DENVER, Colo. - On a windy day in Denver with gusts nearing 50 miles per hour, the Black Hills State University softball team (12-21, 11-17 RMAC) dropped the first two games of the series against the Regis Rangers (24-14, 20-8 RMAC) Sunday afternoon. Ashlynn Pauwels hit a pair of home runs in Game 1, while Laci Peskey sets a new career-high with seven strike outs in her Game 2 start.
 
GAME 1: Regis 13, BHSU 5 (F/6)
 
PITCHING DECISIONS:
Win: Kylie Harpman (14-5)
Loss: Shayla Tuschen (5-9)
 
A Lily Simmons (So., Frederick, Colo.) walk and a push bunt from Alyssa Wong (R-Fr., San Antonio, Texas) put the first two runners on base for the Yellow Jackets to start the day. After a pair of outs, Pauwels (Jr., Tallahassee, Fla.) posted her fifth home run of the season to right center field to give Black Hills State the early 2-0 lead.
 
The Rangers opened their first at-bat in a similar fashion, utilizing a walk and a bunt single. A Rachel Williams single to right center would ultimately lead to both runs coming in to score to knot the game up at 2-2. Shayla Tuschen (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), despite having a pair of runners again in scoring position later in the frame, would buckle down and keep the game tied with a strike out and a fly out to right field to end the threat.
 
Tuschen would start the second inning with a lead-off single and would later come around to score on a Tyler Whitlock (Jr., Erie, Colo.) triple to give the Yellow Jackets the lead back, 3-2. Unable to bring Whitlock in, BH would take a 3-2 lead to the bottom half of the second.
 
Regis responded again in the bottom half, as the league's leader in triples Olivia Wick hit her seventh of the season to clear the bases and give the Rangers their first lead of the day at 4-3. Regis would plate three more runs to take a 7-3 lead to the third inning.
 
The scoring – and the hit parade from Pauwels – continued into the third. She goes deep for the second time on the day, driving in another two runs, to help BH claw back into the contest. After the frame, Regis' lead had been cut down to 7-5. The Rangers would get involved in the home run party in the bottom half with a solo shot to open the frame. After three complete, Regis would lead 8-5.
 
For the first time all afternoon, neither side scored in the fourth inning as the Rangers would hold onto their three-run advantage on the windy day from the Mile High city.
 
The top of the order would lead off for Black Hills State in the fifth inning and Simmons would earn her second free pass of the day, this time via the hit-by-pitch. Wong would put the pressure on the Ranger defense, which paid off as she would reach on an error to put the first two batters on. The hot bat of Pauwels up to the plate and she would work a four pitch walk to load the bases with one away, but the Yellow Jackets would be unable to push any runs across in the inning.
 
Regis would add another run to their lead in the bottom of the fifth, leading 9-5 after five full innings of play. The sixth inning saw the Rangers post four more runs to take the game via the run-rule, 13-5, in six innings.
 
GAME NOTES

• The BHSU offense posted five runs on the Regis starter, who entered the game third in the RMAC in ERA.
• It marks the third-straight series that the Yellow Jackets have had multiple home runs.
• Ashlynn Pauwels hit her fifth and sixth home run of the season, which gives her back the team lead; while she becomes the first Yellow Jacket to have multi-home run game this season.
• The junior becomes the first Jacket to have four RBIs in one game this season.
• It marks her seventh multi-RBI game, tying her for the team lead in multi-RBI games.
• The hit streak for Pauwels is extended to eight-straight games.
• With her triple in the second inning, Tyler Whitlock hits her first of the season and the fourth Jacket to have a triple this year.
• Simmons and Pauwels both worked walks in the contest.
• The hitting streak comes to an end for Simmons, but her on-base streak was extended to eight-straight games.
• Malaya Coleman threw 4.1 innings in relief but only surrendered a pair of earned runs.

