SPEARFISH, S.D.– It was a tale of two contests at Yellow Jacket Field this afternoon, as the Black Hills State University softball team (11-18, 10-14 RMAC) and the Colorado School of Mines (17-15, 13-11 RMAC) split a pair of run-rule games to open the four-game set. The Yellow Jackets this season became just the third team in program history to record double-digit Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) wins in a season.

FINAL | It was a tale of two games today!

Mines run-ruled in Game 1 (16-4 final), followed by BHSU run-ruling in Game 2!

🥎 Pauwels goes deep for the fourth time this year
🥎 Nine-run fourth inning seals the game
🥎 Peskey picks up her fifth win in the circle!#ClimbTheHills pic.twitter.com/FYCag2P3Ox

— Black Hills State Softball (@BHSUSB) March 28, 2024

 
GAME 1: CSM 16, BHSU 4 (F/6)
 
PITCHING DECISIONS:
Win: Sadriena Rodriguez (9-5)
Loss: Shayla Tuschen (5-7)
 
Game 1 started as both sides tried to feel each starter out. Colorado Mines loaded the bases with just one away in the second inning, but Shayla Tuschen (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) worked out of the early jam with back-to-back strike outs to keep the game scoreless.
 
The Orediggers would put the first runs on the board with a pair of runs in the third. The Yellow Jackets wouldn't take long to respond, plating three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to take the 3-2 lead. Kayla Lee (Sr., Kearney, Neb.) picked up an RBI single and Ashlynn Pauwels (Jr., Tallahassee, Fla.) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field. With the bases loaded, Tuschen would be plunked in the box for the go-ahead run.
 
Colorado Mines would put at least four runs up in the next three innings, as their bats woke up – collecting 16 on the game – going on to take the first game of the series 16-4 in six innings.
 
GAME NOTES

• Lily Simmons had a hot bat at the top of the lineup, posting three of the eight BH hits in Game 1.
• She went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
• Kayla Lee, Ashlynn Pauwels, and Shayla Tuschen also all drove in runs.
• Gianna Haley picked up her fourth double of the season.

GAME 2: BHSU 11, CSM 2 (F/5)
 
PITCHING DECISIONS:
Win: Laci Peskey (5-8)
Loss: Kat Miller (4-4)
 
An explosive nine-run fourth inning with two outs proved to push Black Hills State to the Game 2 run-rule victory over the Orediggers to split the day. Despite being outhit in Game 2, the Yellow Jackets took advantage of opportunities given to them by the Oredigger defense to push up their lead.
 
After a scoreless opening frame, it was once again Mines putting up the first runs of the day with a pair in the second.
 
Black Hills State would respond with a pair of runs themselves in the third to knot it up at 2-2, thanks to a Oredigger defensive miscue. After Taylor Dowden's (Jr., Surprise, Ariz.) first-career triple in the inning, Lily Simmons (So., Frederick, Colo.) would single to the pitcher. In the next at-bat, Simmons would take off for second base and an errant throw from the Mines' catcher would allow both Dowden and Simmons to come into score.  
 
The party would begin with two outs for Black Hills State in the fourth, as they would erupt for the nine runs with two downs to open up an 11-2 lead. Malia Ogee (So., Anchorage, Alaska) would drive in the winning runs with a 2-RBI single to right field, her first multi-RBI game of the season, but the events would just be getting started.
 
Defensive miscues would keep the inning going, as an error with the bases loaded would score a run and keep the inning going. Alyssa Wong (R-Fr., San Antonio, Texas) would take advantage of that error with a single down the left field line, plating two. Another error would keep the inning going, ultimately leading to the Pauwels three-run home run down the right field line.
 
GAME NOTES

• The win gives BH their 10^th RMAC win of the season, just the third time in program history to have double-digit wins in conference play.
• The eight wins at Yellow Jacket Field sets a new Division II-era record for most wins at home (8).
• Mines outhit BH in Game 2 (6-5), marking the second time this season BH has won despite being outhit.
• Ashlynn Pauwels hits her fourth home run of the season (3-run HR), moving into a tie for the team lead this season.
• She picks up her third three-RBI game of the season, while both her and Alyssa Wong still sit tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games (6).
• Wong went 1-for-2 with a 2-RBI single in the fourth.
• Malia Ogee goes 1-for-2 with a 2-RBI single herself, recording her first multi-RBI game of the season.
• Taylor Dowden roped her first-career triple in the third inning.
• Simmons, Pauwels, and Dowden all score two runs each.
• Lily Simmons picks up her seventh stolen base of the season (7-for-8).
• The 11 runs marks the fourth time this season the Jackets have posted double-digit runs in a game, improving to 4-0.
• Both Pauwels and Simmons will enter Day 2 of the series on five-game hitting streaks.
• Laci Peskey (5-8) picks up her fifth win of the season in the circle, scattering just five hits over five innings and giving up just the two runs.
• The win against Mines today at home is just the second-ever win against them at Yellow Jacket Field (2-10-1).

Up Next: Black Hills State and Colorado Mines are set to conclude their four-game set tomorrow, March 29 at Yellow Jacket Field with first pitch slated for 11:00 a.m.