SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (20-23 (17-15 RMAC)) are continuing their stretch of crucial RMAC series as we are nearing the end of the season. This week, the Green and Gold is heading to face the team that knocked them out of the RMAC tournament last year in the UCCS Mountain Lions (24-17 (18-14 RMAC)). BHSU will look to break their two-game series losing streak they are on after falling in all four games to the number nine ranked Colorado Christian.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Date/Time/Location (All Times MT): Saturday, April 18 at 12 and 2 PM at Mountain Lion Field in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Sunday, April 19 at 11 AM and 1 PM at Mountain Lion Field in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Live Streaming: Beginning in the 2025-26 season the RMAC Network will now move to Pay-Per-View. Fans can purchase a single game pass ($10), monthly ($25) or annual subscription ($130). Individuals with bhsu.edu or yellowjackets.bhsu.edu email address can still take advantage of the Peak Pricing Promotion by using the code Y26-RMACEDU.

 
BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State currently sits at 20-23 and 17-15 in RMAC play after falling a second straight series to #9 Colorado Christian. BHSU was able to compete with the number nine team in the country and nearly took two games from them, but it ended up in an 0-4 series bringing BHSU's record to 1-6 in their last seven games after seeing their four game series win streak come to an end in Golden two weekends ago.
• The Yellow Jackets were outhit 49-26 in the series and were outscored 35-12 with CCU run-ruling BHSU in games one and four. However, the middle to games, BHSU held the best offense in the country to eight straight scoreless innings from the fifth inning of game two to the fifth inning of game three. The Yellow Jackets also hit six home runs in this series with two each game in the first three games. The Yellow Jackets had CCU at one of it's biggest deficits in conference play so far this season when BHSU was up 4-0 with four outs to go before CCU hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to tie the game before eventually taking the lead and winning in the seventh.
• Outside of BHSU's Oklahoma trip, eight of the Green and Gold's 17 other losses have come by less than two runs including both of the losses to Adams State and the only loss to MSU Denver. 11 of BHSU's wins have also come by that same margin including all three wins versus MSU Denver.
• The Yellow Jackets are currently top 40 in the country in six different stats. They are 14^th in hit by pitches (38), 31^st in doubles (70), 32^nd in home runs (35), 34^th in RBIs (229), 36^th in walks (141), and 40^th in total runs (242).
• The team took BHSU to their first ever RMAC tournament last season after leading BHSU to a 27-27 (25-19 RMAC) record, which finished sixth in the conference. They had five All-RMAC players, one RMAC Pitcher of the Year, and one All-Region player last year.
• Last year, the Yellow Jackets set 20 separate team records. They were single-season doubles (102), single-season triples (12), single-season walks (177), single-season wins (27), single-season road wins (20), single season RMAC wins (25), single-season hits (468), single-season RBIs (272), single-season runs (290), single-season total bases (699), single-season at-bats (1487), single-season games played (52), single-season pitcher strikeouts (295), single-season sacrifice flies (20), single-season sacrifice bunts (43), single-season hit by pitches (39), single-season batting average (.315), single-season on-base percentage (.397), and single-season slugging percentage (.470).
• BHSU landed at seventh in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 64 points. It is the highest ranking BHSU has received in a preseason coaches' poll in their RMAC history. They are currently in sixth at 17-15.
• The Yellow Jackets won two games this series via walk-off with seniors hitting both walk-offs. Audrey Fouras hit a walk-off double in game one and Lily Simmons hit a walk-off single in game four. This brings BHSU's total walk-offs to five this season with Reyes Mims having two in back-to-back games versus Highlands and Sammie Kaufman-Warner having a walk-off inside-the-park home run versus Adams State.
• BHSU's series victory over MSU Denver stopped a lot of long streaks versus the Roadrunners. It snapped a 15-game losing streak, it was the first time in program history BHSU had won back-to-back games versus MSUD, and it was also the first series win versus MSUD in program history. Not only that, but the three wins got BHSU to 9-3 at Yellow Jacket Field which tied the program record for home wins in a season.
• BHSU broke the D2 era record for home runs in a series with 11 against Chadron, which broke a record that had held since 2018 versus Highlands when they had ten. BHSU also set the single series record for runs scored in a series with 49 beating the previous record of 45 from that Adams Series last year. BHSU had seven different players with batting averages over .400 and five with batting averages over .500. Seven different girls hit a home run and four girls had two.
