Opposition Research - Fort Hays State

Opposition Research - Fort Hays State University

Your Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats baseball team will travel to Hays, Kansas, to challenge the Tigers of Fort Hays State in a 4-game conference battle.  The series starts with a single 9-inning game on Friday at 5pm, then two 7-inning games on Saturday starting at 1pm, and concludes with a single 9-inning game on Sunday commencing at 1pm.

Fort Hays State has had a tough start to the 2014 season and presently sits with a 5-14 overall and a 4-12 MIAA record.  Fort Hays State is presently ranked 13th in the MIAA baseball standings.  This past weekend, FHSU split a 4-game series with Washburn in Topeka.

FHSU 2014 outlook -

Fort Hays State baseball was picked ninth in the MIAA Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll, released on Thursday (Jan. 30). The Tigers were picked in the same position they finished in the standings last year, coming off a 23-22 season and an appearance in the MIAA Tournament.

Fort Hays State was the No. 8 seed in the MIAA Tournament last year since Lindenwood was not postseason eligible in its last year of transition from NAIA to NCAA. Fort Hays State struggled to find a rhythm last year with its longest win streak at four games. The Tigers also had four three-game win streaks, but that was countered by one five-game, one four-game, and one three-game losing streak.

The scheduling in the conference last year may have precipitated the up-and-down play, with several mid-week doubleheaders and three-game series on the weekends. Weather also played a big factor, often rearranging the schedule.

Fort Hays State returns three starters with All-MIAA Honors from a year ago in seniors Horace Johnson, Clayton Garland, and Jordan Miller. Johnson was an All-MIAA First Team selection at designated hitter and also garnered all-region first team and second team honors. Garland and Miller, both outfielders, earned honorable mention honors. Miller led the team in batting average (.390), while Garland was second (.388). Both provided good speed, each swiping 13 bases. Johnson tied for the team lead in home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.587), while batting .336. They are the only regular starters from last year's team to return this year.

The pitching rotation is likely to have a whole new look to it this year, as Nathan Zimmerman is the only returner with starting experience. Zimmerman started three games last year, going 3-1. There are a handful of newcomers that will be competing for the starting rotation and the Tigers will need to have a stopper emerge out of the bullpen after losing their top reliever from last year as well.


Head Coach Steve Johnson -

Steve Johnson is in his fourth year as head coach of the baseball program at Fort Hays State University. He has led the program to three straight MIAA Tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2012.

Johnson owns a career collegiate coaching record of 315-224 entering 2014. He enters his fourth year at FHSU at 80-69 overall.

Johnson has coached 18 players to All-MIAA status and seven players to All-Region teams, including the 2012 Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year, Ryan Busboom. Busboom also was named as a First Team All-American by Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association.

In 2013, FHSU finished 23-22, earning the No. 8 seed in the MIAA Tournament before falling to eventual runner-up, Missouri Western.

In 2012, Johnson and the Tigers went into the MIAA Tournament as a sixth seed and clinched an appearance in the MIAA Championship game – where they lost to champion Central Missouri. This was the first championship appearance for FHSU since joining the MIAA in 2007. Fort Hays State finished the season at 29-24 overall.

In his first season with FHSU in 2011, Johnson guided the Tigers to a 28-23 record, a fourth-place finish in the MIAA, and an appearance at the MIAA Tournament.

Johnson came to FHSU from Butler (Kan.) Community College, where he was the head coach for seven years. While at Butler, Johnson compiled a record of 235-155. He led the program to at least 30 wins in his last six seasons and an NJCAA World Series appearance in 2006. The Grizzlies were co-champions of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division three times in Johnson's tenure, including the 2010 season. He was twice named the Jayhawk Western Division Coach of the Year (2005 and 2007) and was the NJCAA Central District and ABCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2006.

In seven years at Butler, Johnson coached five all-region selections and 34 all-conference selections. Four of his players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Six former players went on to play professional baseball. He also had six players earn NJCAA Academic All-American honors.

Prior to becoming the head coach at Butler Community College, Johnson spent eight years as an assistant with three different successful programs. His last two years (2002 and 2003) as an assistant were at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, where he was the pitching coach and chief recruiter. He helped the Indians to the 2002 Southland Conference Championship. He was assistant coach at Barton (Kan.) Community College for four years (1998-2001), helping the Cougars average 30 wins per season in his time with the program. Johnson started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Fort Hays State for two years (1996 and 1997). He helped the Tigers to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship and finish runner-up in the school's first ever NCAA Division II West Regional appearance. In his eight years as an assistant, he coached 10 pitchers that went on to play professional baseball, with two making it to the Major League level. Combining the three institutions together, Johnson had a record of 262-190 as an assistant coach.