GAME 2: Regis 12, BHSU 8
 
PITCHING DECISIONS:
Win: Vanessa Candito (2-2)
Loss: Laci Peskey (5-9)
 
The Yellow Jackets applied pressure to start Game 2 as well, putting runners on first and second with a pair of hits in the first three batters. Gianna Haley (Gr., Arvada, Colo.) would deliver the first run of the contest with an RBI single to right field, scoring Simmons to make it 1-0 BHSU.  In the bottom half of the first, back-to-back doubles from Regis would quickly knot things up. An RBI single with two away would give the Rangers the 2-1 lead after one complete.
 
Whitlock would look to start a spark in the second inning with a single back to the pitcher. A stolen base, plus a throwing error, would find her at third base to start the inning. A Malia Ogee (So., Anchroage, Alaska) RBI ground out to the shortstop would pull BH back even at 2-2.
 
For the third-straight inning, BHSU would put the lead-off batter on as Kayla Lee (Sr., Kearney, Neb.) would work a lead-off walk. Despite being thrown out attempting to swipe second, the Yellow Jackets would put the next two runners on thanks to a single from Haley and a Ranger defensive miscue. Another Regis error in the inning would load the bases and Whitlock would pick up an RBI ground out, giving BHSU the lead back at 3-2. Ogee would follow that up with a bases clearing double to right center field to put BH up, 5-2.
 
Peskey (Fr., Waller, Texas) would keep the Rangers off the board in the bottom half of the third, as BH would take the 5-2 lead to the fourth inning.
 
Regis would get two runs back in the fourth inning, but the Jacket defense would get the final out of the inning with the Ranger attempt to stretch it to a triple with a strong throw from Whitlock. In the inning, Peskey would pick up her fifth strike out of the day, tying her career-high in a game. Black Hills State would head to the fifth inning with the 5-4 advantage.
 
The Yellow Jackets would use a double from Audrey Fouras (So., Jackson, Wyo.) and a single from Whitlock to put a pair of runners on with one away. With two out in the inning, Taylor Dowden (Jr., Surprise, Ariz.) would step up to the plate and would reach on yet another Regis error to load the bases. Following a Regis pitching change, the Rangers would get a strike out to end the threat and keep the Jackets off the board in the fifth.
 
A pair of doubles in the bottom half of the fifth would tie the game up at 5-5. The Rangers would put up two more runs in the frame, jumping out to a 7-5 lead after fifth complete innings.
 
Black Hills State would not go down without a fight, posting three of runs in the sixth inning to take the 8-7 lead. It began with back-to-back walks worked by Wong and Lee to start the inning, with the bases being loaded by another Ranger error. Fouras would single through the right side, driving in a pair of runs to tie the game up at 7-7. Whitlock picked up her second RBI of the day with a single down the left field line to make it 8-7, BHSU.
 
The game would continue to go back and forth, as Regis would retake the lead at 9-8 thanks to back-to-back solo home runs to start the bottom half of the sixth. Three more runs in the frame would see them push their lead up to 12-8, heading to the seventh inning.
 
GAME NOTES

• Laci Peskey posts a new career-best with seven strike outs in the outing.
• The No. 1-No. 7 slots of the batting order all scored a run today, as the team posts 11 hits.
• It marks the eighth double-digit hit game for the Yellow Jackets this season.
• Malia Ogee joins Pauwels as just the second Yellow Jacket to record a three-RBI game this season.
• With her two-RBI double in the third, Ogee picks up her second multi-RBI game of the season for the Yellow Jackets.
• Joining Ogee in the multi-RBI game was Audrey Fouras (fourth of season) and Tyler Whitlock (second of season).
• Whitlock also retakes the team lead with her 14^th stolen base of the season and posts her second three-hit game of the season (3-for-4).
• Gianna Haley, Fouras, and Lily Simmons all post two hits in the game.
• Kayla Lee works a pair of walks in Game 2.

Up Next: Black Hills State and Regis will complete the four-game set tomorrow from Regis Softball Field with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.