ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Utilizing a five-run third inning, the Black Hills State softball team (1-4, 0-0 RMAC) picked up their first win of the season with a 7-2 victory over Bemidji State (Minn.) (0-3, 0-0 NSIC) to leave Minnesota on a winning note, giving head coach
Ashlyn Englehorn her first victory leading the Yellow Jacket softball program.
Pitching Decisions:
Win: Shayla Tuschen (1-2)
Loss: Stella Dolan (0-2)
Lily Simmons (So., Frederick, Colo.) opened the final day at the Husky Dome with a double to right center and a two batters later a
Tyler Whitlock (Jr., Erie, Colo.) single to right center would be enough to plate the first run of the contest, giving BH the early 1-0 lead.
Bemidji State would plate the tying run the following frame. Starting with a lead-off walk and a hit-by-pitch, the Beavers got the first two runners on base. A fly out would move runners to the corners and a productive out for the Beavers saw a routine ground out plate the tying run, making it 1-1 after two innings of play but that would prove to be the last major threat by the Beavers.
Black Hills State opened the flood gates in the third inning, scoring five runs on six hits to take control of the contest and give
Shayla Tuschen (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) plenty of breathing room in the circle. The frame started with back-to-back singles from
Taylor Dowden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz.) and Simmons, as Whitlock would drive in her second run of the day with another RBI single to give the Yellow Jackets their second – and final – lead of the morning.
Having runners on the corners, Whitlock used her legs to her advantage and put two runners in scoring position after swiping second. Tuschen would then reach on an error to load the bases.
Gianna Haley (Gr., Arvada, Colo.) would get into the action with an RBI single through the left side to make it 4-1 BH, while
Alyssa Wong (R-Fr., San Antonio, Texas) roped a double to left center field to conclude the scoring barrage as the Jackets took a 6-1 lead into the fourth inning.
Trailing by six in the sixth, the Beavers built some momentum as a double would plate their second run of the day to make it 7-2 and would put runners at second and third with one out. Tuschen would buckle down and work out of the small jam, getting a strike out and a line out to get out of the inning.
Neither side would score the rest of the way as Black Hills State leaves Minnesota on a winning note and gives Englehorn her first win in the green and gold, downing the Beavers 7-2.
GAME NOTES
- The bats broke out with a Minnesota trip high of 12 hits in the final game of the tournament.
- Three Jackets again recorded doubles: Lily Simmons, Alyssa Wong, and Taylor Dowden.
- Tyler Whitlock, Gianna Haley, and Wong all recorded two RBIs in the win.
- Whitlock was 3-for-3 in the three-hole, scoring two runs and driving in two, and tallied two stolen bases.
- She now sits a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases early in the campaign.
- Simmons also had a multi-hit game in the lead-off slot, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
- Shayla Tuschen went all 7.0 innings in the circle, picking up her first win of the season (1-2).
- She surrendered seven hits, struck out five and pitched the complete game for BH.
- The first win of 2024 comes in the green BHSU uniforms.
- The win brings the all-time series with the Beavers to 1-1.
Up Next: Black Hills State will have next weekend off before opening Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play on February 17-18 with a trip to Denver, Colorado to face MSU Denver.