Johnson played collegiate baseball for three years. He played two years at Barton (Kan.) Community College from 1989 to 1990, earning All-KJCCC and All-Region 6 honors. He went on to play one year at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he was named MVP of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. That year, UAB made their only NCAA regional appearance in school history. In 1992, Johnson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization and played five seasons in professional baseball.

In 2000, Johnson was inducted into the El Dorado (Kan.) Baseball Hall of Fame for his performance with the El Dorado Broncos summer collegiate team during the 1990 and 1991 campaigns.

FHSU Infielder Horace Johnson named NCBWA All-American preseason team -

Fort Hays State senior infielder/designated hitter Horace Johnson has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-America Team for 2014, released on Thursday (Jan. 30). Johnson was named to the second team as a designated hitter.

Johnson was a Daktronics All-Central Region First Team and Rawlings/ABCA All-Central Region Second Team selection last year at designated hitter. Johnson batted .336 with nine home runs, nine doubles, 34 RBI, and a team-leading .587 slugging percentage in 2013. He is one of three starters returning to the Tiger lineup this year.

2014 Season Statistics as of March 19, 2014 -

Record: 5-14   Home: 2-6   Away: 3-8   MIAA: 4-12  

Player                 AVG  GP-GS    AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD%

10 Miller,Jordan....  .391   7-7     23   8   9   2   0   0   3   11  .478   6   1   2   0  .533   0   1   1-3     15   0   1  .938
24 Garland,Clayton..  .357  19-19    70   9  25   4   0   2  11   35  .500   6   0  13   0  .403   1   1   1-2     40   0   2  .952
17 King,Alex........  .351  10-9     37   7  13   1   0   1   7   17  .459   3   1   8   0  .415   0   1   1-6     16   1   1  .944
20 Langley,Cooper...  .318  19-19    66  11  21   6   0   1  10   30  .455   5   3  12   0  .382   2   0   0-0     92   3   5  .950
7 Strunk,Gus.......  .311  16-15    45   6  14   1   0   0   4   15  .333   2   2   6   1  .360   1   3   0-1     19  31   9  .847
9 Czarnecki,Kevin..  .270  19-19    63   6  17   1   0   3  12   27  .429   6   1   6   0  .338   1   3   1-1     16  25   6  .872
27 Johnson,Horace...  .257  19-19    70   9  18   6   0   1  10   27  .386   3   2  13   1  .307   0   0   0-0     87   5   1  .989
25 Fewin,Kodie......  .224  18-16    49   4  11   0   0   2   4   17  .347   4   3  17   1  .321   0   0   1-1     59   7   3  .957
3 Cook,Gabe........  .200  18-18    65   8  13   3   0   1   8   19  .292   3   1  24   1  .246   0   1   1-3     32  62   8  .922
21 Sedbrook,Casey...  .148  12-10    27   7   4   0   0   1   3    7  .259   8   2   8   0  .378   0   1   0-0     19   0   0 1.000
5 Hammeke,Nick.....  .081  13-12    37   3   3   0   0   0   2    3  .081   1   1   9   0  .125   1   2   2-2     15  23   2  .950
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22 Foster,Nick......  .400   6-2     10   2   4   2   0   0   3    6  .600   1   1   3   0  .500   0   0   0-0      2   4   1  .857
11 Unrein,Austin....  .308   6-3     13   1   4   0   0   1   1    7  .538   0   0   3   0  .308   0   0   0-0      6   9   0 1.000
31 Denton,James.....  .083   6-3     12   1   1   0   0   0   1    1  .083   1   0   5   0  .154   0   0   0-0     10   3   0 1.000

Totals..............  .267  19-19   587  82 157  26   0  13  79  222  .378  49  18 129   4  .339   6  13   8-19   436 201  42  .938
Opponents...........  .340  19-19   626 146 213  52   5  15 129  320  .511  57  19  68   5  .405  11  23  20-23   452 159  19  .970

LOB - Team (140), Opp (154). DPs turned - Team (9), Opp (8). CI - Team (0), Opp (1). IBB - Team (1), Langley,C. 1, Opp (2).

