GOLDEN, Colo. – Fort Hays State split a pair of games in Golden, Colo., on Saturday (Feb. 20) against Colorado Mines. The Tigers won game one 13-8 before dropping the nightcap 10-6.
Fort Hays State 13, Colorado Mines 8
Fort Hays State had to come from behind twice to take the first game of the doubleheader. The Tigers fell behind 2-0 early in game one but responded with a run of their own in the third. Austin Unrein sent a ball into the left center gap and scored Caleb Cherryholmes with the RBI double.
The one run deficit did not last long as the Orediggers scored pushed their lead back to two with a run in the bottom of the third.
The Tigers responded with a four run fourth to take their first lead at 5-3. Connor Ross singled to start the inning, then Alex Weiss walked. An infield single in the following at bat by Trevor Hughes loaded the bases for Alex King, who hit a ground ball that scored Ross. A balk tied the game as Weiss trotted home. King stole third and forced a throwing error by the Oredigger catcher then scored giving the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game. With two outs the Tigers hit three consecutive singles as Unrein plated the fourth run of the inning.
Once again the Orediggers responded to the spurt of Tiger offense and came back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead back at 7-5.
Colorado Mines added another run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 8-5, but the Tigers put up a monster inning in their final at bat, grabbing the lead back for good. Three straight singles to start the inning from Unrein, Joe Mapes, and Ross started the scoring. Weiss then followed with an RBI double and once again it was a tie ball game. With one out, King was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. Nick Hammeke then delivered an RBI single to tie the game and Ty Redington executed a squeeze and was safe on the play for an RBI single. After Cherryholmes was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, Unrein found another gap for his second double of the game that plated two more. Toss in an Orediggers error that scored a run and the Tigers had themselves an eight-run, seven-hit inning to take the lead 13-8.
Giles Fox shut the door in the bottom of the seventh, working around a pair of hits. He preserved the win for Casey Sedbrook, who allowed just one run in 2.1 innings of relief. Kyle Vogt started the game and went 3.2 innings giving up seven earned runs on six hits with a strikeout and a walk.
Colorado Mines 10, Fort Hays State 6
In game two, the Orediggers put a steady dose of twos on the board, scoring two runs in all but one inning. A Connor Ross homerun in the top of the second cut the Colorado Mines lead to just one, but that was as close as the game would be as CSM steadily pulled away.
The Tigers got another run in the third when Nick Hammeke walked and moved around the bases to eventually score on a wild pitch, making it 4-2 in favor of CSM
The Tiger bats sprung to life in the top half of the fifth, scoring four runs, but still left trailed 8-6. Redington singled then Austin Unrein brought two in with his second home run of the season two batters later. Mapes followed with a single to center. Two consecutive errors by the Orediggers followed by a hit batter allowed Mapes to score, and Jace Bowman plated another with an RBI fielder’s choice.
That was all the Tigers got the rest of the game and the Orediggers added two more in the sixth to make the final 10-6.
Justin Hersch took the loss for the Tigers as he went 5.0 innings suffering eight runs (five earned), on 13 hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Now at 6-4 overall, the Tigers take on the Orediggers in the final game of the four-game series on Sunday (Feb. 21) at 12 pm MT/1 pm CT before heading home for their first taste of MIAA action of the season.
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