Back to back rules help the tigers sweep the Swedes
By Hailey Chapman Hays Daily News
The Fort Hays State softball team had an absolutely amazing performance in Sunday afternoon’s double nod against Bethany College. Strong pitching and fantastic bats led the Tigers to two run rule victories over the Swedes.
The scoring started Sara Breckill’s bat with her sixth home run of the season, which pushed her to a season high through the ages in homeruns. The shot sent two tigers to the plate to give FHSU the first lead in the match.
Bethany halved the lead and made her own race at the top of the second on starting Savanah Egger. Egger struggled with command problems and turned the ball over to Morgan Schmidt who finished the inning and remained strong throughout the game.
The tiger offense was explosive at the bottom of the other and responded to Bethany’s one run with five of her own. Kiana Blake and Loren Beggs both had RBI singles and Breckbill sent home two more with their own single.
The final run of the inning scored on a wild pitch, before the Fort Hays defense returned to the field. Even though the Swedes hit a hit, Schmidt put the first two hits via strikeout and forced a fulball fly to Breckbill for the final.
Blake continued his fantastic day and made the final two runes to force the rule of mercy to 10-1 in the fifth inning. Breckbill got four RBIs, Blake three and Regan Curry was flawless in a 3-3 performance on the plate.
Schmidt finished with six strikeouts, four hits and two walks, which did not allow one run to score.
Bailey Carlson was extinguished for the Tigers in game two, and threw a complete match suspension to help the Tigers sweep the Swedes.
Breckbill made the first run of the match with an RBI sacrifice in the first, followed by Sarah Tiffany’s RBI double to lead 2-0.
Bethany started the second with a baserunner, who was caught stealing from the arm of Elise Capra. A strike out and ground ball would finish the inning three up, three down.
Smart base run from Loren Beggs brought another ride on a fielder’s choice, followed by an error that scored another goal. Tiffany’s second RBI of the day would bring the score to 5-0 at the end of the second inning.
Freshman Lindsey Kelly used her speed and unpredictability to take all four bags for a drive home in the park. Kelly has earned a steady cut of .329 during the year, largely as a result of fast bolts and high speeds. When she sent a line run over the midfielder’s head, the sight was set on the home.
Jessica Espinoza used an RBI single to make it a 7-0 ball game while Carlson continued to handle on the litter. In the final inning of the game, Curry continued a strong day with an RBI to end the match via rune rule.
Carlson ended his game with six strikeouts, three hits and a walk.
The Tigers will be back in action this Saturday for a MIAA matchup against Nebraska-Kearney that will start at 1. The Tigers have improved their record to 13-15, hoping to go into balance overall and into conference play with two more wins .