• The three wins in the first weekend at the Bubble was the most wins in the first weekend in the D2 era. It is also the second time BHSU has entered the second weekend at .500.
• Sophia Honse was finally able to make her mark in a big way in the series versus Regis. After only making one start and pitching 18.2 innings, she earned RMAC Pitcher of the Week for her performance versus the Rangers. She now sits second on the team with a  4.92 ERA and a 2.01 WHIP. Honse has allowed only 37 earned runs in 52.2 innings pitched while striking out 25 and walking 26 with seven of those walks coming in her first two appearances. Since those rough first two starts, she had only had three games where she's allowed an earned run before the last two serires. Against Regis when she won RMAC Pitcher of the Week, she pitched 14 innings, went 2-0, didn't give up an earned run, and struck out eight while only walking three batters.
• Kaitlyn Geschwill, a newcomer for the Yellow Jackets, made probably the biggest impact a newcomer can make in her first weekend with her new team: she won RMAC Pitcher of the Week. She has a 5.09 ERA in 110.0 innings and has appeared in 28 of the 43 games this season. She has 106 strikeouts, which ranks first in the RMAC compared to only 80 earned runs and sits second in team history in single season wins with 11 compared to nine losses. She is only the ninth pitcher in BHSU history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season. She has only allowed 42 extra base hits. Besides strikeouts, she is second in the conference in strikeouts per seven innings (7.0) and is second in pitching appearances (28). The Central Lakes College transfer had a huge weekend out of the bullpen for BHSU in her RMAC POTW weekend. She pitched in five of the six games, threw 15 innings with a 2-1 record, only allowing two earned runs and seven hits on a .93 ERA and 22 strikeouts. She bounced back after a rough outing in Oklahoma, where she had a 3.15 ERA, 17 strikeouts and only six earned runs in 13.1 innings, including a complete game shutout in game four versus Adams. She then dominated in her home debut versus NMHU pitching two complete games and winning both in pitcher's duels only allowing four earned runs in those two games and in game two she went seven innings with only three hits allowed and one earned run in the 2-1 win. After an ugly game one, Kaitlyn Geschwill bounced back in a big way in game three of the series where she went 7 innings pitched with zero earned runs, only one walk and four strikeouts. She got two wins versus MSU Denver in games one and four. Against Mines, she went 1-1, but had 10 strikeouts in her one loss. In game three, she pitched four innings, gave up three earned runs, and took the win.
• Brooklyn Theiler has been on absolute fire as of late. The freshman of Buckeye, Arizona has started 19 of the last 25 games. She leads the entire team in batting average sitting at a .386 clip, while having a .456 slugging percentage, a .471 on-base percentage and recording 22 hits, 22 runs, 11 RBIs, two doubles, a triple, and eight stolen bases. She lost a nine-game hit streak in game one of the series, but still is riding a 13-game on-base streak. Theiler had a major weekend versus New Mexico Highlands in her first full series of the year, where she hit .583 with five RBIs and three runs scored. She then continued that momentum this past weekend versus Chadron, where she had a .600 batting average with four RBIs, five runs scored, and a .600 slugging percentage. She had a pretty solid weekend versus Regis going 5-11 (.455) with three runs scored, a double, and an RBI. Against MSUD, she went 2-for-3 with a run scored in game three of the series.
• Desi Hernandez is coming off an excellent freshman season where she was named All-RMAC honorable mention. Hernandez is hitting second on the team with a .360 average with 34 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 18 runs scored, and 74 total bases. She has a .649 slugging percentage and a .427 on-base percentage. On the fielding side, she has 12 caught stealing, which is leads the RMAC and is tenth in the country. She had a career-high four hits three going 4-4 in both games against New Mexico Highlands and Colorado School of Mines while going 4-5 in BHSU's game two versus NMHU this year. She has hit 30 of 38 games this year and has reached base in 34 of 38 games including a six-game hitting streak at this point. In Edmond, Hernandez had five hits and went 2-for-4 against Cameron. She made her way back to the lineup in Pueblo and went 4-for-9 (.444) with a double and an RBI. She had a dominant performance versus the Cowgirls going 6-for-14 (.429) with five RBIs, five runs, two doubles, and a two-run home run in game two. She had a massive weekend versus Chadron, where she went 5-for-12 (.417), with a .917 slugging percentage, two home runs, seven RBIs, and four runs scored. She went 3-for-5 on day one versus MSUD with five RBIs, a home run, a triple, and two runs scored. She went 2-for-2 with two doubles and three RBIs in game three of the series, while adding another RBI double in game four. She had a massive series versus CCU, where 5-11 (.455) with three runs scored, two home runs in each of the first two games and three RBIs with one runner caught stealing.
