LAKEWOOD, COLO. – The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (27-25 (25-19 RMAC)) are playing in their first elimination game in program history. After losing yesterday to MSU Denver, the Green & Gold will now play UCCS (31-23 (24-17 RMAC)) in the consolation bracket with the loser heading home. 

GAME DETAILS
•    Location: Lakewood, Colo. (Assembly Athletic Complex-Softball Field)
•    First Pitch Thursday: 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 fell in round one to MSU Denver in a 8-2 loss to the Roadrunners.   
•    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. In game one of the tournament versus MSU Denver, BHSU was held to just five hits with three of them coming in the first inning. The Roadrunners fell behind 2-0 after inning one and then scored eight unanswered. They had six of their 12 hits and seven of their eight RBIs with two outs.
•    BHSU is currently one of the top 40 teams in the country in multiple categories. They are fourth in doubles (101), eighth in doubles per game (1.91), 22nd in sacrifice flies (20), 33rd  in on-base percentage (.399), 19th in hits (471), 39th in batting average (.318), 26th in walks (171), 37th in team strikeouts per seven innings (6.00), 39th in slugging percentage (.475), 29th in sacrifice bunts (43), and 34th in RBIs (272)
•    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 45 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 42-58 with BHSU and a career 62-107 record as a head coach after spending two years with Crown College. Her 50th win came in game 3 versus Chadron State. Englehorn was named RMAC Coach of the Year in 2025 after she led BHSU to their first RMAC Tournament berth in program history. In her first two seasons at the helm, she has won nine RMAC series, in the previous 12 years before she arrived, the Yellow Jackets had won a combined eight RMAC series. 
•    Senior first baseman Ashlynn Pauwels is one of the top players in the entire RMAC. She is third in the RMAC and first on the team with a .419 batting average, while also ranking third in the conference and 23rd in the country with 55 RBIs. She also ranks sixth in the RMAC in RBIs per game (1.04) and is first in total bases (137). She ranks 52nd and ninth in the country in each respective stat. She is also fourth in the RMAC and 24th in the country in home runs (14). Pauwels is second in the RMAC and is 20th in the country in hits (75), second in the RMAC and is 16th in the country in doubles (18) and is fifth in the RMAC and 39th in the country in slugging percentage with a .765 clip. Pauwels is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week (2-18-25) and is only the second ever player in program history to be named First Team All-RMAC. 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 (55), and single season hits (14). She is the single season home runs record holder, and the career doubles record holder. 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. She went 1-for-3 (.333) with a single and run scored in the first inning of the game versus MSU Denver.
•    Alyssa Wong has had a great start to the season. The former All-RMAC Honorable Mention is second on the team with a .365 batting average, is first on the team in on-base percentage with .523, which is 24th in the country and third in the RMAC and has 29 walks and 21 RBIs. She is third in the RMAC and 28th in the country with .71 walks per game. She is second in the RMAC and sixth in the country in sacrifice bunts per game (.34). She was named to All-RMAC Gold Glove Team after having a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in right field. 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. She was the star for BHSU in their RMAC Tournament game. She went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, a walk, and a double.
•    Tyler Whitlock has jumped up to third in batting average with a .361 clip. She leads the team in runs with 52, which is second in the RMAC and 35th in the country. She was caught stealing once, but still has gone 23-24 on stolen bases this year. She is third in the RMAC with 23 steals and is also fourth in steals per game (.43). She is first in the RMAC and is 11th 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 has gotten a hit in 11 of her last 12 games, gotten on base in 12 of her last 13 games, and scored a run in ten of her last 11 games. 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, just passed the single season doubles record with 19, 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. The senior was named Second Team All-RMAC for her performance this season. She went 5-for-13 (.385), with a triple, a double, five runs scored, and two RBIs. She also had two walks against the Mavericks. She did not reach base once in four attempts in the game versus the Roadrunners.
•    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 fourth on the team in batting average with a mark of .359. She is fourth on the team in runs with 32, while ranking third on the team in on base percentage with a .434 clip. She is currently second the team with 44 RBIs, which leads all Freshman, while being second on the team in RBIs per game with a 0.83 clip. She is 29th in the country in runners caught stealing with 11. She was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention this season. Hernandez went 3-11 (.231) with two RBIs and three total bases and walking once in the series versus the Mavericks. In the game yesterday versus MSUD, Hernandez went 1-for-3.
