SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University softball team (10-27, 7-22 RMAC) will cross the border to go head-to-head with Chadron State (13-32, 10-25 RMAC) for the final series of the regular season on April 26 and 27.  First pitch against the Eagles is slated at noon for Friday's doubleheader.
 
Chadron State Eagles
Chadron State went 2-2 over the weekend taking two games from Fort Lewis and falling to Colorado State – Pueblo, to move to a 10-25 conference record (13-32 overall).  Last season the Yellow Jackets took the final game of the series, 2-1, for their first victory over the Eagles since the 2015 season.
 
CSC is hitting .292 as a team and led by freshman Haleigh Hoefs.  The Nebraska native is batting .442, which is second in the RMAC and leads the conference with 19 doubles.  She has drawn 16 walks for a .500 on-base-percentage.  On the mound, the Eagles record a 6.42 overall ERA and 6.16 in conference.
 
Last Time Out
BHSU moved to a 7-22 conference record (10-27 overall) after falling to Colorado Christian (29-12, 26-6 RMAC) in a four-game series as the Cougars outhit the Yellow Jackets 42-22.  Junior catcher Maddie London recorded her third homerun of the season, and now has hit a homer in three of the last four series. 
 
RMAC All-Academic
Alex Wiley was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic First Team with a 3.936 grade point average as a double major in chemistry and physics for the third time in her career, while five other Yellow Jackets were named to the Honor Roll.  Kindall Bethke (3.333), Samantha Gill (3.422), Darian Gottfried (3.821), McKayla Perry (3.455) and Morgan Smith (3.616) all made the Honor Roll. 
 
Gotta Be Quicker Then That
In game three of the Yellow Jackets series against Colorado Christian (4/19/19), BHSU catcher Maddie London threw out her 10^th runner of the season to move up to second in the RMAC.  London is just one away from tying her single season-best set last season in her sophomore campaign.  The junior has thrown out 26 runners in her career at BHSU.
 
At the Plate
The Yellow Jackets are hitting .292 as a team, including a .337 on-base-percentage.  Kindall Bethke leads the Green and Gold with a .407 batting average (48-for-118), while Alex Wiley follows hitting .346 (36-for-104).  After picking up four hits against CCU, Bethke has moved up to the fourth on the Yellow Jackets all-time career board with 123 hits.
 
In the Circle
Freshman Crystal Amaral (7-9) recorded nine strikeouts in the weekend series against CCU, totaling her 93^rd strikeout this season to rank her seventh in the conference in K's.  Amaral has struckout 33 batters this season, which is the third best in the conference behind Regis' Taylor Armitage at 36.