FHSU Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. - The 23rd-ranked Fort Hays State baseball team fell to Newman 15-9 on a blustery Thursday afternoon at McCarthy Field. The teams combined to hit seven home runs on the day, including four from the Jets (10-28, 6-22 MIAA) and three from the Tigers (27-11, 21-6 MIAA).
Ty Riley got the start and struck out seven batters in five-plus innings of work, giving the senior 95 strikeouts on the year. That total ties the FHSU single season school record set 48 years ago by Kevin Jilka (1977).
Fort Hays State opened the scoring early and often, with the first five batters coming across to score. Tony Moore and Trey DeGarmo both worked walks while Isiah Ural singled, loading the bases for Derek Woolwine. The designated hitter made it 2-0 with a single to left before Brady Kreutzer smashed his ninth home run of the season, driving in three RBI and giving the Tigers a quick 5-0 lead.
Newman's starting pitcher Aleks Koppel settled in after that, retiring 14 of the next 15 batters he faced. The Jet bats, meanwhile, slowly chipped away at the lead, pushing across one run in the first, another in the second, two in the third and the game-tying run in the fourth.
The Tigers regained the lead in the top of the seventh when Luis Ayala stroked a one-out double to left field. Moore followed with a two-run home run, giving FHSU a 7-5 advantage. Jose Cintron added another home run three batters later after a Jet error, doubling the Tiger lead to 9-5.The Jets answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh before taking the lead for the first time all game with seven runs in the home half of the eighth. The Tigers had one runner reach in both the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to push any more runs across.
Riley allowed five runs on five hits and six walks, with Brett Jacobs tossing two innings and allowing four runs on five hits and two strikeouts. Brandon Chavez (6-1) took the loss after surrendering six runs on four hits and one walk in one inning of relief.
Woolwine collected two of FHSU's eight hits and drove in two RBI. Kreutzer led the team with three RBI while Moore and Ural both scored twice.
UP NEXT
Due to potential weather in the Wichita area on Saturday, the teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at noon.