• Carly Reyes Mims is also coming off a major freshman season and was also named All-RMAC Honorable Mention last season. She is in the record book once for being tied for fifth in single-season doubles (11). Reyes Mims started the season off very hot. She is hitting .357 with an insane OPS of 1.058 with a .571 slugging percentage and a .487 on-base percentage. She has 45 hits and 38 runs in 41 games with 22 walks, 19 RBIs, five home runs, two triples, and eight doubles. She is third in hit by pitches (10), and sixth in on-base percentage (.484). She has a hit in 31 out of 41 games and has made it on base in 36 out of 41. In Edmond, she went 3-3 versus Oklahoma Baptist and 1-3 versus Central Oklahoma. In game one versus Adams, she went 1-for-2 with two runs scored. She had four hits and three runs scored in Pueblo with a hit in each of the last three games. She just had the best weekend of her career last year by going 6-for-14 (.429) with six RBIs, five runs, two doubles, a triple, and two home runs with a 1.143 OPS slugging percentage and a .556 on-base percentage. She had two walk-offs in games one and two, including a two-run walk-off home run in game one. She had another huge weekend in Chadron with a 2.286 OPS, a .625 batting average, a 1.500 slugging percentage, and a .786 OPS with five hits, one double, two home runs, four RBIs, and five walks. Against MSUD, she had a .750 on-base percentage with six runs scored.
• Sammie Kaufman-Warner, a freshman, is absolutely dominating for BHSU and is continuing to make a big impact early. She has a .345 batting average, a .561 slugging percentage, a .397 on-base percentage, and has 48 hits, 36 RBIs, and 31 runs scored, ten stolen bases with 12 doubles and six home runs. This includes a walk-off inside-the-park home run versus Adams in game three. She has a run in 23 of 43 games, a hit in 32 of 43, including 22 of the last 26 an RBI in 23 of 43, and has reached base in 33 of 43. She earned her first RMAC Player of the Week nod earlier this year in Broomfield, Colorado against Adams State with a .636 batting average, a 1.071 slugging percentage, nine RBIs, five runs scored, three doubles, and a walk-off, inside the park home run. After a couple of slow weeks, Kaufman-Warner made a massive impact in last weekend's series where she hit .467 with seven hits, seven RBIs, seven runs scored, and two home runs. She had a dominant week versus Regis going  6-11 (.545) with four doubles, a home run, three runs scored, but only two RBIs. She hit .400 in this past weekend series versus MSUD with five RBIs and five runs scored. She had a 2-for-4 game in game three and also had a double and a run scored in game two against CCU.
• Caylee Mann was the top player for BHSU early and was another transfer who made an immediate impact. She has a .299 batting average with an .839 OPS, a .480 slugging percentage, and has 28 RBIs with 14 runs scored, 11 doubles and four home runs. She had an RBI in five of the six games in the Bubble and she has two games with three RBIs while having three hits in both of those games. She had two RBIs in Broomfield and in game two, she went 2-4 with an RBI. In game one versus CSUP, she went 2-for-3 with a home run. She had a massive weekend versus Highlands, where she went 7-for-13 (.538), with four doubles, two RBIs, and an .846 slugging percentage. Against Chadron, she hit .300 with four runs, two doubles, an RBI, and three walks. Mann had a massive Grand Slam versus MSUD in game four to help BHSU come back and win and finished with seven RBIs in the series. She was one of the few with a great series versus CSM, where she had a hit in all four games, an RBI in each of the last three games, and a double in game four. She had a home run in game one of the series versus Christian.