(All games Sorted by Earned run avg)

Player                 ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  2B  3B  HR   AB B/Avg   WP HBP  BK  SFA SHA

26 Mapes,Joe........  7.02   0-3     5   4   0   0/0    1  16.2  28  23  13   4   4   7   2   1   77  .364    1   1   0    1   5
28 Federau,Steven...  7.48   1-2     6   5   1   0/0    0  27.2  40  25  23   6  12   9   1   2  118  .339    1   0   0    3   5
6 Patty,Tyler......  7.50   1-2     5   5   0   0/0    0  24.0  44  26  20   6   8   9   1   2  113  .389    4   3   0    2   1
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7 Strunk,Gus.......  0.00   0-0     1   0   0   0/0    0   3.0   1   0   0   3   3   0   0   0    9  .111    0   2   0    0   1
14 Briar,Nathan.....  2.45   0-0     6   0   0   0/0    2   7.1   7   3   2   1   3   1   0   1   30  .233    0   1   0    0   1
23 Thomas,Ty........  4.50   0-0     4   0   0   0/0    0  10.0  15   8   5   0   6   3   0   2   46  .326    0   1   0    0   1
3 Cook,Gabe........  4.76   0-1     2   0   0   0/0    0   5.2   6   4   3   2   3   2   0   0   23  .261    1   1   0    0   0
11 Unrein,Austin....  5.40   1-1     6   1   0   0/0    0  13.1  14   9   8   6   7   4   0   2   48  .292    3   3   0    2   3
34 Cox,Alex.........  7.11   1-1     5   1   0   0/0    0  12.2  20  16  10   9  10   5   0   0   54  .370    2   2   0    1   2
16 Zimmerman,Nathan.  8.68   0-3     4   3   0   0/0    0   9.1  12  10   9  11   6   3   0   2   35  .343    4   1   0    0   4
36 Norris,Josh......  9.00   0-0     1   0   0   0/0    0   3.0   5   5   3   1   0   2   0   1   15  .333    0   1   1    0   0
15 Martineau,Drew...  9.72   0-0     4   0   0   0/0    1   8.1  13  10   9   4   6   6   1   0   37  .351    1   1   0    1   0
5 Hammeke,Nick.....  9.82   1-0     2   0   0   0/0    0   3.2   4   4   4   3   0   0   0   2   16  .250    1   1   0    0   0
32 Wedgewood,Lucas.. 40.50   0-0     1   0   0   0/0    0   0.2   4   3   3   1   0   1   0   0    5  .800    0   1   0    1   0

Totals..............  6.94   5-13   19  19   1   0/0    4 145.1 213 146 112  57  68  52   5  15  626  .340   18  19   1   11  23
Opponents...........  3.94  13-5    19  19   4   2/0    4 150.2 157  82  66  49 129  26   0  13  587  .267    7  18   0    6  13

PB - Team (7), Fewin,K. 6, Denton,J. 1, Opp (3). Pickoffs - Team (4), Patty,T. 2, Mapes,J. 1, Thomas,T. 1. SBA/ATT - Fewin,K.
(15-17), Denton,J. (5-5), Patty,T. (4-4), Strunk,G. (3-3), Unrein,A. (2-3), Thomas,T. (2-3), Federau,S. (2-2), Cook,G. (2-2),
Mapes,J. (2-2), Hammeke,N. (0-1), Briar,N. (1-1), Cox,A. (1-1), Zimmerman,N. (1-1).

Northwest Missouri State University -

Your Northwest Bearcats recently completed a thrilling 4-3 victory over the William Jewell Cardinals in a mid-week clash between regional rivals.  The Bearcats victory followed a tough home opening weekend where Southwest Baptist swept Northwest in a 3-game series.

Presently, Northwest's 2014 record stands at 12-8, 8-5 in MIAA games.  The Bearcats are in 4th place in the MIAA conference baseball standings.  Your Bearcats play .500 ball at home and at neutral sites, but win at an exemplary rate of .750 in road games.

