#3 Missouri Southern (25-3, 0-0 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State (13-12, 2-2 MIAA)
Friday, March 20 – 2 p.m. (DH)
Hays, Kan. – Fleharty Family Field
 
#11 Pittsburg State (26-1, 0-0 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State
Saturday, March 21 – 12 p.m. (DH)
Hays, Kan. – Fleharty Family Field

Fort Hays State preps for a challenging weekend of softball as two nationally ranked teams come to Hays for MIAA doubleheaders. The Tigers will face No. 3 ranked Missouri Southern first on Friday (Mar. 20) starting at 2 p.m., then host No. 11 ranked Pittsburg State on Saturday (Mar. 21) at 12 p.m. The Tigers are 13-12 overall and 2-2 in MIAA play so far this season. Missouri Southern enters at 25-3 overall and Pittsburg State is 26-1 overall. Both MSSU and PSU are playing their first conference games of the season this weekend.
 
Fort Hays State is coming off a non-conference doubleheader split at Southern Nazarene back on Tuesday (Mar. 17). The Tigers have split their last four doubleheaders going back to a non-conference pair against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Hays on March 10. FHSU split its first two conference doubleheaders of the season at Central Missouri and Missouri Western last week. Missouri Western was receiving votes in the national poll at the time of that doubleheader.
 
Missouri Southern comes into the weekend on an 8-game win streak. The Lions' started the season 17-1 before taking a pair of losses to nationally ranked McKendree back on February 21. Their only other loss was to Drury. Missouri Southern has won eight in a row since then and now sits at 25-3 overall for the season. The doubleheader at FHSU marks MSSU's first true road contests of the season.
 
Pittsburg State opened the season 20-0 before taking its only loss of the season to Winona State on February 28 in Shawnee, Kan. at the Top Gun Midwest Classic. The Gorillas are 4-0 in true road contests so far this season. Pittsburg State and University of Indianapolis, both nationally ranked, are tied for the fewest losses nationally. UIndy is ranked No. 9 in the latest national poll. Pittsburg State is tied for the second-most wins nationally with Southern Arkansas, Oklahoma Baptist, and Colorado Christian.

Fort Hays State is looking to snap a 9-game losing string to Missouri Southern, which started back in 2021. The Lions have swept the last four conference doubleheaders between the teams from the 2022 to 2025 seasons. Three of those four doubleheaders were in Joplin. FHSU's last win over MSSU was in 2021 in the first game of a doubleheader in Hays. The Lions lead the all-time series 23-20.
 
Fort Hays State is looking to snap a 5-game losing string to Pittsburg State, which started in 2024. The Gorillas swept both conference doubleheaders the last two seasons (2024 and 2025), both in Pittsburg, and they defeated the Tigers in the 2024 MIAA Tournament in Edmond, Okla. Prior to the current 5-game streak for the Gorillas, the Tigers had a 7-game win streak in the series. FHSU took both games of the last doubleheader played between the teams in Hays back in 2023.
 
Fort Hays State is seeking its first win over a ranked team since the 2024 season, when it knocked off No. 6 ranked Central Oklahoma in Hays by a score of 2-1 in eight innings on April 19, 2024.
 
Hannah Green and Peyton Shepard continue to hit over .400 for the season. Green leads the way at .449, while Shepard is at .412 for the season. Green has 20 stolen bases, while Shepard has 18, and both have over .450 on-base percentages.
 
Abbey Duarte is the team leader in RBIs with 24, followed by Audrey Gillespie with 20. Lilly Mohr leads the Tigers in home runs with eight. Gillespie and Mohr each have 10 extra-base hits. The Tigers as a team are hitting .320 for the season.
 
Solana Carpenter leads FHSU in pitching with a 3.25 ERA, 5-5 record, and 55 strikeouts in 71 innings of work. She has six complete games this season. Mackenzie Hudson has two saves for the season, and joins Korryn Johnson, Duarte, and Claire Kirby with two wins each in the pitching circle this season. Johnson has the second-most innings pitched at 20.2 for the season.