• Lily Simmons has been on a heater as of late. The senior from Frederick, Colorado has hit .299 this season and has an .819 OPS with a .435 slugging and a .384 on-base percentage. She has 32 hits with 22 RBIs, 26 runs scored, three doubles, and four home runs with 16 walks. The senior is in the record books already with being the BHSU program leader in walks with 82 and now just broke the games played record with 180 in this past series. She also is second in program history in runs scored with 96. She is third all-time in program history in at-bats (467). In single season records, she is the program record holder for walks in a season with 31 last year. Her 33 runs scored last season was tied for fifth in program history, and her 29 from the year prior is tied for tenth. She is also top ten in at bats from 2024 with 141. Simmons has a hit in 21 conference games this year and has four home runs in conference play this year. She had BHSU's first grand slam of the season against Chadron and was one of two players last week to have two home runs in the series versus CCU along with two RBIs and five hits.
• Alyssa Wong was named to All-RMAC Gold Glove team and started this year with a .287 batting average, .451 on-base percentage with 23 walks, 27 hits, three doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and 19 runs scored. She sits at sixth in the RMAC in walks per game (.59). She has reached base in all but seven games and against Pueblo, she went 3-for-8 with four walks and four runs scored. She had two runs scored in Pueblo. This past weekend versus Regis, Wong went 6-for-8 (.750) with two walks, an RBI, and a stolen base. Against MSUD, she had three walks an RBI and a triple. In game three versus Christian, she went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Head Coach Ashlyn Englehorn is the first Jacket head coach to win Coach of the Year since Amy Gurney did it in the DAC in 2008. She is entering her third season as head coach of the Yellow Jackets and has a overall record of 82-131, a BHSU record of 62-82, and a RMAC record of 56-62. She led BHSU to first RMAC Tournament berth in program history in 2025 after being picked to finish ninth in preseason coaches poll. Helped the Green & Gold finish with their first winning record in program history since 2009. In her first two seasons as head coach, she has won nine RMAC series, with six being this year. In the previous 12 seasons, BHSU had won a total of eight RMAC series. She also helped BHSU break their program wins record, program road wins record, and program RMAC wins record, along with multiple other program statistical records.

 
UCCS STORYLINES

• UCCS currently sits at 24-17 with an 18-14 RMAC record. UCCS like BHSU is coming off of an 0-4 weekend, where they were swept by a very hot CSU Pueblo team, which is now the fourth series they have either split or lost this season. They split the RMAC opening series versus CSM, got swept by CCU in the second weekend of the year, split with Fort Lewis in week four, and now got swept by CSUP this past weekend. This is coming after UCCS had a really strong non-conference, where they went 6-3 with wins over Western New Mexico, Sul Ross State, Minnesota Crookston, and UT Permian Basin, while losing to #8 West Texas A&M, Pittsburgh State, and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
• The Mountain Lions gave up a lot of runs in their four-game loss to the ThunderWolves. UCCS gave up 33 runs in four games, while only scoring 17. UCCS had a chance to win in game four versus Pueblo being up 4-3 going into the final inning but gave up five runs in the top of the seventh to lose. It was also their 12^th-15^th time this season giving up six or more runs in a game.
• All eight of UCCS' qualified hitters this year were big parts of their team last year and five of those eight were qualified last year. 80% of UCCS's at-bats from last year have returned to the team this year and are making impacts. Two of the top three pitchers for UCCS are also back and are the top two pitchers for the Mountain Lions this year.
• UCCS, like CCU is one of the top teams in the country in a lot of stats. The Mountain Lions are ranked top 10 in ten different stat categories. They are the one of only five teams in the countries to have recorded a triple play this year. They are third in sacrifice flies (26), fifth in hits (433), sixth in batting average (.339), seventh in total runs (302), eighth in RBIs (269), ninth in scoring (7.37), ninth in triples (20), tenth in slugging percentage (.533), tenth in stolen bases (110), and tenth in triples per game (.49).
• UCCS was projected fourth in the RMAC Preseason Poll with 87 points. They received five third place votes. UCCS after a rough start to RMAC play has made it all the way back and now sits in fifth place just one game ahead of BHSU.
