After a crazy weekend in Spearfish with plenty of heartrate raising games in A2 Arena, the play on Yellow Jacket Field did not help the heart rate either with the Yellow Jackets coming from behind to win both of the games on day one of the series versus Highlands with Carly Reyes Mims hitting two walk-offs in the same day, one being a two-run walk-off home run in game one. The Yellow Jackets won game one in the seventh inning, but it took until the eighth in game two with BHSU’s resilience in full effect.
QUICK DETAILS – GAME 1
Final Score: Black Hills State 4, New Mexico Highlands 3
Team Records: Black Hills State 7-13 (4-5 RMAC), New Mexico Highlands 6-15 (4-5 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Geschwill (5-4), Loss: Valdez (2-5)
Attendance: 257
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
- We had a pitchers duel early in this one as Kaitlyn Geschwill and Jolissa Valdez held each team scoreless through three innings. Going into the top of the fourth, Giana Marez walked to lead off the inning for Highlands and advanced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt and a flyout to put her on third with two outs. Geschwill hit a batter and walked another to load the bases before allowing a single that scored Marez to put NMHU up 1-0.
- In the bottom of that inning, Sammie Kaufman-Warner singled, stole second base, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Desi Hernandez walked to put runners on the corners and with one out, she stole second base to put both runners in scoring position. Audrey Fouras flew out, but then with two outs, it was Brooklyn Theiler who singled and scored both runs to put BHSU up 2-1.
- Once again, the pitcher’s duel continued with neither team putting up a run despite having runners on second early in each half of the fifth and sixth innings. No runs were able to score until the seventh inning when in the top half Andrea DeLaTrinidad singled with one out and Jazmyn Griego hit a deep two-run home run to take a 3-2 lead heading into the final frame. In the bottom of the seventh, Lily Simmons singled before Carly Reyes Mims hit a deep two-run walk-off home run to win the game for BHSU at 4-3 and end their two game skid.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 1
- Carly Reyes Mims: 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2B, Walk-Off Home Run
- Brooklyn Theiler: 1-for-1, 2 RBIs, BB
- Kaitlyn Geschwill: 7 IP, CG, 3 ER, 5 K, W
QUICK DETAILS – GAME 2
Final Score: Black Hills State 12, New Mexico Highlands 11 (8 inn.)
Team Records: Black Hills State 8-13 (5-5 RMAC), New Mexico Highlands 6-16 (4-6 RMAC)
Pitching Decision: Win: Poag (1-4), Loss: Griego (3-3)
Attendance: 179
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
- We had a pitcher’s duel early in the first game, this one was all the bats coming alive. Paige Goodell started this game and allowed a leadoff double to Andrea DeLaTrinidad, a single to Olivia Boswell, and a single to Griego to make it 1-0 Highlands early. She walked Hallie Watkins to load the bases before getting a strikeout for the first out. Marez walked to score Boswell and Cheyenne Ben walked to score Griego to make it 3-0. Sophia Honse entered to pitch and gave up a single on the third pitch that scored the two more baserunners and made it 5-0 going into the bottom half.
- In the bottom of the first inning, Carly Reyes Mims for her second straight at bat went deep for a leadoff home run to make it 5-1. Jessica Melendez singled, but couldn’t come into score as BHSU stayed down 5-1.
- In the top of the second with two outs, Hallie Watkins singled and then scored on a two-run home run from Jolissa Valdez to make it 7-1 NMHU.
- In the top of the third inning, things kept getting worse for BHSU. A one-out walk to Shaylene Saladin and then a single that got past the left fielder to allow both runners to advance a base put runners on second and third with no outs. Boswell hit an infield single to load the bases and Griego hit a double that cleared the bases to make it 10-1 Cowgirls. Watkins immediately doubled after that and scored another run to make it 11-1 before Coach Englehorn brought in Dakota Poag to pitch in a move that would save the game.
- In the bottom of the third, Alyssa Wong would walk with two outs and Hernandez would hit a double that scored Wong to make it 11-2. Hernandez advanced to third on the wild pitch and scored on a single from Caylee Mann to make it 11-3.
- After an inning of no runs scored for the first time all game, BHSU finally got their bats going in the bottom of the fifth. Needing a run to keep the game alive and out of a run-rule, Jessica Melendez hit a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. She scored soon after when Hernandez hit a one-out two-run home run to make the score 11-5 and keep the game alive. Despite some more baserunners, no more runs scored that inning.
- In the bottom of the sixth, Lily Simmons hit a double that barely stayed fair and scored on a one-out single from Jessica Melendez, who advanced to second on a fielding error. Wong hit a single to score Melendez and make it 11-7 and advanced to second on a single from Hernandez. Carli Maley walked with two outs to load the bases and Theiler hit a two-RBI single to score both Wong and Hernandez to make it 11-9. Poag still had not allowed a run in her outing and had only allowed two soft hits up to this point.
- After Highlands went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, it all came down to the bottom of the seventh (again). Reyes Mims doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out. She then scored on a double from Melendez to make it 11-10. An infield single by Wong put runners on the corners with one out and Hernandez hit a single to tie the game and complete the 10-run comeback to make it 11-11. BHSU couldn’t win the game in the seventh and we went to extras.
- Highlands tried to make it scary in the top of the eighth when Watkins singled with one out, Marez singled with two outs, and Ben walked to load the bases. However, Poag settled down and got Yasmin Villa to strikeout to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Theiler hit an infield single to get on base and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Anna Gietzen. Simmons singled to get Theiler to third base with only one out and Reyes Mims once again played hero with an RBI groundout to score Theiler and give BHSU a 12-11 win in the eighth inning after being down 11-1 in the third inning.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS – GAME 2
- Dakota Poag: 5.2 innings, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 K, W
- Desi Hernandez: 4-for-5, 4 RBIs, 3 Runs, 2B, HR
- Brooklyn Theiler: 4-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run, 2B, BB
- Jessica Melendez: 4-for-5, 2 RBIs, 3 runs, 2 2B
- Carly Reyes Mims: 2-for-6, 2 RBIs, 2 Runs, 2B, HR, Walk-Off Hit
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will continue their opening homestand versus the Cowgirls tomorrow morning at 11 AM and 1 PM with BHSU looking to secure their first RMAC series win and possibly first RMAC series sweep.
