By The Hays Daily News

The Fort Hays State University softball team, ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II, picked up four key road wins this weekend at Emporia State University on Friday and Washburn University on Saturday.

FHSU defeated Emporia State 7-1 and 6-3 and beat Washburn 7-2 and 14-1.

The victories move FHSU to 19-3 overall, 4-0 MIAA, while ESU dropped to 10-7 overall, 0-2 MIAA. Fort Hays ended Emporia State's 23-game conference winning streak. Washburn dropped to 5-13, 1-3 MIAA.

In Game 1 against Emporia, senior Maddie Holub moved to 9-0. She allowed two hits with 10 strikeouts against one walk. The Tigers had three homers, one each from junior Danie Brinkmann, Holub and freshman Tori Beltz. In the second contest, Holub earned her second save in relief of Paxton Duran. Holub collected the final five outs of the game.

Fort Hays never trailed, but led 1-0 after four innings on a first-inning sacrifice fly from Holub. FHSU tacked on two in the top of the fifth, while ESU came back with two in the bottom of the fifth. Both teams added a run apiece in the sixth and Holub worked out of a jam to keep FHSU in the lead. Duran (6-3) worked 5.1 innings and allowed three runs (one earned) with eight hits, four strikeouts and two walks.

On Saturday, Holub moved to 10-0 with six innings of one-hit, one-run ball in Game 1. She struck out 13 against one walk. FHSU scored two runs in the fourth and the sixth and three in the seventh. Second baseman Courtney Dobson went 2 of 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, including a homer, while Holub also homered, her eighth of the year.

In Game 2, FHSU tallied two runs in the first, seven in the second, two in the third and three in the fifth before the game was called by mercy rule. The Tigers had 14 hits, including five homers, two from Holub and one apiece from Jenna Lang, Beltz and Kellsi Olsen. Holub went 2 of 3 with two runs scored and five RBIs, while Beltz finished 2 of 3 with two runs scored and four RBIs.