SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (26-22 (24-16 RMAC)) are nearing the end of their season, however with seeding still to think about, the Yellow Jackets will face the Colorado Mesa Mavericks (34-12 (32-8 RMAC)) at home. The Mavericks are sitting in second and are still in the race for the RMAC regular season championship and the bid for hosting the RMAC Tournament.

GAME DETAILS
•    Location: Spearfish, S.D. (Yellow Jacket Field)
•    First Pitch Friday: 12 PM and 2 PM MST
•    First Pitch Saturday: 11 AM and 1 PM MST

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES
•    Black Hills State enters the series versus Colorado Mesa ranked fifth in the RMAC with a conference record of 24-16. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a series win versus Fort Lewis, where they took the first three games, before losing the final one. It was their first series win since they beat Regis in Denver just over a month ago. The Yellow Jackets were able to clinch their first RMAC tournament berth in program history with the wins and are now just playing for seeding.  
•    The Yellow Jackets were able to take the series versus Fort Lewis because of early offense and some clutch hitting late. They relied on all-star performances from Laci Peskey and Ashlynn Pauwels, who both put up insane numbers on the mound and at the plate. Peskey got three wins, while Pauwels had five doubles and two home runs. The Yellow Jackets outscored FLC 26-5 in the first three games of the series, before allowing 15 runs in the final game. 
•    BHSU is currently one of the top 40 teams in the country in multiple categories. They are sixth in doubles (94), ninth in doubles per game (1.96), 17th in sacrifice flies (20), 29th  in on-base percentage (.406), 22nd in hits (434), 33rd in batting average (.327), 35th in walks (158), 34th in team strikeouts per seven innings (6.19), 36th in slugging percentage (.485), and 37th in RBIs (253)
•    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 24 of their first 40 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, walks in a single season, hits in a single season, RBIs in a single season, team strikeouts in a single season, total bases in a single season, runs in a single season, at bats in a single season, and we have tied the record for games played in a single season.
•    Head Coach Ashlyn Englehorn enters her second season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets. She has a record of 41-54 with BHSU and a career 61-103 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 .441 batting average, while also ranking second in the conference and 19th in the country with 54 RBIs. She also ranks fifth in the RMAC in RBIs per game (1.13) and is first in total bases (133). She ranks 29th and sixth in the country in each respective stat. She is also fourth in the RMAC and 20th in the country in home runs (14). Pauwels is leading the RMAC and is 16th in the country in hits (71), first in the RMAC and is ninth in the country in doubles (18) and is second in the RMAC and 20th in the country in slugging percentage with a .826 clip. 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) single season RBIs (46), and single season hits (71). She is the single season home runs record holder, the career doubles record holder and just moved into first in the single season doubles record. She is quickly approaching multiple other single seasons and career records. In the most recent series versus Fort Lewis, Pauwels was a monster on the Skyhawks pitchers. She hit .643 (9-for-14), with two home runs, five doubles, seven RBIs, six runs scored, and she had 20 total bases. She also added two walks, while having a 1.429 slugging percentage and a .688 on-base percentage.
•    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 .371. She is third on the team in runs with 32, while ranking third on the team in on base percentage with a .444 clip. She is currently second on the team and ninth in the conference with 42 RBIs, which leads all Freshman, while being second on the team and ninth in the conference in RBIs per game with a 0.89 clip. She is 21st in the country in runners caught stealing with 11. Hernandez went 2-10 (.200), with two RBIs and two total bases. 
•    Tyler Whitlock has jumped up to third in batting average with a .361 clip. She leads the team with 47, which is second in the RMAC. She was caught stealing for the first time in the last series but still has gone 21-22 on stolen bases this year. She is third in the RMAC with 21 steals and is also third in steals per game (.44). She is second in the RMAC and is 15th in the country in doubles with 17 and is fifth in triples with five. She is officially the new BHSU program leader in runs scored in a career with 93, she is the new BHSU all-time hit leader with 155, is the single-season runs scored record holder with 47, and just passed the single-season at bats record with 166. She is also approaching a few other single seasons and career records. She went 5-for-13 (.385), with a triple, a double, five runs scored, and two RBIs. She also had two walks.
•    Alyssa Wong has had a great start to the season. The former All-RMAC Honorable Mention has a .349 batting average, is first on the team in on-base percentage with .504 and has 25 walks and 18 RBIs. She is third in the RMAC with .69 walks per game. She is second in the RMAC and 13th in the country in sacrifice bunts per game (.31), and she is sixth in the RMAC with her on-base percentage. After missing the series versus Colorado Chrisitan, she came back and went 6-for-9 (.667) from the plate and had one triple, three RBIs, eight total bases, five runs scored, and five walks with a .786 on-base percentage.
•    Sophomore Pitcher Laci Peskey has been one of the best pitchers in the country this season. She is currently fifth in NCAA D2 in strikeouts with 227 and is ranked fifth in victories (22), fifth in complete games with 22, fourth in innings pitched (182.1), 31st in games started (24), 19th in strikeouts per seven innings pitched (8.7), 16th in pitching appearances (33), and 20th in strikeout/walk ratio (5.54). She is also third in the RMAC in WHIP (1.09) and is fourth in ERA (2.15). 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 just passed the career wins record as a sophomore. She is only the tenth pitcher in RMAC history to reach 200 Ks in a season. She is already a five-time pitcher of the week this season (2-3-2025, 2-18-2025, 3-4-2025, 4-8-2025. 4-22-2025). On the offensive side of the ball, she has been dominant since becoming a daily hitter recently. Peskey is hitting .361 with 14 RBIs, two home runs, five doubles, 11 runs scored, and six walks. She has a .961 OPS with a .541 slugging and a .420 on-base percentage. She is coming off a series where she made three more pitching appearances. She had 14.1 innings pitched, only had one earned run allowed and was credited with a win in each of her appearances. She added 18 strikeouts, while only walking two batters. This performance earned her fifth RMAC Pitcher of the Week Honor, and she was just named BHSU Female Athlete of the Year at this year's Buzzspys. Peskey only took three at bats in the series going 0-for-3.

