CHADRON – Chadron State College's softball team split a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference double-header matchup against Black Hills State University Sunday afternoon in Chadron. The teams split the season series 2-2 following a 5-4 CSC win in game one and a 9-4 BHSU win in game two.
 
The Eagles travel to Durango, Colorado, Saturday and Sunday to take on Fort Lewis College in two double-header matchups.
 
Black Hills State (3-10, 2-6 RMAC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first game off of an Alexis Shaff 2-run home run in the third. The Eagles (3-17, 3-5 RMAC) would respond in the fourth by scoring all five of the team's runs. Katelyn Kruger led off for CSC with a double to right center field, then Shea Graham smacked a single up the middle to bring Kruger around. Two batters later, Courtney Lecher hit a 3-run home run, her first of the season. CSC wasn't done yet though, as senior Casey Polk singled to bring Amanda Einspahr around, leading 5-2 after four innings.
 
CSC would hold on for the win behind good defense and strong pitching. Chadron State ace Tayler Hall threw seven strikeouts in as many innings in the first game to earn her third win of the season.
 
In game two, Black Hills jumped out to an early 1-0 lead following a solo home run by Shaff in the second. In the third inning, Erica Everson sent one deep for a solo home run, and the next batter, Shaff, slammed her second-straight home run for back-to-back solo home runs for the Yellow Jackets. Shaff had a combined four hits in six at bats, scoring four runs and bringing home five batters on the day.
 
CSC's Zoe Humphries would respond in the bottom of the third with a 2-run home run of her own, her fourth of the season. The Eagles would allow five runs to be scored in the fourth, but Jessica Eatmon sent a 2-run home run deep in the fifth to keep the team in contention, down 8-4.
 
Offensively, Humphries led the Eagles with three hits in six at bats and two RBIs, while Eatmon had three hits and a pair of RBIs in seven at bats.
 
On defense, Hall pitched over 10 innings, throwing more than 200 pitches and striking out a combined 10 batters.