Fort Hays State (23-15, 8-10 MIAA) at
Missouri Southern (30-16, 10-8 MIAA)
Thursday, April 17 – 12 p.m. (DH)
Joplin, Mo. – Pat Lipira Softball Complex
 
Fort Hays State at
#24 Pittsburg State (33-11, 14-4 MIAA)
Friday, April 18 – 12 p.m. (DH)
Pittsburg, Kan. – PSU Softball Field
 
Fort Hays State Softball heads on the road this week for its final pair of regular season road doubleheaders. The Tigers take on Missouri Southern on Thursday and then Pittsburg State on Friday. The games moved up a day due to weather forecasted for the weekend in the Joplin/Pittsburg area. FHSU enters the weekend at 23-15 overall and 8-10 in the MIAA, while Missouri Southern is 30-16, 10-8 in the MIAA and Pittsburg State is ranked No. 24 in the nation and holds a record of 33-11, 14-4 MIAA.
 
The Tigers are looking to get back in a groove after three-straight 1-3 weekends in MIAA play. The Tigers went 16-2 in a stretch between February 24 and March 23, but have gone 3-9 since. FHSU started 5-1 in MIAA play. This is the second-straight week of road games for the Tigers. They split at Newman and lost twice at then No. 5 ranked Central Oklahoma last week.
 
Missouri Southern enters Thursday on a three-game losing string, all in MIAA play. The Lions currently sit in fourth in the MIAA standings and are one of four conference teams that have reached the 30-win mark overall this season.
 
Pittsburg State had a 10-game win streak in MIAA play going into last weekend, but saw the hot streak halted with doubleheader splits with Northeastern State and Central Missouri. The Gorillas currently sit in second place in the MIAA standings.
 
The series history between Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern has been tight, leaning to a 21-20 advantage for MSSU. The Tigers will be looking to snap a seven-game losing string to the Lions, which goes back to the 2021 season. FHSU will be looking for its first win in Joplin since 2016. The Lions have won seven-straight games against the Tigers on their home field.
 
The series history between FHSU and Pittsburg State is also tight, but leans to FHSU by a game 24-23. Last year Pittsburg State won all three games against FHSU (regular season and MIAA Tournament), but prior to that the Tigers had a seven-game win streak against the Gorillas. FHSU fell twice to PSU in Pittsburg last year, but swept the doubleheader with PSU back in 2022.
 
Madison Pierce continues to lead the Tigers offensively with a .378 batting average. She is tied for the team lead in RBIs with Lexi Mohr, both with 20. Lilly Mohr leads the team in home runs with six and extra-base hits with 13.
 
Savanah Egger and Morgan Schmidt continue to shoulder the load in the pitching circle. Egger holds a 3.37 ERA, while Schmidt is right behind at 3.48. Schmidt is 11-6 on the season, while Egger is 10-9. Schmidt has 103 strikeouts and Egger has 101. They have combined for 215 of the 240.2 innings pitched by Tiger pitchers this season.
 
Bailey Dillon and Katie Gray both have batting averages of .400 or better to lead Missouri Southern. Gray has 28 extra-base hits this season and a conference-best 62 RBIs. Her 14 home runs are one shy of the MIAA lead of 15 by Terin Ritz of Central Oklahoma. In the circle, Kiki Pickens holds a 1.47 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 128.1 innings of work.
 
Heather Arnett headlines Pittsburg State's lineup leading the MIAA in batting average at .503. Kadyn Trochim has 21 extra-base hits with 39 RBIs, while Courtney Storey leads PSU in RBIs with 48. Ava Laurent leads the Gorillas in the pitching circle with a 2.62 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 117.2 innings of work.