COLORADO MESA STORYLINES
•    Colorado Mesa enters this series sitting in a tie for second in the RMAC, but they are only half a game back of MSU Denver for the conference title, with just this series left. They have gone 4-4 versus the top two teams they are competing with in the conference, splitting both series. They are coming off a 3-1 series win over Chadron State last weekend. They pulled the first three games, before losing the last. 
•    The Mavericks have been incredibly strong from the mound. They have only given up three or more runs four times in the last 21 games. They also have been very good on the plate as well. They have scored five or more runs in 17 of their last 21 games. They have also run-ruled their opponents ten times this season. 
•    Mesa is ranked top 30 in seven stats this season so far. They are 12th in home runs per game (1.15), 14th in home runs (53), 19th in slugging percentage (.519), 22nd in win-loss percentage (73.9), 25th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.90), and 27th in total runs (293).
•    Head coach Mercedes Bohte, who is in her fifth season as head coach of the Mavericks, has had quite the start to her career. Through five seasons, Bohte has a 196-60 record, three RMAC regular seasons and conference titles, and she has won RMAC Coach of the Year twice. She has also made it to the NCAA Tournament twice since being named head coach. Last year, CMU made it to the championship game of the South-Central Regional Tournament. 
•    Myah Arrieta is the star of the CMU lineup. She was named RMAC Player of the Year last season, D2CCA South-Central Regional Player of the Year, and was also named NFCA First Team All-American last season. Arrieta has not had quite has good of season this year, but she is still one of the best in the RMAC ranking fifth in the RMAC in batting average (.420), tied for second in home runs (15), second in home runs per game (.33), tied for second in RBIs (54), first in runs (49), second in RBIs per game (1.17), first in runs per game (1.07), third in slugging percentage (.813), second in total bases (122), and fourth in walks per game (.67). She ranks in the top 20 nationally in five of those stats as well. Arrieta is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week this season (3-18-25) and is coming off a series versus Chadron where she hit 5-13 (.385), with a grand slam, a double, seven RBIs, and two runs scored.
•    Senior Catcher Ally Distler had a solid year as well last season. She was First Team All-RMAC, First Team All-Region, and Second Team All-American. She has had a great year this year too. She has a .333 batting average, while being tied with Arrieta in home runs with 15 and home runs per game (.33). She is fourth in the RMAC in RBIs with 52, fourth in runs with 43, fourth in RBIs per game with 1.13 and sixth in RBIs per game with .93. She is also seventh in slugging percentage with .752 and fourth in total bases with 106. She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week this year (2-3-25) and is coming off a series versus CSC where she went 3-12 (.250) with one home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. 
•    Jessalyn Gallegos has been the second-best pitcher in the RMAC this season behind Laci Peskey. Gallegos is third in the RMAC in ERA with a 1.88 mark. She is also third in the RMAC in complete games (16), fifth in games started (20), second in hits per seven innings (5.88), third in innings pitched (138.0), fifth in pitching appearances (25), third in strikeout to walk ratio (4.47), second in strikeouts (143), second in strikeouts per seven innings (7.3), second in victories (17), first in WHIP (1.07), and fourth in walks per seven innings (1.62). Gallegos is a one-time pitcher of the week (3-11-2025), and is coming off a series versus Chadron State, where she pitched 17.0 innings, had only two earned runs allowed, had 17 strikeouts to only one walk and she got the win in both games.
•    Preslee Christensen was the RMAC Pitcher of the Year last season and was named D2CCA First Team All-Region as well as NFCA Second-Team All-Region. Christensen has been solid again this season posting a 2.88 ERA, which ranks fifth in the RMAC. She also ranks fifth in hits allowed per seven innings (6.20), WHIP (1.13), walks per seven innings (1.72), and is fourth in strikeout to walk ratio (2.78). She has only given up 25 ERs in 73.1 innings and has only started 15 games this year. She started two games versus the Eagles, going 1-1 with 12 innings pitched, three earned runs allowed, and ten hits allowed with only three strikeouts. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    BHSU is 4-37 all-time versus the Mavericks with three of those wins coming in 2013 or earlier. The only time BHSU has beaten CMU since 2013 was two years ago when the Yellow Jackets stole one in 2023 winning 6-5 in an early season matchup. 
•     Last year, BHSU lost all four games in run-rule fashion. They were outscored 59-9 in only 22 innings of softball. Giving up over ten runs in all four games, including 19 in game two.