LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Black Hills State softball won game one behind an excellent outing in the circle, 5-1, before finishing the weekend series with a split at New Mexico Highlands.
The Yellow Jacket (3-9, 3-9 RMAC) pitching staff didn’t allow an earned run in game one and slugged two home runs in game two as the team begins to hit its stride.
Game One (W, 5-1)
Kayla Lee and Ashlynn Pauwels led the way in game won, each going 2-4. Lee finished with a pair of RBI and a run scored, while Pauwels drove one in and scored with a double and a triple.
In the circle, Shayla Tuschen went six strong innings, without allowing an earned run while striking out four. Malaya Coleman also tossed an inning of scoreless ball with a strikeout.
Things remained scoreless until a 3-run third inning for the Yellow Jackets that included an RBI triple from Pauwels and an RBI double from Gianna Haley.
BHSU held NMHU hitless until the Cowgirls got one back in the top of the fourth, making it a 3-1 game. That score held until the Yellow Jackets added two more in the top of the sixth on RBI base hits from Shylee Moxey and Lee as they went on to win 5-1.
Game Two (L, 11-3)
The Cowgirls put up a 3-spot in the first and tacked on another run in the second to take an early 4-0 lead.
After NMHU made it 5-0 in the top of the fourth, Tuschen got aboard with a single in the bottom half of the frame before a Pauwels 2-run home run out to right center got the Yellow Jackets on the board and make it a 5-2 ballgame.
NMHU got those two runs back in the top of the fifth, though, stretching their lead to 7-2. The Yellow Jackets weren’t done, as Lee hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to chip away and make it 7-3.
However, the Cowgirls added four in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 11-3 before winning by that score.
