DURANGO, COLO- The Yellow Jackets have officially clinched their first postseason berth with the split today and a little help from CSU Pueblo splitting with Colorado School of Mines. BHSU was able to win game one today thanks to an incredibly dominant offensive performance and Laci Peskey's ability to get out of jams. The Yellow Jackets were able to strand eight Skyhawks on base in game one in route to a run-rule win.

QUICK DETAILS – GAME 3
Final Score:  Black Hills State 3, Fort Lewis 1 (5 Innings)
Team Records: Black Hills State 26-21 (24-15 RMAC), Fort Lewis 9-34 (8-30 RMAC)
Pitching Decision:  Win: Peskey (22-6), Loss: Gavigan (2-6)
Attendance: 155

HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 3
•    Tyler Whitlock led off with a walk to start the game. She stole second and scored on a double by Carly Reyes Mims. Mims advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Desi Hernandez, which gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead. They were able to load the bases again, but were unable to score, sending it to the bottom of the first with a 2-0 lead.
•    In the bottom of the second inning, Peskey allowed a leadoff triple to Skyler Dietz. She then scored on an Alyssa Fockler sacrifice fly. The Skyhawks also loaded the bases after the run scored, but were unable to put up another run, which kept BHSU in the lead 2-1. 
•    Ashlynn Pauwels began the top of the third with a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. Alyssa Wong hit a single up the middle to score Pauwels and advanced to second on a walk by Katelyn Jarzobski. Simmons played a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners and Audrey Fouras batted in both runners with a double to right center field, which grew the lead to 5-1.
•    Despite putting two runners on, Fort Lewis was unable to score, and Reyes Mims led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run to give BHSU a 6-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases again, but left them full. 
•    Laci Peskey once again allowed runners into scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, but didn't allow them to score and BHSU came up in the top of the fifth and got to work. After two immediate outs, Reyes Mims singled, Hernandez walked, and Pauwels walked. Wong also walked and scored Reyes Mims to give BHSU a 7-1 lead and Jarzobski hit a deep bases-clearing double to score all three runners and put BHSU in a position to win this game this inning. Peskey came out and despite giving up more baserunners, she got Alejandra Medina to fly out to end the game in a 10-1 run rule.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 3
•    Carly Reyes Mims: 3-for-4, 2 RBIs, 3 runs, HR, 2B
•    Katelyn Jarzobski: 2-for-3, 3 RBIS, BB, 2B
•    Alyssa Wong: 1-for-1, 2 RBIs, 3 BB, 2 runs
•    Laci Peskey: 7 IP, BB, 1 ER, 6 K, W

QUICK DETAILS- GAME 4
Final Score:  Black Hills State 7, Fort Lewis 15 (6 Innings)
Team Records: Black Hills State 26-22 (24-16 RMAC), Fort Lewis 10-34 (9-30 RMAC)
Pitching Decision:  Win: Padilla (4-6), Loss: Coleman (0-5)
Attendance: 155

HOW IT HAPPENED- GAME 4
•     The offense immediately started for the Skyhawks as Faith Sgro singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Emalynn Redmann and scored on a double by Briana Jorgensen. Dietz reached on an error, which advanced Jorgensen to third and then Fockler singled to score Jorgensen and get Dietz to second. Medina singled to load the bases. Stacia Raley hit a sacrifice fly to score Dietz and Makenna Milliman singled to score Fockler, which gave Fort Lewis an early 4-0 lead. Caitlyn Hoff took over for Paige Goodell and got a strikeout to end the inning.
•    Pauwels started the top of the second with a double and Jarzobski hit a single to get her to third. Adrianna Lance hit a sac fly to score Pauwels and cut the lead to 4-1. Despite having a couple more runners, that's as close as the Jackets got this inning. Redmann hit a one-out single in the bottom of the second but was out at second on a fielder's choice. Dietz was hit by a pitch and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Fockler hit a single which scored Jorgensen and Medina singled to score Dietz. Malaya Coleman replaced Caitlyn Hoff and allowed a double Raley, which scored Fockler before getting out of the inning, but they had taken a 7-1 lead on BHSU.
•    BHSU answered back immediately. Whitlock singled, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball. Wong tripled to score Whitlock and Pauwels homered to add on two more runs and cut the lead to 7-4. Jarzobski singled and with two outs, Lily Simmons hit a RBI triple to cut the lead to two. Fouras singled in Simmons and Dowden hit a single too to advance Fouras to third. FLC went to the bullpen and brought out Chloe Padilla. Whitlock reached on an error, which scored Fouras to tie the game up at 7-7, but Dowden was thrown out at third to end the inning. 
•    After no runs scored in the bottom of the third or the top of the fourth, Coleman took the mound in the bottom of the fourth and got the first two batters out. She then allowed a home run to Medina, a single to Raley, and a two-run home run to Milliman, which gave Fort Lewis a 10-7 lead. Skylar Bedlan replaced Coleman after she gave up a walk to McKenna Timmons. 
•    In the bottom of the sixth, Bedlan gave up a lead off single to Jorgensen, a double to Dietz, and an RBI groundout to Fockler. She got Medina to ground out, before walking Raley and allowing a RBI double to Milliman, which scored Dietz. The Skyhawks had taken a 12-7 lead. 
•    In the bottom of the sixth, Sgro singled to start the frame, before being forced out at second to put Redmann on first. Jorgensen hit a double to score Redmann and give FLC a 13-7 lead. Dietz singled and advanced to second on a throwing error that allowed Jorgensen to score, Dietz then scored on a single by Fockler to give the Skyhawks the 15-7 lead and the necessary amount of runs to orchestrate the run-rule giving them the win. 

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS- GAME 4
•    Ashlynn Pauwels: 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 Runs, HR, 2B
•    Lily Simmons: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 run, 3B
•    Tyler Whitlock: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 run, BB, SB

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets have officially clinched a postseason berth, but they have one more series before then. They will head home to finish off the regular season versus the team sitting in second in the conference: Colorado Mesa. They will play on Friday, April 25th (12 PM and 2 PM), and Saturday, April 26th (11 AM and 1 PM).

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