SPEARFISH, S.D—The Black Hills State University softball team saw their fair share of the bus this week. After a three-hour trek to Dickinson, ND on Wednesday, the Yellow Jackets swung 13 hours to Grand Junction, Colo. to take on Colorado Mesa University Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets, playing in their first night games of the season, fell to Colorado Mesa University by scores of 15-7 and 10-2.
The losses drop the Yellow Jackets' record to 4-25, 3-19 RMAC while Colorado Mesa improves to 24-16, 20-6 RMAC.
During the second game, senior Nia Shumpert set both the single season and career record for stolen bases when she stole third base in the first inning.
Colorado Mesa University 15, Yellow Jackets 7
Erica Everson set the tone with a first inning home run to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead. The Mavericks responded with six runs to take a 6-1 lead after three innings of play.
Katherine Drake helped the Yellow jackets get closer in the fourth inning when her bunt RBI-single scored Reagan McCurn to narrow the Maverick lead to 6-2. Claire Fergusson followed that with an RBI-groundout that scored Kaitlin Farrar to make the score 6-3.
The Mavericks responded with three runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-3. An RBI-double from
Alexis Shaffer and a
Katie Campo three-run home run cut the Maverick lead to 9-7 in the fifth inning.
Unfortunately, the Mavericks responded with six runs throughout the fifth and sixth innings to make the score 15-7. Back-to-back home runs from Brooke Hodgson and Zoe Pakes in the fifth inning put the nail in the coffin for the Yellow Jackets.
Cassie Smith and Shumpert each collected two hits to pace BHSU at the plate.
Stefanie Witman and Farrar each saw time in the circle for the Yellow Jackets.
Colorado Mesa University 10, Yellow Jackets 2
The Yellow Jackets set the tone with a pair of runs in the second inning. Campo led off the second inning with an infield single. After a pitch hit Fergusson, Drake singled to load the bases.
Shumpert and Smith prevailed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead.
That wouldn't be enough to hold the lead as Colorado Mesa responded with ten runs to close the game.
A Makayla Kovac RBI-double in the third inning narrowed the BHSU lead to 2-1. The dagger occurred in the fourth inning when the Mavericks touched the Yellow Jackets up for five runs.
Pakes and Sarah Phillis each hit a home run to give the Mavericks a 4-2 lead. RBI-singles from Megan Brown and Kovac extended the Colorado Mesa lead to 6-2.
The Mavericks added four runs in the fifth inning to put the game to bed via the eight-run rule. Pakes' RBI-double scored Hodgson to extend the Maverick lead to 7-2.
A two-run double from Rachel Boothe, and a Nicole Robinson RBI-single locked up a 10-2 victory for Colorado Mesa.
Carlee Beck suffered the loss in the pitching circle for BHSU. She gave up six runs (three earned) on eight hits in four innings of work. Shumpert's two hits led the Yellow Jacket offense.
Shumpert stole third base in the first inning to become the Black Hills State University career lead in stolen bases with 41. She surpassed Ashley Berg's (2007-10) mark of 40. Shumpert also broke the single-season stolen base record with 21. Berg previously held that record with 20 steals in 2010.
BHSU will return to action in Grand Junction, Colo. tomorrow against Colorado Mesa. Game times are set for 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
