Fort Hays State

The FHSU football team saw its losing streak grow to three games on Saturday at the hands of the No. 1 nationally ranked Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo. The Bearcats took a 42-10 halftime lead and never looked back, rolling to a 70-17 win over FHSU. Fort Hays State fell to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA with the loss. Northwest Missouri State remained perfect at 4-0 and 3-0 in the MIAA. With the win, Northwest Missouri State pushed its conference-record winning streak to 49 games.

Fort Hays State looked to be on their way to Friday's action at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City with a 4-2 lead heading to the ninth. However, an error with no outs and a runner at first led to Missouri Western scoring three runs (all unearned) taking the game 5-4 and eliminating the Tigers. Fort Hays State ended its season at 28-23 overall. A single by Brandon Hoefler and double by Nash Smith in the first inning led to a two-RBI single by Sloan Soulia to give FHSU a 2-0 lead.

The Fort Hays State football team dropped a tight contest with Southwest Baptist in non-conference play on Saturday evening (Sept. 17) in Hays by a score of 30-28. The Tigers had a chance to take the lead with just over 50 seconds remaining, but Tyler Kimbrough's  42-yard field goal attempt hooked left into the misty night allowing SBU to escape with the two-point win. Southwest Baptist had a chance to put the Tigers on the ropes late, but Korey Allison kept the Tigers within two with an interception at the FHSU 4-yardline.

It almost felt like football weather as the Fort Hays State football team took to the field for the first day of fall camp at Lewis Field Stadium. The Tigers had nearly 110 players on hand as they ran through drills and walked through some plays for about three hours on Thursday morning. After several months away from the field things were understandably a little rusty. But head coach Chris Brown said, no excuses. He says the Tigers have a lot of work to do if they want to break into the upper echelon of the MIAA.

Angel Rodriguez scored 15 points, Jordan Henriquez had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Kansas State beat Fort Hays State 90-60 in an exhibition game Sunday. Thomas Gipson had 14 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, who played without Big 12 sixth man of the year Jamar Samuels. The senior forward is serving a three-game suspension for violating team rules. Tyrone Phillips had 16 points for Fort Hays State. Lance Russell scored 12, and Markus Yarborough finished with 11 points.

It seems like his knee wasn't bothering him too much.  Thomas Robinson put up 22 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks Tuesday night as the Jayhawks pounded Fort Hays State 101-52.  Robinson hyperextended his knee earlier this season during practices but was moving up and down the court just fine in KU's final exhibition game. With Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson both on the bench for violating team rules Freshman guard Naadir Tharpe made a name for himself scoring 19 for Bill Self in 29 minutes on the floor.

The Chris Brown era will kick off on Thursday night as the Fort Hays State football team will host Emporia State in its season opener. The Hornets are the Tigers longest running rivals. The two have met on the gridiron 84 times dating back to 1923. ESU won the match-up in Emporia last season 19-6 and the Hornets lead the overall series 50-32-2. The Tigers did win the last match up in Hays 40-20 and FHSU has won its last 5 home openers. But not only does Fort Hays have a new coach, but also new starters at virtually every offensive skill position.

Fort Hays State athletic director Curtis Hammake named Erin Kinberger the new head softball coach of the Tigers on Monday, June 20. Kinberger takes over for Julie LeMaire, who resigned to take the head coaching position at Emporia State University. Kinberger (formerly Brunt) takes over the reigns of the program after spending the last three seasons as the assistant coach of the Tigers. She helped lead the team to three consecutive 30-win seasons, including a runner-up finish at the MIAA Tournament in 2011.

Fort Hays State used an efficient offensive performance and strong play from its defense to down Missouri Southern by a score of 29-14 in Hays on Saturday (Nov. 5). Missouri Southern miscues led to 16 points for the Tigers. Fort Hays State moved to 4-6 overall and 3-5 in the MIAA, while Missouri Southern dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in the MIAA. On a windswept afternoon in Hays, the Tigers took advantage of the game early by scoring on the opening drive of the game. The Tigers marched 80 yards on nine plays in 2:57 into the stiff south wind, capping the drive on a 3-yard touchdown run by Edward Smith.

Fort Hays State's Maddie Holub was named to the NFCA All-America First Team on Wednesday (May 22). Holub becomes the first-ever All-America First Team selection in Fort Hays State softball history. She is just the second All-American in the program's Division II history, following Jessika Anastos, who was a Daktronics Second Team selection in 2008. Holub was one of three pitchers named to the first team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, joining Kayla Cox from the University of Tampa (Fla.)

