SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (21-19 (19-13 RMAC)) will finally host a home series. The Green & Gold, who have not hosted a home series in over a month will host the UCCS Mountain Lions (24-18 (18-13 RMAC), who are only half a game back of BH for fifth in the conference. It will also be senior weekend for Softball. The Yellow Jackets are looking to continue the positive momentum they have after splitting the series with Colorado Christian, who was top of the RMAC, and now sits in third. 

GAME DETAILS
•    Location: Spearfish, S.D. (Yellow Jacket Field)
•    First Pitch Saturday: 12 PM and 2 PM MST
•    First Pitch Sunday: 11 AM and 1 PM MST
•    Game Information: Food Trucks will be at the field on Saturday. The Seniors will be honored after game two of the series on Saturday.

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES
•    Black Hills State enters the series versus UCCS sitting in fifth in the RMAC with a 19-13 conference record. They are coming off one the biggest series splits in program history. They split with Colorado Christian, who was the RMAC leaders entering the season, but BHSU knocked them out of the first-place spot for the first time this season. BHSU was able to beat CCU in Game 1 of the series for the first time since 2015 after having lost 28 straight games to the Cougars. They also split with Christian for the first time in program history.
•    The Yellow Jackets were able to take games one and four because of the spectacular pitching that kept them in it. They did struggle offensively in games two through four only scoring five runs, but they also only allowed six runs in games one, three and four.  Each team was able to score nine runs in one game with BHSU's offensive explosion coming in game one and CCU's being in game two. BHSU had a combined .265 batting average, but held the Christian to a .261 batting average, who was batting .341 on the season.
•    BHSU is currently one of the top 40 teams in the country in multiple categories. They are fifth in doubles (80), sixth in doubles per game (2.00), 31st in sacrifice flies (15), 34th  in on-base percentage (.404), 26th in hits (363), 30th in batting average (.326), 33rd in sacrifice bunts (32), and 36th in team strikeouts per seven innings (6.18) 
•    Black Hills State entered this season ranked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll and is coming off the best season in the program's D2 history after going 15-32 (14-28 RMAC) last season. They are currently in fifth after winning 19 of their first 32 conference matchups.  
•    They have already broken the single season win record with 21 wins, they set the record for most road wins with 17. The other records broken include most RMAC wins in a season with 19, and most runs in a game with 21 against Regis. They also currently hold the team record for doubles in a single season and walks in a single season.
•    Head Coach Ashlyn Englehorn enters her second season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets, she has a record of 36-51 with BHSU and a career 56-100 record as a head coach after spending two years with Crown College. Her 50th win came in game 3 versus Chadron State. 
•    Senior first baseman Ashlynn Pauwels is one of the top players in the entire RMAC. She is fourth in the RMAC and first on the team with a .440 batting average, while also ranking third in the conference and 20th in the country with 46 RBIs. She also ranks fourth in the RMAC in RBIs per game (1.15), and third in total bases (106). She ranks 24th and 13th in the country in each respective stat. She is also fourth in the RMAC and 26th in the country in home runs (11) and is leading the RMAC and is 26th in the country in hits (59) Pauwels is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week (2-18-25). She tied the BHSU D2 record for RBIs in a game with 5 against Adams State. She officially made it to her 100th career hit as a Yellow Jacket in game two versus CSC, and her second home run versus CSC in game 3 made her the program's all-time leader in career RBIs. She is also BHSU all-time leader in home runs (23) and single season RBIs (46). She is quickly approaching multiple other single season and career record. In the most recent series versus Christian, Pauwels was the most consistent hitter. Pauwels was one of only two players to hit above .300 this series and she destroyed that mark. She went 8-13 (.615) with 7 RBIs, two home runs, 2 doubles, three runs scored, and 16 total bases.
•    Freshman catcher Desi Hernandez is in the midst of one of the best freshman seasons in the RMAC and program history this year. She is second on the team in batting average with a mark of .392. She is third on the team in runs with 30, while being second on the team in on base percentage with a .461 clip. She is currently second on the team and sixth in the conference in RBIs with 37, which leads all Freshman, while being second on the team and eighth in the conference in RBIs per game with a 0.93 clip. She is 17th in the country in runners caught stealing with ten. Hernandez had a little bit of a down series versus Christian going 3-15 (.200) with two RBIs, two runs scored, and a double.
•    Tyler Whitlock has jumped up to third in batting average with a .362 clip. She leads the team in runs with 39, which is third in the RMAC. She has a perfect stolen base percentage going 17-17 on stolen bases this year. She is second in the RMAC with 17 steals and is also second in steals per game (.43). She leads the RMAC in doubles with 15 and is fifth in triples with four. She is officially the new BHSU program leader in runs scored in a career with 88, doubles hit in a season (15), and is the new BHSU all-time hit leader with 150, and she is also approaching a few other single season and career records. She went 4-14 (.286) versus CCU and scored four runs with two doubles.
•    Alyssa Wong has had a great start to the season. The former All-RMAC Honorable Mention has a .312 batting average, is second on the team in on-base percentage with .465 and has 20 walks and 15 RBIs. She is fifth in the RMAC with .63 walks per game. She is coming off a series versus Colorado School of Mines, where she only had four at bats and had one hit and one run scored. 
•    Sophomore Pitcher Laci Peskey has been one of the best pitchers in the country this season. She is currently third in NCAA D2 in strikeouts with 188 and is ranked 12th in victories (17), ninth in complete games with 18, sixth in innings pitched (150.0), 27th in games started (20), 21st in strikeouts per seven innings pitched (8.8), 22nd in pitching appearances (27), and 27th in strikeout/walk ratio (5.08). She is also second in the RMAC in WHIP (1.11) and is fourth in ERA (2.38). She is putting up historic numbers as she already set the BHSU record for wins in a season and has destroyed the record for most strikeouts in a single season. She is already a four-time pitcher of the week this season (2-3-2025, 2-18-2025, 3-4-2025, 4-8-2025). On the offensive side of the ball, she has been dominant since becoming a daily hitter recently. Peskey is hitting .354 with 12 RBIs, two home runs, four doubles, ten runs scored, and five walks. She has a .981 OPS with a .563 slugging and a .418 on-base percentage. She is coming off a series where she earned her fourth RMAC Pitcher of the Week honor. She had three dominant pitching outings, going 2-1 in 18 innings pitched. She only allowed four earned runs in 18 innings and had 30 strikeouts in the three outings. She started two games, and delivered the first win for BHSU, she then came in relief of game four and pitched five one-hit innings with nine strikeouts in route to helping BHSU win game four. She also went 3-13 (.231) with an RBI and a run scored.

