For the first time ever, the Yellow Jackets defeated the MSU Denver Roadrunners in a series and BHSU was also able to tie their single-season home wins record with the win in game four today. BHSU had a chance to sweep this series, but a come from behind win for MSUD in game three ended those hopes, it looked like BHSU was going to split the series early in game four, but late rallies from BHSU and incredibly clutch hitting from Lily Simmons put BHSU over the edge and sent them home with a series victory.
QUICK DETAILS – GAME 1
Final Score: Black Hills State 4, MSU Denver 6
Team Records: Black Hills State 18-16 (15-8 RMAC), MSU Denver 24-9 (17-6 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Geschwill (9-6), Loss: Romero (10-5)
Attendance: 187
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
- After both pitchers got out of dangerous situations in the first inning, it was BHSU who struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Audrey Fouras was hit by a pitch with one out. She advanced on a single by Brooklyn Theiler and Lily Simmons started her strong day with a three-run home run to put BHSU up 3-0 early in this one. Reyes Mims got on first and stole second afterwards, but was unable to score.
- Neila Lucero hit a solo home run to lead off the top of the third and cut into the BHSU lead to make it 3-1. The Roadrunners continued their slow ascent in the top of the fourth when Shay Cwelich led off the inning with a double and scored on an immediate single from Victoria Pearson to make it 3-2. Pearson was immediately caught stealing and Geschwill continued to leave Roadrunner batters on.
- Cheyenne Prieto continued her hot series by getting on base with a tapper just in front of home plate and making it to first on an infield single. Enny sacrificed her to second on a bunt and Neila Fee hit a single off of the first base bag that scored Prieto to make it 3-3 and tie the game.
- BHSU finally found a place in the scoring column again when Reyes Mims walked to begin the bottom of the fifth and made it to second on an infield single by Alyssa Wong. Sammie Kaufman-Warner gave BHSU the lead back on a single that scored Mims however, two groundouts later that’s all they got with BHSU going up 4-3.
- However, the Roadrunners finally got some momentum in the top of the sixth as Lexi Gephart hit an infield single and stole second with one out. She advanced to third on a fly out for the second out. BHSU continued to pitch around Prieto and walked her to put runners on the corners. Brooklyn Enny hit a soft single to third base that scored Gephart and Fee scored two more on a deep double to make it 6-4 MSUD.
- BHSU had some baserunners in the bottom of the sixth, but they were not able to get any closer as MSUD got their first win of the series 6-4.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 1
- Lily Simmons: 2-for-3, 3 RBIs, HR
- Carly Reyes Mims: 2-for-2, 2B, BB
- Sammie Kaufman-Warner: 2-for-4, RBI
- Brooklyn Theiler: 2-for-3
QUICK DETAILS – GAME 2
Final Score: Black Hills State 14, MSU Denver 13
Team Records: Black Hills State 19-16 (16-8 RMAC), MSU Denver 24-10 (17-7 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Geschwill (10-6), Loss: Levin (4-1)
Attendance: 189
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
- Game two did not start out well for the Yellow Jackets as MSUD came out on fire early. Shellhorn singled to begin the game as did Lucero. Prieto reached on a fielders choice that got Lucero out at second and then stole second base. Enny walked to load the bases and then Honse walked Fee to score a run and make it 1-0. She allowed a single after that to Janessa Esquibel to score another run. Goodell came into the game for Honse and walked Cwelich, allowed a single to Pearson and walked Gephart to score three more runs making it 5-0. Shellhorn came back around and hit another single to score another run to make it 6-0 before Lucero grounded into a double play to end the half inning.
- Just when it looked like we might have a blowout on our hands, BHSU’s offense answered back immediately in the bottom of the first. Reyes Mims was hit by pitch (this will be a common theme), Wong walked to advance Reyes to second and Warner singled to load the bases, a groundout by Desi Hernandez saw Reyes out at home, but Caylee Mann immediately responded with a massive grand slam to make it 6-4. Kianna Butler was also pulled in the first inning for Samantha Mader who allowed a single to Carli Maley, walked Fouras, and Theiler reached on a fielding error by Enny to load the bases. Lily Simmons hit a sacrifice fly to score Maley and make it 6-5 before Reyes Mims was hit again for the second time this inning to load the bases again before Wong struck out to end it after a 40-minute first inning where both teams batted around, the score was 6-5.
- Prieto walked to begin the second inning as BHSU pitchers continued to give her nothing to hit. Fee hit a one-out single to advance Prieto and a groundout advanced both runners. Cwelich singled to score both and make it 8-5 before Pearson flied out to end the inning.
- No one scored in the next three half innings despite BHSU getting bases loaded in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth, Enny led off with a solo homer on the first pitch to make it 9-5 and despite some base traffic, Goodell continued to get out of it and leave Roadrunners on base.
- The bottom of the fourth inning was huge for BHSU as Kaufman-Warner walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch with one out. Mann walked and Kaufman-Warner advanced to third on a flyout to put runners on the corner with two outs. Katelyn Jarzobski walked to load the bases and Delaney Milanowski hit a two-RBI single to make it 9-7. A wild pitch advanced the two runners to second and third and Simmons got them both home on a single to tie the game at 9-9. Brooklyn Levin entered the game for Mader and struck out Reyes Mims to end the inning.
- The fifth inning started with a triple by Shellhorn, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Lucero. Prieto walked and with two outs, Kennemer hit a double that scored her to make it 11-9 MSUD in this wild affair.
- No runs scored in the bottom of the fifth or the top of the sixth. In the bottom half of the sixth, Mann walked and advanced to second on another single by Carli Maley. Gietzen pinch ran for Mann and both runners advanced on a walk by Fouras. Milanowski grounded to the third basemen who made a bad throw home which allowed Gietzen to score and Maley also tried to score on the errant throw, but was thrown out at home as Fouras was able to advance to third, but BHSU got it to 11-10. Simmons walked to load the bases and Reyes Mims singled to tie the game at 11-11. Wong reached on a fielding error by Enny which allowed another run to score and make it 12-11, and Kaufman-Warner hit a sacrifice fly to score another making it 13-11. Hernandez walked to load the bases for Mann who flew out to end the inning with BHSU three-outs away from a series win.
- Geschwill came in to pitch for Goodell and got Shellhorn to line out to start the inning. She then walked both Lucero and Prieto and allowed a single to load the bases. She struck Kennemer out to get it to two outs and then Esquibel hit a single to Fouras, but Mann had left first base and no one was covering, so Esquibel reached. As Fouras dove for first base to try and get the out, Prieto rounded second and scored as well as Lucero to make it 13-13 meaning the game would continue.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Maley singled start the inning and was pinch ran for by Melendez. Fouras walked and they both advanced on a wild pitch to put the winning run on third. Milanowski popped up bringing up the hot-hitting Simmons. She responded by smoking the first pitch of the at-bat up the middle for an RBI walk-off single to give BHSU their first series win over MSU Denver in program history 14-13.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 2
- Lily Simmons: 3-for-3, 4 RBIs, BB
- Caylee Mann: 1-for-3: 4 RBIs, 2 BB, Grand Slam
- Carli Maley: 4-for-5, run scored
- Delaney Milanowski: 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will now head on the road as they will match up with Colorado School of Mines on Friday and Saturday next weekend in a series that will have major postseason implications. BHSU will be looking for their program record fifth straight series win (they already broke the record with four today).
