SPEARFISH, S.D. – Black Hills State softball wrapped up the 2023 season with a series win over UCCS Sunday afternoon, splitting day two with a 3-2 win, and 5-3 loss.
The Yellow Jackets (8-36, 8-36 RMAC) earned their first series win of the season, and had strong pitching in all four games against the Mountain Lions.
Game One (W, 3-2)
Shayla Tuschen racked up five strikeouts in the circle, going seven innings of two-run, six-hit ball. At the plate, she went 1-3 with a double and a run scored.
Gianna Haley went 1-3 with an RBI, while Tyler Whitlock and Kayla Lee each went 1-3 with a run scored.
Adreanna Lance also recorded a hit and Sydney Barner drove in a run.
Tuschen went to work in the circle, striking out the first two batters she faced in a 1-2-3 first before UCCS took a 1-0 lead in the second on a solo home run.
As BHSU worked to get their bats going, Tuschen struck out two more in the top of the third, but UCCS would add on a run in the fourth with another solo shot, extending their lead to 2-0.
Lee led off the bottom of the fourth with a bunt up the third base line for the Yellow Jackets’ first hit of the game to kick off a 2-run frame and even the game at 2-2.
That score held until the Yellow Jackets moved on top in the bottom of the sixth with a Tuschen double followed by a Haley RBI single to take a late 3-2 lead.
Tuschen would finish out the game, putting down the Mountain Lions in the seventh and sealing the 3-2 win.
Game Two (L, 5-3)
Halie Litwin was great in the circle, allowing only two earned runs over seven innings, and striking out four.
Haley continued her hot hitting, going 2-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.
Whitlock also finished with two hits, going 2-4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Bayleigh Hubbard went 1-3 with an RBI, while Lee, Taylor Klein and Lily Simmons also each recorded a hit.
Tuschen scored a run and drew a walk while going 1-3.
UCCS scored first in game two, moving ahead 1-0 in the second. The Mountain Lions threatened to score again in the third, loading the bases, but Litwin worked out of the jam with a strikeout to end the inning and keep it a 1-0 game.
That allowed the Yellow Jackets get on the board and take a lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of base hits, including a Haley two-out, two-run single to right to make it a 2-1 BHSU lead.
After Litwin worked a clean 1-2-3 fifth inning, UCCS scratched across a run in the sixth to tie the game back up at 2-2. But a Haley double to lead off the bottom of the sixth led to a two-out, go-ahead RBI single from Hubbard to put BHSU back ahead 3-2.
However, a 3-run seventh from UCCS put the Mountain Lions on top once more, 5-3, a score they would eventually win by.