2014 Statistics as of March 19, 2014 -

Player	avg	gp-gs	ab	r	h	2b	3b	hr	rbi	tb	slg%	bb	hbp	so	gdp	ob%	sf	sh	sb-att	po	a	e	fld%
Pablo,Nikko	1.000	1-0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	2.000	0	0	0	0	1.000	0	0	0-0	0	0	0	.000
Pomatto,Jon	.385	20-20	65	22	25	4	2	2	18	39	.600	13	1	10	0	.494	0	2	3-4	50	3	0	1.000
McGlauflin,Eric	.367	16-16	60	10	22	5	1	0	15	29	.483	7	1	9	0	.435	1	0	2-2	11	2	0	1.000
Meyer,Derek	.357	6-6	14	5	5	2	0	0	3	7	.500	4	0	1	1	.474	1	0	1-1	24	1	0	1.000
Johnson,Paul	.351	19-19	74	18	26	6	1	1	4	37	.500	5	4	6	1	.422	0	2	3-6	25	37	6	.912
Ferreira,Zack	.333	20-20	69	11	23	5	0	0	14	28	.406	7	1	7	1	.403	0	1	0-2	4	25	1	.967
Garber,Steven	.320	18-17	50	12	16	2	0	0	15	18	.360	11	3	12	0	.469	0	4	0-0	129	11	0	1.000
Wulff,Austin	.313	19-18	64	23	20	4	0	4	12	36	.563	9	3	12	0	.416	1	2	1-2	25	0	0	1.000
Abernathy,Ryan	.303	20-20	76	19	23	7	0	0	11	30	.395	7	3	4	0	.379	1	2	3-5	45	3	4	.923
Hardegree,Blake	.293	15-14	41	8	12	3	0	1	13	18	.439	7	1	10	0	.400	1	5	1-1	77	8	2	.977
Singleton,Alex	.286	6-2	7	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	.286	0	1	0	0	.375	0	1	0-0	1	0	0	1.000
Huske,Brandon	.280	18-18	75	10	21	4	0	0	15	25	.333	6	3	6	2	.353	1	0	1-1	29	48	4	.951
Fort,Garrett	.190	9-6	21	5	4	0	1	0	8	6	.286	3	0	6	0	.280	1	1	0-0	5	8	1	.929
Wilkinson,Luke	.167	5-1	6	1	1	0	0	1	3	4	.667	1	1	1	0	.375	0	0	0-0	3	0	0	1.000
Holler,James	.125	4-3	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125	3	0	2	0	.364	0	0	0-1	13	1	2	.875
Douglas,Zachary	.000	2-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1	0	.000	0	0	0-0	5	0	0	1.000
Totals	.320	20-20	632	146	202	43	5	9	132	282	.446	83	22	87	5	.413	7	20	15-25	459	181	22	.967
Opponents	.285	20-20	597	109	170	32	3	7	99	229	.384	67	21	105	4	.372	8	17	21-23	467	217	34	.953

LOB - Team (151), Opp (142). DPs turned - Team (11), Opp (14). IBB - Team (1), Wulff,Austin 1.

Player	era	w-l	app-gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	2b	3b	hr	ab	b/avg	wp	hbp	bk	sfa	sha
Pomatto,Jon	0.00	0-0	2-0	0	0/0	2	2.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	5	.000	0	0	0	0	1
Bruch,Taylor	0.00	0-0	1-0	0	0/0	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Reutter,Blane	2.25	2-0	6-0	0	0/0	0	12.0	12	5	3	5	10	2	1	0	47	.255	1	0	0	0	0
Schmiedt,Brian	2.35	2-1	7-0	0	0/0	0	7.2	8	2	2	2	7	2	0	0	28	.286	2	2	0	1	1
Trout,Andrew	3.38	1-0	4-0	0	0/0	0	5.1	3	3	2	4	5	1	0	0	18	.167	0	0	0	1	0
Warren,Austin	4.22	1-2	4-4	1	0/0	0	21.1	23	15	10	6	10	1	1	1	82	.280	1	5	0	0	5
Fox, Ryker	4.40	3-1	6-6	0	0/0	0	30.2	28	16	15	17	24	6	0	2	115	.243	0	3	2	0	2
Pearcy,Hondo	4.55	2-1	6-4	0	0/0	0	27.2	28	15	14	6	15	6	0	2	103	.272	0	1	1	1	2
Smith,Tanner	4.76	0-0	5-0	0	0/0	0	5.2	4	3	3	7	5	0	0	0	19	.211	1	2	0	0	2
Klocko,Kole	9.19	1-1	5-4	0	0/0	0	15.2	20	16	16	10	11	6	0	1	64	.313	3	3	0	1	1
Perry,Daulton	9.64	0-0	6-0	0	0/0	0	4.2	5	5	5	0	2	0	1	1	19	.263	0	1	0	0	0
Henrichs,Rob	10.38	0-2	6-2	0	0/0	0	13.0	26	21	15	4	10	6	0	0	64	.406	1	2	0	2	3
Pablo,Nikko	11.37	0-0	5-0	0	0/0	0	6.1	13	8	8	4	4	2	0	0	31	.419	1	2	0	2	0
Totals	5.47	12-8	20-20	1	0/0	2	153.0	170	109	93	67	105	32	3	7	597	.285	10	21	3	8	17
Opponents	7.05	8-12	20-20	1	1/1	2	155.2	202	146	122	83	87	43	5	9	632	.320	13	22	2	7	20

MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll -

The MIAA baseball coaches picked your Northwest Bearcats to finish in 11th place in the conference final standings.

All-time Series history between NWMSU & FHSU -

Northwest leads the all time series with FHSU 18-15 according to Northwest's record book.

Interesting statistics heading into the FHSU series -

Senior Eric McGlauflin leads the team with 9 multi-hit games.

Senior Jon Pomatto leads the team with 6 multi-RBI games.

Junior Paul Johnson is on a 13-game hitting streak & leads the team.

Senior Jon Pomatto leads the team with a 17-game reaching base streak.

Go Cats!!
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