SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (27-25 (25-19 RMAC)) are making their RMAC Tournament debut on Wednesday in Lakewood, Colorado. The sixth seeded Yellow Jackets will be playing third seeded MSU Denver (39-13 (34-9 RMAC)) in the first game. The Jackets are looking to continue their historic season and win their first ever RMAC Tournament game in program history. 

GAME DETAILS
•    Location: Lakewood, Colo. (Assembly Athletic Complex-Softball Field)
•    First Pitch Wednesday: 1:30 PM MST
•    Stadium Info: Aspen Park is a cashless field. If you are planning on attending, keep that in mind. 
•    Tickets: The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has partnered with Hudl Tickets to manage ticketing for all championship events during the 2024-25 season. Fans can purchase tickets via the links provided and will receive them via email with a QR code. When you arrive at the gates, scan the QR code on your phone for a frictionless entry.
•    Live Stream Info: All RMAC Championship events, including the outdoor track and field championships, will be broadcast pay-per-view on the RMAC Network. Purchase options are available at RMACSports.org/buyRMACtv.

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES
•    Black Hills State enters the RMAC Tournament ranked sixth in the RMAC after finishing the season with a 25-19 conference record. Due to a bunch of results in the final week, BHSU fell from the five seed to the six seed due to tiebreakers. The Yellow Jackets ended their season winning one of four against Colorado Mesa.   
•    The Yellow Jackets taking game one of the series was crucial as it allowed some players to rest for the rest of the series. The game one win was probably one of their best wins of the season as they held the top offense in the RMAC to four hits and one unearned run. They also were able to score a lot of late runs in this series with all 19 runs they scored versus Mesa coming in the fourth inning or later. 
•    BHSU is currently one of the top 40 teams in the country in multiple categories. They are fifth in doubles (98), eighth in doubles per game (1.88), 22nd in sacrifice flies (20), 29th  in on-base percentage (.405), 27th in hits (451), 32nd in batting average (.324), 37th in walks (165), 38th in team strikeouts per seven innings (5.98), 37th in slugging percentage (.483), 38th in sacrifice bunts (39), and 38th in RBIs (266)
•    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 sixth after winning 25 of their first 44 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 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 42-57 with BHSU and a career 62-106 record as a head coach after spending two years with Crown College. Her 50th win came in game 3 versus Chadron State. Led BHSU to first RMAC Tournament berth in program history in 2025.
•    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 .429 batting average, while also ranking third in the conference and 26th in the country with 54 RBIs. She also ranks fourth in the RMAC in RBIs per game (1.08) and is first in total bases (135). She ranks 33rd and 11th in the country in each respective stat. She is also fourth in the RMAC and 23rd in the country in home runs (14). Pauwels is second in the RMAC and is 26th in the country in hits (73), second in the RMAC and is 15th in the country in doubles (18) and is fifth in the RMAC and 26th in the country in slugging percentage with a .794 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 (73). 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 Colorado Mesa, Pauwels was a little quiet going 3-15 (.200) with an RBI, and three total bases.
•    Tyler Whitlock has jumped up to second in batting average with a .369 clip. She leads the team in runs with 52, which is second in the RMAC and 34th in the country. She was caught stealing for the first time last series but still has gone 23-24 on stolen bases this year. She is third in the RMAC with 23 steals and is also third in steals per game (.44). She is first in the RMAC and is tenth in the country in doubles with 19 and is tied for second in the RMAC and 25th in the country in triples with six. Whitlock is currently on an 11-game hit streak, a 12-game on-base streak, and a 10-game run scored streak. 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 and career at bats record with 532. 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.
•    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 third on the team in batting average with a mark of .360. She is fourth on the team in runs with 32, while ranking third on the team in on base percentage with a .436 clip. She is currently second the team and ninth in the conference with 44 RBIs, which leads all Freshman, while being second on the team and ninth in the conference in RBIs per game with a 0.88 clip. She is 26th in the country in runners caught stealing with 11. Hernandez went 3-11 (.231) with two RBIs and three total bases and walking once in the series versus the Mavericks. 
•    Alyssa Wong has had a great start to the season. The former All-RMAC Honorable Mention has a .351 batting average, is first on the team in on-base percentage with .512, which is top 30 in the country and third in the RMAC and has 28 walks and 19 RBIs. She is third in the RMAC and 25th in the country with .71 walks per game. She is second in the RMAC and sixth in the country in sacrifice bunts per game (.33). She went 3-for-8 (.375) in the series versus Colorado Mesa, while having a .583 on-base percentage walking three times and scoring three runs. She also had an RBI as well.
•    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 236 and is ranked sixth in victories (23), seventh in complete games with 23, eighth in innings pitched (189.1), 36th in games started (25), 18th in strikeouts per seven innings pitched (8.7), 27th in pitching appearances (34), and 18th in strikeout/walk ratio (5.49). She is also second in the RMAC in WHIP (1.08) and is third in ERA (2.07). 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 one pitching appearance only pitching in the game one win. She pitched all seven innings, while only allowing four hits and one unearned run and striking out nine batters.

