SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Yellow Jackets were able to get the job done today winning one of two versus Colorado Mesa. The Green & Gold have now beaten every team in the RMAC this year at least once except for MSU Denver. The Mavericks had only lost one game to BHSU since 2013, which ended today on the back of a brilliant outing from
Laci Peskey and a massive home run from
Audrey Fouras.
QUICK DETAILS – GAME 1
Final Score: Black Hills State 5, Colorado Mesa 1
Team Records: Black Hills State 27-22 (25-16 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 34-13 (32-9 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Peskey (23-6), Loss: Gallegos (17-3)
Attendance: 241
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
• Chloe Valdez led off the top of the second inning with a walk. Cailynn Parsons stayed in the at bat when
Lily Simmons dropped a foul out and then reached first on an error by
Carly Reyes Mims, which advanced Valdez to second. Olivia Litzen hit a double for the first hit of the game and scored Valdez on an unearned run to give Mesa a 1-0 lead. Peskey was able to get two huge outs, before allowing a two-run double to Bella Aragon, but it was called back due to the batter being out of the box as she hit the ball, which by rule resulted in an automatic strike, which the count was 3-2, so it was a strikeout to end the inning. Holding CMU to a 1-0 lead.
• The Yellow Jackets had two really good chances to tie the game throughout the early innings but could not do anything with them until the fifth inning when Dowden was hit by a pitch to get her to first. Whitlock hit a deep double that allowed Dowden to make it home all the way from first tying the game at 1-1. Reyes Mims hit a sacrifice bunt to advance Whitlock to third and
Desi Hernandez came up clutch. She hit a single to score Whitlock and give BHSU a 2-1 lead.
• Peskey struck out two, including Litzen with two on and two out in the top of the sixth, which brought out
Katelyn Jarzobski to lead off the inning. She got on base with a single and got to second on a
Alyssa Wong sacrifice bunt. Adrianna Lance, who was pinch hitting walked before Fouras had the biggest swing of the day knocking a three-run home run over the left field wall and giving BHSU a 5-1 lead. That was all Peskey needed as she got three batters out in a row to give the Yellow Jackets the much-needed win over the Mavericks.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 1
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Audrey Fouras: 2-for-3, 3 RBIs, Run, HR, 2B
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Taylor Dowden: 2-for-2, 1 run, 1 HBP
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Tyler Whitlock: 2-for-4, RBI, Run, 2B
•
Laci Peskey: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 9 Ks, W
QUICK DETAILS- GAME 2
Final Score: Black Hills State 1, Colorado Mesa 14
Team Records: Black Hills State 27-23 (25-17 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 35-13 (33-9 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Christensen (9-4), Loss: Goodell (1-7)
Attendance: 227
HOW IT HAPPENED- GAME 2
• Myah Arrieta, who was held quiet in game one led off the first inning game two with a walk. She immediately stole second. She then advanced to third on a dropped fly ball from Dowden, which allowed Ally Distler to get to second. With one out, Valdez flied out, but it was a sacrifice that allowed Arrieta to score and give the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead. Parsons hit a single, which scored Distler and Mesa headed out of the first with a 2-0 lead.
• In the top of the third, Makayla Westmoreland started off the inning with a single. Distler then hit a bunt that was misplayed by
Ashlynn Pauwels and reached first, while Westmoreland made it to second. Valdez hit a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners and Parsons walked to load the bases. Litzen doubled to score Westmoreland and Distler, before
Paige Goodell settled down and got out of the inning with the score only 4-0.
• In the top of the fourth, Arrieta led off the inning with a double. She made it to third on a bunt single by Westmoreland, who then stole second. Distler hit a sacrifice fly to score Arrieta and Westmoreland made it to third on a passed ball. Westmoreland scored on a sacrifice groundout, which gave CMU the 6-0 lead through four with their pitcher Preslee Christensen throwing a perfect game through four innings.
• The Yellow Jackets broke up the perfect game in the bottom of the fifth with two walks and an error, but still had a no-hitter going. In the top of the sixth, Goodell got the first two batters out but then allowed back-to-back singles and a double to score both Valdez and Parsons, which gave the Mavericks the necessary eight-run lead they needed to get a run-rule. However,
Tyler Whitlock had other plans. With a no-hitter going on, Whitlock led off the bottom of the sixth with an 14-pitch at bat that included ten foul balls, before ending the no-hitter by hitting a triple to right center. Hernandez walked with one out and Pauwels grounded in to a double play, but the throw was off, so Whitlock scored to cut the lead to 8-1.
• In the top of the seventh, CMU broke it even more open. Goodell allowed a single to Aragon, walked Arietta, and Westmoreland hit a single to score Aragon giving the Mavericks a 9-1 lead. She got the next two batters out before allowing the next five batters to reach base on two singles, two errors, and a walk. One of the errors was a dropped pop up that allowed all three runners on base to score, which gave the Mavericks a 14-1 lead.
Malaya Coleman came in to get the last out, which she did, and the Yellow Jackets fell 14-1 in game two of the series.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS- GAME 2
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Tyler Whitlock: 1-for-3, Run, 3B
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will play their final regular season games tomorrow versus Colorado Mesa at 11 AM and 1 PM at Yellow Jacket Field. They are looking for their first ever split/series win versus Mesa in program history.
