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After a rough start against ranked teams, the Tigers are right in the thick of things
5/2/2008
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Rick Sabath told a story to his Fort Hays State University baseball team one day at practice. His Tigers were 11-19 after they lost four straight games to Emporia State University in an early April series.
Sabath believed his team could climb back to .500 and have a chance to reach the NCAA tournament. When he was the head coach at Garden City Community College, the Broncbusters started 14-22 one season, finished 30-26 and won the conference tournament.
"It was a very similar situation, eight below .500," Sabath said. "I was expecting us to do something similar."
"It was pretty moving to hear him say that and that is something to relate to," freshman catcher Ryan Majercik added.
"We were not all on our own trying to do this."
The meeting formed the foundation for one of the biggest Division II turnarounds in college baseball this season.
After the talk, Fort Hays won 9 of its next 11 games, became the first team since 1997 to take two games in one day at the University of Central Missouri, and won three straight conference series.
After two wins against NAIA Kansas Wesleyan on Wednesday night, the Tigers have completely reversed their season and are 26-25. It's the first time that Fort Hays has been over .500 since they were 1-0.
They are 15-6 overall since the meeting.
"It has kind of become the story of this team now," Majerick said. "The next time he tells it, it would have to be Fort Hays State now."
Fort Hays, at 20-12, is in third place in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and has a critical series against Pittsburg State University this weekend at home. The Tigers can solidify the third seed in the MIAA postseason conference tournament and move closer to an NCAA berth.
The Tigers could reach the NCAAs one of two ways. Either they can win at least three of four games against the Gorillas this weekend and advance deep into the four-team conference tournament. Or simply, they can capture the postseason conference tournament title, but that would likely involve beating 43-6 Emporia State University, the No. 6 team in the country.
Junior right-hander Brian Thompson (5-3, 6.91 ERA overall, 5-0 since March 16) will start the first game in Saturday's doubleheader for the Tigers. Thompson has relied on a Eric Gagne-type circle changeup all season for success, a pitch that Majercik calls "filthy."
"I started to throw more strikes and keep the ball down," Thompson said of his recent stretch.
Junior Eric Gilliland (3-4, 5.74), sophomore left-hander Matt Augustine (4-6, 5.48) and senior right-hander James Simpson (2-0, 5.06) will start the rest of the games. "It is absolutely important," Majercik said of the series.
The Tigers didn't start the season like they have finished. They lost 14 seniors off last year's 33-20 squad that made the MIAA tournament. Only one player (Dusty Washburn) returned who hit higher than .234. The top three starting pitchers all graduated and the returning pitchers went a combined 6-3 last spring.
Fort Hays, faced with a road-heavy schedule against eight ranked teams, started 4-13.
"To start 4-13 and be where we are now is pretty incredible especially with the competition that we have faced," Majercik said.
In late March, Sabath solidified his lineup in the first series win of the season against Missouri Southern State University. The Tigers scored 40 runs in two games, including a 24-11 victory in one contest, the most runs Fort Hays had scored in three years.
"The offense really carried in that initial phase," Sabath said. "I think it all really started in the Missouri Southern doubleheader. I think that is what really helped us, playing into our brains that we could hit a little bit. The pretty consistent run production helped our pitching. They realized that they didn't have to be perfect."
Fort Hays climbed back to 11-15 before it dropped four straight to Emporia and fell back to eight games under. Sabath called his team meeting at practice and told his players could climb back to .500.
It had been done before.
"There were other teams out there that we trying to come through and step up there play and turn their season around like we have," Majerick said.
The Tigers won nine straight conference games after the meeting, including scoring a school-record 32 runs against Truman State University. The offense, especially at Larks Park, a facility that Sabath said "I don't know if there is a better hitters' park, period," has helped Fort Hays. The Tigers, who rank second in the MIAA in runs and batting average, have averaged 9.3 runs a game at home, more than a run and a half more than their road average. They are 13-7 in Hays, including a 9-1 mark in their last 10 conference games.
Sabath has been pleased with the play of several players, including junior first baseman Dusty Washburn (top four in MIAA in homers, average and slugging percentage), Majercik (.398 average), sophomore Greg Bieker (.397 average), sophomore Tyler Robbins (54 RBIs, fourth in MIAA). Nine players have at least 100 at-bats and are hitting above .329.
"You got to love it," Thompson said. "As a pitcher, you going to have a lot of confidence in your team to score. They aren't going to score one or two runs, but you have a lot of confidence in your team to score five or six. It's a good thing to have. As a pitcher, you can give up four runs and your team can score eight."
The Tigers also picked up a huge road series win against University of Central Missouri, a team that has won two national championships in the last 14 years and has a sign on its outfield fence and their athletics Web site proclaiming "the winningest team of the millenium."
Fort Hays took three of four games and became the first team since 1997 to win two games in the same day at Central. The offense scored 25 runs in three wins, including 12 in one contest, the most the Mules have allowed in one game all season.
"I think taking three games at Central was absolutely huge for this team," Majercik said. "If I had to pick one turning point that would be it."
In the last few days, Sabath has also reminded his team that no Fort Hays baseball squad has been under .500 in 17 seasons. That has also helped the Tigers move to their current record.
"I don't think they knew about it until I happened to mention it the other day," Sabath said. "It is very important to us."
Now, the Tigers can clinch a .500 mark this season, a spot in the postseason tournament this weekend, and complete their Garden City-esque turnaround.
"(The story) really applies to this team and the way we have turned it around and to be 26-25 now," Majercik said.
"That is quite an accomplishment with the schedule we have played."
| 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 |
