Fort Hays State Softball heads to Topeka this weekend to compete in the Washburn Invitational. The Tigers are slated for five games, with three scheduled at Gahnstrom Field on the campus of Washburn University, and two at Washburn Rural High School. Live stream and stats will be available for all games at Gahnstrom Field.. Only live stats will be available for the contests at Washburn Rural High School on Friday.
The Tigers are coming off a 2-3 weekend to start their season at the Cherokee Nation D2 Softball Festival in Oklahoma. FHSU picked up wins over East Central and Harding, playing an exclusive slate of teams from the Great American Conference. This week, the Tigers will face a mix of teams from the NSIC, GNAC, and GLVC.
The Tigers are playing in the Washburn Invitational for the seventh year in a row. They have produced .500 or better weekends all six years prior at the event. The Tigers went 6-0 at the tournament in 2023, and most recently 5-1 in 2025.
Fort Hays State scored at least five runs in all but one of its five games last week.
Hannah Green leads the Tigers in batting average at .529 and she scored a team-high seven runs last week.
Abbey Duarte had a big week at the plate as well, hitting .357 with two home runs, a double, and 10 RBIs.
After a tough first start of the season,
Solana Carpenter settled in nicely over her last two outings last weekend. By the time the dust settled on the weekend, she had a 1.70 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 12.1 innings of work. She had a complete-game win over Harding to wrap up the action in Oklahoma.
Opponents
Minnesota Crookston
2026 Record: 0-9
2025 Record: 20-34
Series Record: FHSU leads 5-0
Notes: FHSU has won all five contests it has played against Minnesota Crookston. This will be the fourth-straight season the schools meet at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka. FHSU won 9-1 last year. FHSU has outscored UMC 35-2 all-time.
Montana State-Billings
2026 Record: 2-8
2025 Record: 16-28
Series Record: First meeting
Notes: This will be the first-ever meeting between FHSU and MSUB in softball.
Drury
2026 Record: 4-5
2025 Record: 35-23 (NCAA Tournament participant)
Series Record: FHSU leads 3-2
Notes: This will be the first meeting between FHSU and Drury since the 2011 season. All meetings have been at neutral sites, but this will be the first time the teams meet in Topeka. FHSU won the last two games between the schools.
Rockhurst
2026 Record: 2-2
2025 Record: 18-26
Series Record: FHSU leads 8-3
Notes: FHSU and Rockhurst met last year in Topeka and FHSU won 3-2 in 9 innings. The Tigers ran their win streak to 4-straight games over the Hawks. The Tigers have scored 3 or less runs against the Hawks in 8-straight meetings, but have won five of those eight meetings.
Minnesota State
2026 Record: 3-1
2025 Record: 39-20 (NCAA Tournament participant)
Series Record: MSU leads 5-2
Notes: FHSU and MSU will be meeting for the first time since 2018. MSU has a 3-game win streak against FHSU. All meetings between the teams have been at neutral sites. FHSU has been limited to just one run against MSU in each of the last three meetings.
