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Fort Hays ready for home opener
8/29/2007
By NICK McQUEEN
Hays Daily News
Last week, the Fort Hays State University baseball team had to put the home opener on hold due to adverse weather conditions.
Instead, the Tigers hit the road for the season opener. Had the team not had the chance to travel to Mesa State (Colo.) College, the Tigers might be getting a little antsy at this point.
After going 1-3 in Grand Junction, Colo., the Tigers saw some things they could improve on heading into Thursday's home opener with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The doubleheader begins at 3 p.m. at Larks Park.
"We've been just working on the field trying to get it ready, but it looks like everything will be fine to get things going," said first-year Tiger coach Rick Sabath.
Under a new system and in a new conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Tigers return a veteran club that includes 14 seniors from a team that finished 46-17 last year and made an appearance in the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Sabath, who replaced former coach Matt Ranson, who resigned at the end of last season, finally got a chance to see his team in action over the weekend and was pleased with what he saw, despite a 1-3 start.
"If we wouldn't have gone out, there probably would have been a few frustrated guys," Sabath said. "Certainly, we were disappointed to lose three of four, but we did improve each day. It was a learning experience for us to kind of find out where we're at."
Fort Hays got one in the win column with a 9-1 victory over the Mavericks in Sunday's final game of the four-game series. In that game, the Tigers had a 9-0 lead, showing a vast improvement from Friday's 12-1 loss to open the season.
"I don't know if it was first-game jitters or what, but our confidence level didn't seem that high at the beginning of the series," Sabath said. "We kind of saw the level we need to be playing at to have any success. "
Defense was a positive that came out of the weekend. The Tigers had just three errors, but all were committed by Tiger pitchers.
"We need to be able to throw a little more consistently on the mound and that will come with time," Sabath said. "We had really good periods, then it would get away from us and we couldn't sustain anything."
Senior right-hander Bobby Lewton is slated to start Thursday's first game, with senior Jarrod King the probable starter in Game 2.
Thursday's doubleheader will be Nebraska-Omaha's first action of the season.
"They'll be an excellent opponent. They are coming off a 40-win season and are receiving votes in national polls. They'll be a very good test for this team," Sabath said.
Sports reporter Nick McQueen can be reached at (785)628-1081, Ext. 128 or by e-mail at
nmcqueen@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 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 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
