SPEARFISH, S.D.—The chip on the Black Hills State University softball team's shoulder grew larger after yesterday's losses. That proved to be evident through the Yellow Jacket's play on Sunday afternoon in Denver, Colo. BHSU knocked on the door of New Mexico Highlands and MSU-Denver. 

Despite stellar play on behalf of the Yellow Jackets, they would fall 4-1 to MSU-Denver and 12-10 (eight innings) to New Mexico Highlands on Sunday.

The losses drop BHSU's record to 4-21, 3-17 RMAC. 

MSU-Denver 4, Yellow Jackets 1

Like last Sunday, Nia Shumpert was a spark plug out of the gates. She led off the first inning with a triple and later scored on Erica Everson's groundout to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.

The Roadrunners tied things up in the second inning when Sarena Espinoza doubled to left field. Her pinch runner, Taryn Calori, came around to score on Harley Huser's single to make the score 1-1.

Solid pitching from Carlee Beck kept BHSU fighting throughout the first five innings of play. However, one subpar inning haunted the Yellow Jackets once again. That happened to be the fifth inning as the Roadrunners tagged BHSU for three runs.

The first two fifth-inning runs for the Roadrunners came of the small ball variety. Carissa Terry and Annika Anderson nailed back-to-back sacrifice flys to give MSU-Denver a 3-1 lead.

An Espinoza solo home run in the fifth inning widened the margin to 4-1.

Alexis Shaffer's two hits led BHSU offensively. Beck was tagged with the pitching loss for the Yellow Jackets. She surrendered four runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings of work.

New Mexico Highlands 12, Yellow Jackets 10

The Yellow Jackets set the tone early in this up and down battle with the Cowgirls. Shumpert's early game heroics kicked in again when she laced a bases-loaded double in the second inning. Katherine Drake, Reagan McCurn, and Rebecca Green scored on the play to give BHSU a 3-0 lead. 

The Cowgirls one-upped the Yellow Jackets in the fourth inning with four runs. This gave New Mexico Highlands a 4-3 lead. RBI-hits from Alysia Cavone and Dekota Monarrez paced a three-run fifth inning for New Mexico Highlands that extend their lead to 7-3.

BHSU mounted a come back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Shaffer set the tone with an RBI-single that scored Shumpert to narrow the gap to 7-4.

A big six-run sixth inning helped the Yellow Jackets jump to a 10-7 lead. Drake laced a single and came around to score on Shumpert's triple to make the score 7-5. Shumpert eventually scored on a Cowgirl fielding error to put BHSU within one run at 7-6.

Back-to-back RBI doubles from Shaffer and Green gave BHSU a 9-7 lead. Stefanie Witman put the cherry on top with an RBI-single to make the score 10-7.

That was enough to fuel New Mexico Highland's fire and all it took was two swings of the bat. A solo home run from Jacquelyn Solis, and a Monarrez two-run home run tied the game 10-10 in the seventh inning. 

The Cowgirls put the nail in the coffin in the bottom of the eighth inning with a Solis sacrifice fly, and a Monarrez RBI-double to make the score 12-10.

Shumpert and Shaffer each went 3-for-5 to lead the Yellow Jackets offensively. Kaitlin Farrar surrendered eight runs on ten hits in six innings of work on the rubber for BHSU.

The Yellow Jackets will take on Dickinson State in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, Apr. 1. Game times are set for 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.