PUEBLO, Colo. – The Black Hills State University softball team fell Sunday afternoon in its day two doubleheader at Colorado State University-Pueblo by scores of 10-2 and 7-3.

Black Hills State falls to 3-13 on the season and 1-7 in conference action while CSU-Pueblo improves to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play.

Game One: CSUP 10 BHSU 2

A six-run sixth inning pushed the ThunderWolves past the Yellow Jackets in game one of the day.

In the top of the second inning, Jordyn Ballard led off the Black Hills State offense hitting a single to center field to land on base. Behind Ballard, Katelyn Odle singled up the middle to advance Claire Fergusson, who pinch ran for Ballard, to second. Pamela Sakuma sacrificed a bunt to advance Odle and Fergusson to scoring position. From there, Alex Wiley stepped up and smacked a double to right center and scored Odle and Fergusson to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead over the ThunderWolves.

In the bottom of the second, Lexie Martindale led off the CSUP offense and reached first base on a Yellow Jacket error. Moriah Turney advanced Martindale to second with a sacrifice bunt. Christa Angers and K'Lee Kent both got walked to load the bases. From there, Kennedy Smith closed out the inning with a walk to score Martindale and get CSUP on the board and trail 2-1.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third, Turney grounded out but advanced Martindale to third and scored Sabrina Felix to tie the game at 2-2. From there, Angers belted a home run to center field to score Martindale and give the ThunderWolves their first lead of the game at 4-2.

In the sixth inning, Kennedy Smith stepped up to the plate and singled up the middle. Valeria Mendoza advanced Jordan Sheard, who pinch ran for Smith, to second with a bunt. Gabby Moreno then smashed a homer to right field to score Mendoza and Sheard and increase the ThunderWolves lead 7-2. From there, CSUP went on to score three more runs and end the game 10-2.

Odle went 1-for-3 tallying one run for the Yellow Jackets while Wiley went 1-for-2 tallying two RBIs and a double for the offense.

Wiley was charged with the loss striking out three batters while Kent picked up the win for the ThunderWolves after giving up just six hits and striking out two.

Game Two: CSUP 7 BHSU 3

The Yellow Jackets came out strong in game two to take a quick 3-0 lead over the ThunderWolves.

Maddie Druse started off the offense with a single up the middle. Makenzi Strong bunted for a single and advanced Druse to second. Morgan Smith bunted to load the bases. Druse and Strong scored off of a ThunderWolves wild pitch and subsequent error with Jordyn Ballard at the plate. The play also moved Smith to third base. Ballard then singled up the middle to score Smith to close out the first inning with a 3-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the third, Valeria Mendoza hit things off for the ThunderWolves and singled to second base. Mendoza then stole second to get CSUP closer to scoring position. Gabby Moreno got walked which allowed Mendoza to steal third. Next at-bat, Sabrina Felix singled to left field advancing to second allowing Moreno to reach third and Mendoza to score to trail BHSU 3-1.

Michaela Burpee stepped up to the plate and singled to the shortstop scoring Moreno. From there, Christa Angers closed out the third hitting a single to left field to score Felix and tie the game at 3-3. The ThunderWolves went on to score four more runs and end the game at 7-3.

Druse went 2-for-4 tallying a run for the Green and Gold while Ballard tallied an RBI.

Stefanie Witman was charged with the loss after pitching three innings and striking out two batters while Lexie Martindale picked up the win with seven strike outs in 5.2 innings pitched.

Black Hills State makes its home debut hosting Colorado Christian in a four-game series March 11 and 12 with first pitch slated for noon and 11 a.m., respectively.