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Tired Tigers knocked out of MIAA tourney
8/29/2007
By The Hays Daily News
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- After a record-setting game Friday night in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament, the Fort Hays State University baseball team ran out of gas in a 7-2 elimination loss to Northwest Missouri State University on Saturday.
The loss was the second in the tournament, as Fort Hays fell 7-6 in an MIAA-record 16 innings to host University of Central Missouri on Friday night.
In Saturday's game, Fort Hays (33-20) struggled to score early against Bearcat starter Brian Lamers, who went eight innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs. Meanwhile, Northwest Missouri (30-25) put up four runs against Tiger senior starter Bobby Lewton, who pithed 4Ôªø 1Ñ3 innings before being replaced by senior Jarrod King. Lewton was charged with four runs on eight hits. Senior Tyler Nuss surrendered the other three Bearcat runs in 3Ôªø 2Ñ3 innings.
The Tigers will wait to see if they earn a bid in the NCAA Division II Central Regional. Fort Hays went into the tourney ranked No. 4 in the region and the top six teams earn regional bids.
In Saturday's game, senior Luke Dreiling went 2-for-3 at the plate, driving in one run and scoring one of the Tigers' two runs. Fort Hays put up one run in the seventh and one in the eighth. Lewton (6-6) took the loss for Fort Hays.
Friday
Central Missouri 7, Fort Hays 6
(16 innings)
The Tigers had an early lead of 4-0 on the host and No. 1 seed Mules, only to see it slip away late to send the game into extra innings.
An infield single with two outs and the bases loaded by the Mules' Chris Brown drove in the game-winning run in the bottom half of the 16th inning. The 16-inning contest was the longest recorded in MIAA history.
The Tigers used two pitchers, with senior Justin Randa going 7 Ôªø1Ñ3 innngs before being relieved by senior Tom Goodwin, who finished the marathon game.
Down 4-1, Central Missouri (47-9) pushed across three runs, two charged to Randa, to tie the game at 4-4.
The two teams struggled to find offense until the 15th inning, when Dreiling hit an RBI double to score senior Rob Nelson from first base. Dreiling later came around to score on a single by senior Jason Pfeifer to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Central Missouri answered with a solo home run by Josh Paul to lead off the home half of the inning, and had two runners on with no outs, but pushed across just one more to tie the game.
Fort Hays was retired in order in its half of the 16th inning, before the pinch-hitting Brown drove home the winning run.
Nelson had two home runs nd drove in three runs while scoring three. He went 4-for-7. Pfeifer also went 4-for-7, driving in one run. Dreiling was 2-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored.
In 7Ôªø 1Ñ3 innings, Randa struck out seven with two walks while giving up six hits. Goodwin allowed four runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Goodwin (8-3) took the loss.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