• Jennavieve Goldsworth is the team leader in a lot of stat categories and has been the star for UCCS this year. The junior from Roseville, California was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention last year and has continued her dominance this year hitting .483 with an incredible .755 slugging percentage, a .541 on-base percentage and a 1.286 OPS. She has 71 hits, 55 runs scored, 33 RBIs, 111 total bases, 14 doubles, four triples, and six home runs. She is a 2x RMAC Player of the Week (2-3-26, 4-7-26). Goldsworth is ranked fourth in the country in hits (71), fourth in the country in runs (55), fifth in runs per game (1.34), 13^th in stolen bases (33), 14^th in total bases (111), 16^th in batting average (.483), and 17^th in toughest to strike out (0.20). She is also third in the RMAC in doubles (14), third in on-base percentage (.541), third in stolen base percentage (.892), fifth in doubles per game (.34), fifth in triples (4), and sixth in triples per game (0.10). She started her season going 5-for-6 versus Sul Ross State with two doubles and two RBIs in game one, since then she has gotten a hit in 35 of the 41 games and has reached base in 39 of those 41 games. In the first week of the season when she won RMAC Player of the Week, she hit 13-22 (.590) with three RBIs and four doubles. Her next Player of the Week came last week against Adams State, when she hit 13-15 (.867) with 13 runs scored, two doubles, three triples, and three RBIs. This past week, she went on-baseless for the second time during RMAC play but then hit 6-for-12 in the final three games with three runs scored, four doubles, and an RBI.
• Alyssa Gutierrez is the other top hitter for UCCS and the only other one hitting above .400. The senior from Castle Rock, Colorado is sitting at a .455 batting average to go along with a .571 slugging percentage and a .483 on-base percentage, which equals to a 1.054 OPS. She has 51 hits, 40 runs scored, 24 RBIs, 64 total bases, with three doubles and five triples. Gutierrez is second in the conference in triples (5), second in stolen base percentage (.923), third in triples per game (0.13), fourth in batting average (.455), fourth in stolen bases (24), fourth in stolen bases per game (24), and sixth in runs per game (1.00). Gutierrez had a rough start to the year, but has now reached base in 26 of her last 27 games. In her las tseries versus Pueblo, she went 6-for-15 with two runs scored, two triples, and two RBIs.
• Gianna Pancost is another top hitter for UCCS. The junior from Tuscon, Arizona is hitting .351 this year and has a .562 slugging percentage, a .404 on-base percentage and a .966 OPS. She is the team leader in RBIs with 44 and home runs with seven, while also having 48 hits, 26 runs, 77 total bases, six doubles, and one triple. Pancost is third in the RMAC in RBIs (44), third in RBIs per game (1.07), and fourth in sacrifice flies (4). She has a hit in eight of the last ten games and has 18 of her 44 RBIs in the last eight games. She had a massive series versus Adams hitting 7-for-15 (.467) with five runs scored, a double, a home run, and 13 RBIs. She was quiet in two of four games versus Pueblo, but went 2-for-4 with two home runs, and four RBIs in game three of the series.
• The top pitcher for UCCS has been Autumn Kunze. The senior pitcher from Chandler, Arizona has a 2.84 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP in 98.2 innings and 24 appearances. She has a 9-4 record with only 40 earned runs compared to 67 strikeouts and 26 walks. She has given up 29 extra base hits, including 15 doubles and 11 home runs. Kunze is ranked first in the RMAC in shutouts (4), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.56), and fourth in WHIP (1.25). She had a giant stretch in the middle of her season where she allowed only three earned runs in nine appearances and 39 innings. However since March 29, she has given up 14 earned runs in her last five appearances. Against Pueblo, she pitched 10 innings giving up nine runs with seven earned and striking out 12 to only one walk on nine hits.
• Head coach Dwight Sanders is in his third season at UCCS and his fifth season as a head coach. Sanders has a 96-130 record as a head coach, and a 76-73 record at UCCS. He is currently in the middle of his second career winning season after getting UCCS into the RMAC tournament last year with a 33-24 overall record. Sanders came to UCCS from Fort Lewis where he went 20-57.
   

SERIES HISTORY

• The Green and Gold is 12-37 all time versus the Mountain Lions. The two teams have been pretty even recently with UCCS winning seven of the last 13 games. BHSU has won two series all time versus UCCS in 2023 and 2015.
• Last season, UCCS was the team to end BHSU's historic season last year as the Mountain Lions beat the Yellow Jackets 3-0 in the first round of the consolation bracket last season.
• In the regular season, BHSU split with the Mountain Lions taking game one 6-3 and game three 3-1, and nearly won game four only losing 5-7.