MIAA) at
Newman (6-32, 1-13 MIAA)
Friday, April 11 - 2 p.m. (DH)
Wichita, Kan. - NU Softball Field

Fort Hays State at
#5 Central Oklahoma (33-6, 12-2 MIAA)
Saturday, April 12 - 12 p.m. (DH)
Edmond, Okla. - Gerry Pinkston Stadium

Fort Hays State Softball continues conference play this week with doubleheaders at Newman and Central Oklahoma. The Tigers take on the Jets in Wichita on Friday (Apr. 11) at 2 p.m., then play the Bronchos in Edmond on Saturday (Apr. 12) at 12 p.m. The Tigers enter their road swing at 22-12 overall and 7-7 in the MIAA. Newman is 6-32 overall and 1-13 in the MIAA, while Central Oklahoma is ranked No. 5 in the nation at 33-6 overall and 12-2 in the MIAA.
 
Fort Hays State is coming off a 1-3 weekend at home. The Tigers split with Northeastern State and then fell twice to No. 11 ranked Rogers State. The Tigers moved back to seventh in the MIAA standings at the break-even mark, even though they are 10 games over .500 overall.
 
Newman enters Friday on a six-game losing string, all in MIAA play with losses to Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri State, and Washburn. Their lone conference win was at home against Northeastern State back on March 21.
 
Central Oklahoma enters the weekend on a six-game winning streak, which included doubleheader sweeps of Missouri Western, Northwestern Oklahoma State, and Emporia State. The Bronchos are leading the MIAA standings. They host Nebraska-Kearney on Friday before facing the Tigers on Saturday.
 
Fort Hays State holds a 32-9 advantage in its series history with Newman. The Tigers and Jets split their doubleheader in Hays last year. The Tigers have won the last four games played between the teams in Wichita, which included a pair of shutouts in 2023.
 
Central Oklahoma holds a 25-8 advantage in the series history with FHSU. The Tigers snapped an 8-game losing string to the Bronchos last year by winning the second game of the doubleheader between the teams in Hays. UCO has won the last nine games played between the teams in Edmond with FHSU's last road win occurring in 2014.
 
Madison Pierce leads the Tigers with a .390 batting average. She is also the team leader in runs scored (22), hits (39), walks (15), and on-base percentage (.470). Lilly Mohr leads in extra-base hits (13) and home runs (6), while Lexi Mohr leads in RBIs (20).
 
Senior pitchers Morgan Schmidt and Savanah Egger each have 10 wins for the season. Schmidt has a 3.01 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 90.2 innings, while Egger has a 3.32 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 103.1 innings. The pair has a combined 23 complete games this year.
 
The Jets are led offensively by AJ Borja with a .333 batting average with 12 doubles and 12 RBIs. Gianna Navarro leads the Jets in RBIs with 19. In the circle, Paola Zamacona leads in ERA (5.61) while Maddie Rae Romo has 32 strikeouts.
 
Rylee Lemos (.427) and Terin Ritz (.409) lead the Bronchos offensively. Lemos has 23 extra-base hits, while Ritz has 22 extra-base hits and leads the team in RBIs with 50. UCO has four pitchers with at least 10 appearances this year and all have ERAs of 2.70 or less. Shelby Beard leads that group with a 1.69 ERA, while Sydney Ward leads in strikeouts (65).