COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO- The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) recognized the top student-athletes in the sport of softball on Tuesday afternoon for excelling on the field and in the classroom with the release of the First Team Academic All-RMAC selections as well as the RMAC Academic Honor Roll. Representing Black Hills State among the league's First Team Academic All-RMAC honorees were Tyler Whitlock and Taylor Dowden. Audrey Fouras, Adreanna Lance, Ashlynn Pauwels and Laci Peskey were all named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll

Tyler Whitlock finished with a 3.89 cumulative GPA while majoring in business administration and professional accountancy. 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. 

Taylor Dowden finished with a 3.97 GPA while majoring in biology. Dowden started every game for the Yelow Jackets hitting .302 (42-139) while having a .475 slugging percentage and a .405 on-base percentage. The senior made a major impact from the bottom of the lineup finishing second on the team with six home runs while having 26 RBIs, 25 runs scored, six stolen bases and four doubles. 

Audrey Fouras led the team with a 3.98 GPA while majoring in business administration. Fouras started 47 of the 54 games for the Yellow Jackets at second base while hitting .256 (30-117). She was one of the five players to make it in the BHSU top 10 for single season doubles with 11. She also had four home runs, 18 RBIs, 19 runs scored and a .453 slugging percentage. 

Adreanna Lance finished with a 3.48 GPA in exercise science. She started in 12 games and played in 24 over the season but started to become an everyday player for us towards the end of the season. She hit .244 (11-45) with five RBIs and three runs scored.

Laci Peskey finished with a 3.43 GPA while majoring in environmental physical science. Peskey has been one of the best pitchers in the country this season. She was named RMAC Pitcher of the Year and All-RMAC First Team for her performance this season. She also earned NFCA All-Region Honors and D2CCA All-Region honors this past week. 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).

Senior first baseman Ashlynn Pauwels has a 3.31 GPA while majoring in physical education. 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 is only the third player ever to earn All-Region Honors as she was named D2CCA All-Region yesterday. 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, the career doubles record holder, and the career leader in slugging percentage (.667).

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport who academically maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average, have completed two consecutive semesters at their current institution, and have used a season of competition. 

Each institution's athletic communications directors nominate student-athletes who academically maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, along with the other criteria for the Academic Honor Roll, for recognition on the First Team Academic All-RMAC in each sport. The league's athletic communications directors for that sport vote to compose the First Team Academic All-RMAC and select the Academic Player of the Year. They are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.