SPEARFISH, S.D.—The Black Hills State University softball team opened RMAC play at Fort Lewis College on Friday morning. The Skyhawks entered the four game series with BHSU coming off an abysmal 0-5 record at the Desert Stinger Tournament.
The Skyhawks came from behind to defeat the Yellow Jackets 7-6 in game one. Fort Lewis College also came from behind in game two with a 3-2 win. (9 innings)
Fort Lewis College 7, Yellow Jackets 6
The Yellow Jackets set the bar with three runs in the top of the first inning. A Cassie Smith single, Katie Campo walk and Alexis Shaffer single loaded the bases for Alyx Penrod. Penrod blooped an RBI-single that scored Smith to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.
The next two runs for BHSU came with the bases loaded. Katherine Drake drove Campo home when she was hit by a pitch to extend the BHSU lead to 2-0. Kelsea Nash made the score 3-0 with an infield single that sent Shaffer home to make the score 3-0.
The Skyhawks responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Back-to-back RBI singles from Lauren Caldwell and Tristen Gilbert narrowed the Yellow Jacket lead to 3-2.
Fort Lewis College scratched and clawed for their lone run in the third inning. Adriana Rosthenhausier reached first base on an infield single for Myndee Thompson. Thompson singled and purposely caught herself in a run-down, which scored Rosthenhausier to tie the game 3-3.
The Yellow Jackets responded in the fourth inning when Katherine Drake singled, and Kelsea Nash walked put runners on first and second base. Smith followed with an infield single that scored Drake to give BHSU a 4-3 lead.
BHSU came up with two-out magic in the fifth inning when Shaffer and Brittany Geerson singled and came around to score when Drake reached on an error. This extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 6-3.
The Skyhawks responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A Lauren Caldwell double knocked home Thompson and Missy Fudora to narrow the BHSU lead to 6-5. Caldwell later came around to score on Gilbert's groundout to tie the game 6-6.
Fort Lewis College came up with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Thompson and Gilbert each singled to put runners on base for Jeovanna Rios. Rios played the hero role with a game-winning RBI-single to give the Skyhawks a 7-6 win.
Smith led BHSU at the plate with two hits. Carlee Beck took the loss on the rubber for the Yellow Jackets. She gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Yellow Jackets 2, Fort Lewis College 2 (9 innings)
BHSU received solid pitching on behalf of Savanah Eckhardt. She gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits in 7 1/3 innings of work. However, defense played a big role in the Yellow Jackets' success throughout most of the contest.
As a result, the Yellow Jackets and Skyhawks were scoreless through the first five innings of play. That changed in the sixth inning when Drake hit a sharp single up the middle. Shaffer followed that with a two-run blast to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead.
Keeping the errors to a minimum was a primary reason BHSU held the Skyhawks to no runs. That all changed when a Yellow Jacket throwing error plated Thompson to narrow the Yellow jacket lead to 2-1 in the sixth inning. Thompson previously reached base on a fielder's choice.
Mandy Owens set the tempo for the Skyhawks in the bottom of the seventh inning with an infield single. She came around to score on Missy Fundora's single to tie the game 2-2.
The Skyhawks were able to string base runners together to secure the victory in the ninth inning. Kaitlyn Bending reached on a fielder's choice before Fundora hit an infield single to put runners on base with one out.
Rosthenhausler struck out to make it two outs before Thompson hit an RBI-single that scored Bending to give the Skyhawks a 3-2 win.
Fergusson went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Yellow Jackets.
BHSU will look for revenge at Fort Lewis College tomorrow, Feb. 20. Game times are set for 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
