Black Hills State softball played tough in day one at CSUP, dropping a pair of close games, 3-0 and 6-4 on Sunday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets (5-33, 5-33 RMAC) scattered 10 hits on the day, including four runs on eight hits in game two, after Shayla Tuschen spun six strong innings of work in the circle in game one.

Game One (L, 3-0)
The opening game was a pitcher's duel, as the game saw only five combined hits.

Tuschen went all six innings in the circle, allowing three runs on only three hits while striking out three.

Kayla Lee and Tyler Whitlock were the only Yellow Jackets to record a hit, each going 1-3, while Tuschen, Sydney Barner and Lily Simmons also reached base, working walks.

The bats were quiet on both sides to open the game before CSUP struck first with a solo home run out to right to give the ThunderWolves a 1-0 lead through two frames.

Tuschen continued to send batters down after allowing the home run, going 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out three along the way, before CSUP added a pair of insurance runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to extend to a 3-0 lead and eventually win by that score.

Game Two (L, 6-4)
Both teams were held scoreless until the third inning, when the Yellow Jacket bats came alive for four runs in the top of the third.

Bayleigh Hubbard led off the inning with a solo home run before four straight hits, including a Whitlock RBI double and a Tuschen RBI single made it 3-0. Taylor Klein capped the four-run inning with a sacrifice fly out to center to stretch the BHSU lead to 4-0.

CSUP got one back in the bottom half of the third, making it 4-1, before tying things up, 4-4, in the fourth. After taking a lead in the sixth with two more runs, the ThunderWolves went on to win game two, 6-4.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets play two more at CSU Pueblo tomorrow, Monday, April 24 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.