MSU DENVER STORYLINES
•    MSU Denver comes into this game ranked third in the conference with a 34-9 conference record. They were the one seed by half a game heading into this previous weekend, before they split with UCCS to drop to third. They were able to win both games one and three, but lost in games two and four, which cost them the RMAC regular season title. 
•    The Roadrunners were held to two runs in each of the losses, but scored 17 in the other two games, including an 11-3 win in game one of the series. The pitching has been incredible for MSUD since playing BHSU earlier this season. The offense has also continued to come alive. 
•    MSU Denver has one of the best offenses in the country. They are ranked in the top 20 in a lot of statistics. They are ranked third in doubles (106), fourth in doubles per game (2.04), sixth in RBIs (343), sixth in slugging percentage (.582), sixth in total runs (369), seventh in RBIs per game (6.60), seventh in batting average (.351), eighth in hits (492), ninth in scoring (7.10), tenth in triples (23), 13th in home runs (57), 14th in on-base percentage (4.16), 14th in triples per game (.44), 15th in home runs per game (1.10), and 20th in winning percentage (.750).
•    MSU Denver's head coach Annie Van Wetzinga is a legend in D2, she has coached for 18 seasons over three different schools. This is her 12th season at MSU Denver, where she arrived from Upper Iowa and Colorado School of Mines before that. Wetzinga is 565-371 all time and is 410-215 at MSU Denver. She is a one-time RMAC Coach of the Year (2015), and one-time RMAC regular season champion (2015), a two-time RMAC Tournament champion (2014, 2016) and a three-time NCAA Tournament qualifier all while at MSU Denver (2014, 2015, 2016). She has never had a losing record while head coach of the Roadrunners.
•    The Roadrunners are making their 16th RMAC Tournament appearance and their eleventh straight. They are 39-24 overall in the tournament and have won four tournament titles (2009, 2010, 2014, 2016). They have won their first-round matchups in eight of the last ten RMAC Tournaments. They are 5-6 as a three seed. They went 3-2 as a three seed last year but went 2-4 as a three seed in their previous two times holding that spot. 
•    Jaiden Geist is first on the team and 14th in the country in batting average with a .453 clip, while having a .795 slugging, which is 19th in the country and a .546 on-base percentage, which leads the team is 13th in the country. She is one of four players over a 1.1 OPS, and is third on the team in doubles with 11, while having 36 RBIs, 38 runs scored and nine home runs. She also leads the team with 22 walks. In the series versus UCCS, she went 6-11 with three home runs, four RBIs, and four runs scored. She also walked four times. 
•    Jenna Medhus is the star of the offense of MSU Denver. Medhus is a reigning Second-Team All-RMAC player and has had an incredible season this year. She has an impressive .440 batting average, which is second on the team and 35th in D2, while also bosting an .896 slugging percentage, which leads the RMAC and is seventh in the country. She ranks eighth in the country with a .482 on-base percentage and is 25th with six triples. She also has nine doubles, 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. She also has 14 pitching starts this year and 16 appearances. Medhus has a 5-4 record and is second on the team with a 4.14 ERA and has 43 strikeouts in 72.2 innings pitched, while having seven complete games. She is coming off a rough week versus the Mountain Lions where she went 2-14 (.143), had three runs scored, but had no RBIs or any extra base hits. She also made two starts, taking the loss in both games. She pitched 11.1 innings allowing eight runs, six earned and had two walks and six strikeouts. 
•    Alexia Boring is the third player in the group of over 1.1 OPS, she has a .355 batting average, while having a .684 slugging percentage and a .434 on-base percentage. She leads the team with 51 runs scored and lead with 12 home runs. She is second in the RMAC in runs per game (1.04) and seventh in total bases (103). Boring has 40 RBIs and 12 doubles. She also has 15 walks. The senior outfielder is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week (4-8-2025). Boring had a quiet week versus UCCS going 2-11 (.182) with three runs scored, one double, and one RBI.
•    Miki Berg is the last of four players with above a 1.1 OPS. She has a batting average of .393, while being third in slugging percentage with a mark of .754. She is second on the team with 47 RBIs this season and has 37 runs scored and has 11 home runs, 12 doubles, four triples, and has stolen five bases on seven attempts. She went 5-15 (.333) with two home runs, five RBIs, one double, and two runs scored.  
•    The top pitcher for MSU Denver is by far Natalie Romero. She has an impressive 1.79 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, which is ranked second and fourth in the conference. In 148.2 innings, she only allowed 38 earned runs and had 89 strikeouts. She has a 19-3 record with 17 complete games and three shutouts. She is a two-time RMAC Pitcher of the Week this season (3-25-25, 4-1-25). She made two appearances versus UCCS. The first was a six-inning win, where she allowed three earned runs on seven hits and no walks. The second was a seven-inning win, where she gave up three runs, two earned, and had two walks with one strikeout.

SERIES HISTORY
•    BHSU has only won one of the last 22 matchups and is 4-39 all-time versus the Roadrunners. 
•     MSUD is the only team BHSU has not beaten this year, going 0-4 in their series earlier this year. MSUD outscored the Yellow Jackets 37-14 and run-ruled them twice. It was the only time this year Peskey did not earn a win in an RMAC series.