•    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 241 and is ranked ninth in victories (23), seventh in complete games with 23, fifth in innings pitched (195.0), 33rd in games started (26), 19th in strikeouts per seven innings pitched (8.7), 20th in pitching appearances (35), and 19th in strikeout/walk ratio (5.36). She is also fifth in the RMAC in WHIP (1.12) and is fifth in ERA (2.20). 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). She was also named RMAC Pitcher of the Year yesterday and was named to the First Team All-RMAC. 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. She struggled against MSU Denver. Peskey got pulled after 5.2 innings after giving up eight earned runs on 11 hits and striking out five batters. It was her first loss since game two of Colorado Christian and only the second time this season she's allowed eight earned runs in game with the other being MSU Denver as well.

UCCS STORYLINES
•    UCCS enters this matchup ranking fourth in the RMAC with a 24-17 conference record. They were able to jump BHSU and take the four seed in the tournament by winning two out of four in their final regular season series versus MSU Denver. UCCS then played two games yesterday, winning the first one 9-3 versus CSU Pueblo and then blew a lead in game two versus Colorado Christian to lose 5-3.
•    The Mountain Lions held the Thunderwolves scoreless through six innings while putting up nine runs throughout the game. They allowed three runs in the seventh but won regardless. UCCS scored two runs to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning versus CCU. However, CCU scored five runs in the fifth and sixth to take the lead back 5-2, but UCCS had the tying runner on base in the seventh, but only scored one and lost 5-3. 
•    UCCS is ranked top 30 in the country in a lot of categories as well, all of which are offensive. They are ranked 14th in batting average (.339), fourth in hits (509), 11th in sacrifice flies (22), 19th in slugging percentage (.511), 14th in total runs (343), 18th in RBIs (303), eighth in doubles (97), 28th in home runs (45), 24th in scoring (6.35), 28th in RBIs per game (5.61), 19th in doubles per game (1.80).
•    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 91-110 and a record at UCCS at 48-53. He had his first career over .500 season last year when he went 24-18 with the Mountain Lions.  
•    The Mountain Lions are 17-29 overall in the RMAC Tournament. They have one RMAC Tournament championship in 2005. Since 2018 they are 3-7 in RMAC Tournament games having only won one in each of their past two tournament appearances. 
•    Hailey Redd, a freshman, 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 fourth in the conference in batting average with a .417 clip. She ranks eighth in the RMAC with a .469 on-base percentage, and sixth with 65 hits. Redd leads the team with 17 walks, while having 38 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 13 doubles and four home runs. She has a .577 slugging percentage, while being one of three players over 1,000 OPS (1.046). She was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention this season. In her two games in this tournament, she went 1-for-7 with a double and a run scored. 
•    Tayler McCombs, the freshman pitcher/utility player, is second on the team in batting average and seventh in the conference with a .408 clip. She leads the team in OPS with a 1.119 and she has a .656 slugging percentage. She is second on the team in runs scored with 38, and second in total bases with 103, while having five triples, five home runs, 14 doubles, and 15 walks. She has 64 hits this season and has 38 runs scored with 27 RBIs. She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week this year (3-4-25). She was also named All-RMAC Honorable Mention. In the two games yesterday, she went 2-for-5, with two runs scored, a walk, and a double.
•    The third best player on this offense is Laynee Case. Case is third on the team in batting average (.355), but has a 1.033 OPS, and a 645 slugging. Case is the only other player to start all 54 games for the Mountain Lions. She is sixth in the RMAC in total bases with 107 and leads the team with ten home runs. She also has 16 doubles and a triple. She leads the team with 46 RBIs and 44 runs scored, while having seven walks. She is the only player in the RMAC to win Player of the Week twice (2-10-25, 4-1-25). She went 2-for-7 yesterday with a two-run home run, a double, and three RBIs with one run scored. 
•    Junior catcher Katie Steinmetz is fourth on the team in batting average with a .349 mark and has an OPS of .986. She has a slugging percentage of .578 and a .408 on-base percentage. She is fourth in the conference in caught stealing with nine and she has four doubles, seven home runs, 26 RBIs, and 18 runs in 43 games played and 31 games started. In the two games yesterday, she went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
•    Kailey Bond has been the ace of the Mountain Lion pitching staff this season. Bond has a 4.14 ERA and an 10-6 record. She has allowed 64 runs in 18.1 innings, while striking out 88. She has allowed 14 home runs in 25 appearances, and she has ten complete games and a complete game shutout. She is a one-time RMAC Pitcher of the Week (3-18-25). In her one start yesterday, she held CSU Pueblo scoreless through six innings before allowing three runs in the seventh inning. She had four strikeouts, but five walks and four hits allowed. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    BHSU is 12-36 versus the Mountain Lions all-time, however, since 2022, the series has started getting more competitive with UCCS going 9-7 versus the Yellow Jackets in that time frame including losing the series in 2023 3-1.
•    BHSU split the season series versus UCCS a couple weeks ago on senior weekend with Peskey winning both of her starts versus the Mountain Lions.