UCCS STORYLINES
•    UCCS enters this series with the sixth best record in the RMAC at 19-12, half a game behind BHSU. They are coming off getting swept by CSU Pueblo in the four-game series, who BHSU won three of four against earlier this year. UCCS has now swept or been swept in their last seven RMAC series.
•    The Mountain Lions struggled to score runs versus Pueblo only scoring more than four in one game, which they lost 9-8. Besides that, 9-8 game all of UCCS's runs came within the first three innings. They seem to jump on teams early in the last 12 games they have scored 29 runs in the first three innings. 
•    UCCS is ranked top 40 in the country in a lot of categories as well, all of which are offensive. They are ranked seventh in batting average (.353), eighth in hits (405), tenth in sacrifice flies (19), 12th in slugging percentage (.540), 13th in total runs (278), 14th in RBIs (247), 19th in doubles (73), 20th in home runs (40), 20th in scoring (6.62), 21st in on-base percentage (.414), 23rd in RBIs per game (5.88), 26th in home runs per game (.95), 31st in doubles per game (1.74).
•    Head coach Dwight Sanders is in his second year at UCCS and fourth season as an RMAC head coach. He spent two years as the head coach of Fort Lewis before moving to Colorado Springs. He has a career record of 86-107 and a record at UCCS at 43-50. He had his first career over .500 season last year when he went 24-18 with the Mountain Lions.  
•    Hailey Redd, a freshman, who is up with Desi Hernandez as one of the top freshman in the RMAC has had an amazing start to her career. She is one of only two players on UCCS to start every game. The shortstop is leading the team and fifth in the conference in batting average with a .432 clip. She ranks sixth in the RMAC with a .493 on-base percentage, and seventh with 51 hits. Redd leads the team with 15 walks, while having 30 RBIs, 28 runs scored, 10 doubles and two home runs. She has a .593 slugging percentage, while being one of four players over a 1.000 OPS (1.086). She went 3-10 versus CSU Pueblo with a double, two runs scored, and three RBIs.
•    Tayler McCombs, the freshman pitcher/utility player, is second on the team in batting average and sixth in the conference with a .424 clip. McCombs is also eight in the conference in on-base percentage behind Redd with a 485 clip. She leads the team in OPS with a 1.180 and she has a .695 slugging percentage. She is second on the team in runs scored with 30, and second in total bases with 82, while having four triples, five home runs, nine doubles, and 14 walks. She has 50 hits this season and has 30 runs scored with 27 RBIs. She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week this year (3-4-25). Versus the ThunderWolves, McCombs went 5-11 (.454), with three walks, while having five RBIs, including four in game three and a home run, also in game three. 
•    Junior catcher Katie Steinmetz is third on the team in batting average with a .388 mark and has an OPS of 1.041. She has a slugging percentage of .600 and a .441 on-base percentage. She is third in the conference in caught stealing with nine and she has three doubles, five home runs, 20 RBIs, and 14 runs in 32 games played and 25 games started. In three games played versus CSUP, she went 1-for-8 (.125), with a double, a run scored, and a RBI
•    The star of this offense is Laynee Case. Case is fourth on the team in batting average (.378), but has a 1.114 OPS, and a team-high .701 slugging. Case is the only other player to start all 42 games for the Mountain Lions. She is fifth in the RMAC in total bases with 89 and leads the team with nine home runs. She also has 12 doubles and a triple. She leads the team with 36 RBIs and 35 runs scored, while having six walks. She is the only player in the RMAC to win Player of the Week twice (2-10-25, 4-1-25). She struggled versus CSU Pueblo going 2-11 (.182) with only one double, one walk, and one RBI.
•    Kailey Bond has been the ace of the Mountain Lion pitching staff this season. Bond has a 3.88 ERA and an 8-4 record. She has allowed 48 runs in 86.2 innings, while striking out 74. She has allowed 11 home runs in 20 appearances, and she has nine complete games and a complete game shutout. She is a one-time RMAC Pitcher of the Week (3-18-25). In her first start versus the Wolves, she allowed five runs, three earned in six innings of softball, while walking five batters and striking out two. She came out in relief in her second appearance pitching 2.1 innings, allowing two unearned runs and only one hit and one walk.

SERIES HISTORY
•    BHSU is 10-34 versus the Mountain Lions all-time, however, since 2022, the series has started getting more competitive with UCCS going 7-5 versus the Yellow Jackets in that time frame including losing the series in 2023 3-1.
•     Last year, BHSU lost the series 1-3 early in the season, they won game two 7-4, but lost the rest including a run-rule in game four. They were outscored 21-11 in the series.