SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Black Hills State University softball team saw improvement in the long ball on Sunday but dropped a pair of games during the second day of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference pod in Silver City, New Mexico. The Yellow Jackets launched three home runs but ultimately fell 9-3 to Western New Mexico and 13-3 to Colorado School of Mines.
Alex Wiley, Jo-Jo Curry and Lauren Lesniak each hit their first home runs in their young Yellow Jacket careers.
Game One: Western New Mexico 9 Black Hills State 3
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 with Claire Fergusson and Alex Wiley on first and second. The duo attempted a double-steal which turned into the game's first run when the WNMU catcher had an error on the attempted throw out. Fergusson rounded third and touched home plate for lead.
The Mustangs countered in the bottom of the second inning when K. Castillo doubled into left field scoring a pair of base runners for the 2-1 lead.
In the next half inning, Katelyn Odle singled into right field and three batters later Alex Wiley flexed her muscle with her first career home run. The Yellow Jackets took the lead back at 3-2 in the top of the third.
However, WNMU answered back in the bottom of the third with two runs on three hits for a 4-3 lead that would be stretched into a 9-3 victory behind a five-run fifth inning.
Carlee Beck, starting her first game of 2016, was charged with the loss after giving up four runs. Domi Shone was the winning pitcher for WNMU, giving up seven hits and the three runs, two earned.
Along with Wiley's home run, the Yellow Jackets also had an extra-base hit from Jo-Jo Curry.
Game Two: Colorado Mines 13 Black Hills State 3
The Yellow Jackets again took a 1-0 lead, this time in the second inning on a Jo-Jo Curry solo homerun into centerfield.
The Orediggers followed up in the third inning with a pair of runs scratched together for the 2-1 lead, then two more runs in the top of the fourth, for the 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Katelyn Odle drew a walk and was moved over to second base on a fielder's choice. Lauren Lesniak singled into left field, scoring Odle from second base.
Down 13-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Lesniak tacked on her first-career homerun.
The Yellow Jackets make their 2016 home debut on Saturday, hosting Colorado State – Pueblo at noon and 2 p.m. followed by Sunday's action at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