It took a walk-off home run, but top seeded Fort Hays State advanced in the NCAA Central Regional with a 5-2 win today in Hays. Fort Hays State jumped out to an early lead, then fell behind 2-1 in the fourth. The Tigers tied it in the sixth and got a three-run home run from Maddie Holub to come out on top in the bottom of the seventh. For the Tigers Bianca Adame was two for four with two runs scored and a base stolen. Courtney Dobson went three for four and scored two runs while driving in one. Dannie Brinkmann was one for three and drove in a run as well.

Fort Hays State fought back to tie Emporia State three times before taking a 5-3 lead on a Danie Brinkmann two-out, two-RBI bases loaded single in the bottom of the sixth. The margin held up as Maddie Holub retired the side in the seventh for Fort Hays State's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Tenth-ranked Fort Hays State moved to 46-10 overall on the season with the win on Friday (May 10) in the opening round of the NCAA Central Regional 1. Emporia State took an early 1-0 lead in the first on a Cacy Williams RBI single that just tipped off the edge of Amanda Vaupel's glove on a diving attempt, scoring a run from second.

The Fort Hays State softball team received the No. 1 seed in the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament and will serve as a host site, May 10-12, for four teams competing to move on to the Super Regional the following weekend. Fort Hays State will face No. 8 seed Emporia State in the first round, fresh off having to play the Hornets in two MIAA Tournament Championship Games on Sunday. Also competing in Hays will be the No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma and the No. 5 seed Minot State. The format for the four teams in Hays will be double elimination.

Fort Hays State had to come from behind, but won their first MIAA Softball Championship on Sunday in Overland Park, Kan. The Tigers fell behind 2-0 early, but used a five run fifth inning to pull out a 7-4 victory.   For the Tigers Amanda Vaupel was one for three with two runs driven in. Courtney Dobson went three for four with two runs driven in and a run scored. Jenna Lang and Bianca Adame each scored two runs in the contest. Jordan Jones picked up the win for the Tigers going one inning of relief.

Sixth seeded Fort Hays State jumped ahead early and did not look back as they knocked off third seed Northeastern State in the quarterfinal round. The Tiger held the RivherHawks to just .280 shooting as they rolled to a 61-42 win.  Northeastern State took their only lead of the ballgame at the 19:37 mark of the first half before FHSU scored the next five points and stayed ahead for good. FHSU got up by as much as 16 points in the first half before settling for a 34-20 first half advantage.

Fort Hays State hit just one field goal in the final 12 minutes as Northwest Missouri stormed from behind to earn a spot in the MIAA Championship. The Bearcats shot .400 in the second half to earn the 73-66 victory in semi-final action.  Fort Hays State began to build the lead late in the first half, leading by as much as six and taking a five-point lead into the break. In the second half FHSU got the lead out to 12 points at the 13:35 mark, but would hit a field goal at 12:35 and not score again from the field until the 13 second mark.

Fort Hays State used strong shooting to defeat Missouri Southern in the first of four quarterfinal games. The Tigers shot .438 for the game as the advanced to Saturday's semi-final round.  Missouri Southern jumped out early leading by as much as five points within the first five minutes. Marquis Addison started off scoring nine of the Lions first 11 points as they jumped to an 11-6 advantage. Ben Congiusta would go four of four from the three-point line to help Fort hays State claw back into it hitting four three-pointers in the first half to help FHSU to a 36-31 halftime advantage.  The Tigers would then use .455 shooting in the second half to push their lead to 19 points and close out the victory.

Fort Hays State led from start to finish in a 70-57 win over Lincoln in the MIAA Tournament Opening Round on Tuesday evening in Hays. Now at 21-6 overall, Fort Hays State, the No. 6 seed, will play No. 3 seed Northeastern State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 8:15 pm at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Fort Hays State opened the game on a 13-0 run and led by double figures all the way until halftime. The Lady Tigers led by as many as 18 in the opening half, but the Blue Tigers cut the lead down to 11, 39-28 at halftime.

Fort Hays State had two players selected to the 2012-13 All-MIAA Women's Basketball Team, released on Tuesday. Kate Lehman was named All-MIAA First Team and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Katelyn Edwards was named to the Third Team. For both players, it was the second straight year they were named to the All-MIAA Team. After earning third team honors as a freshman in 2011-12, Kate Lehman emerged as one of the conference's top players this year to earn the first team nod, leading FHSU in scoring at 16.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.2 blocked shots per game.