SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (19-16 (16-8 RMAC)) are coming off arguably the biggest series win in program history this past weekend when they shocked the MSU Denver Roadrunners by winning three out of four games with two on walk-offs. The Yellow Jackets will now look to continue their hot streak and win their fifth straight series versus the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (13-21 (9-15 RMAC)) in a series that could have postseason implications. The series will take place on Friday and Saturday in Golden, Colorado.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Date/Time/Location (All Times MT): Friday, April 3 at 12 and 2 PM at Joe Coors Jr. Softball Field in Golden, Colo.
Saturday, April 4 at 11 AM and 1 PM at Joe Coors Jr. Softball Field in Golden, 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 19-16 and 16-8 in RMAC play after pulling off arguably the biggest series win in program history with their series win over the Roadrunners. BHSU has now won four straight series and have won 13 of their last 16 games. The Yellow Jackets have won series versus New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State, Regis, and MSU Denver all in a row and also split a series versus Adams State to begin RMAC play.
• The Yellow Jackets were pretty dead even with the Roadrunners with all four games being within two runs. The Yellow Jackets outscored MSUD 35-34 over the series and scored in double digits twice this season. They also held a hot-scoring MSUD team to under ten runs in three of the four games.
• 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.
• Outside of BHSU's Oklahoma trip, six of the Green and Gold's ten 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 30 in the country in six different stats. They are 19^th in hit by pitches (28), 22^nd in doubles (60), 25^th in RBIs (202), 27^th in RBIs per game (5.77), 29^th in walks (120), 30^th in home runs (28).
• 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 fifth at 16-8.
• 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 at a team-low 3.53 ERA with a 1.79 WHIP. Honse has allowed only 20 earned runs in 39.2 innings pitched while striking out 24 and walking 24 with seven of those walks coming in her first two appearances. Since those rough first two starts, she has only had three games where she's allowed an earned run. Outside of those five games allowing earned runs, Honse has pitched 28 innings with no earned runs and 18 strikeouts. This past weekend, 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 4.56 ERA in 89.0 innings and has appeared in 24 of the 35 games this season. She has 87 strikeouts, which ranks second in the RMAC compared to only 58 earned runs and sits second in team history in single season wins with 10 compared to six losses. She has only allowed 27 extra base hits. Besides strikeouts, she is second in the conference in strikeouts per seven innings (6.8) and is second in pitching appearances (24). 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.
• Brooklyn Theiler has been on absolute fire as of late. The freshman of Buckeye, Arizona has started each of the last 17 games. She leads the entire team in batting average sitting at a .407 clip, while having a .481 slugging percentage, a .476 on-base percentage and recording 22 hits, 20 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.
• 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 .381 with an insane OPS of 1.160 with a .638 slugging percentage and a .522 on-base percentage. She has 40 hits and 38 runs in 35 games with 21 walks, 19 RBIs, five home runs, two triples, and eight doubles. She is third in hit by pitches (9), fourth in on-base percentage (.522), fifth in runs per game (1.12), and sixth in runs (38) 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. This past weekend, 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 .362 batting average, a .612 slugging percentage, a .415 on-base percentage, and has 42 hits, 35 RBIs, and 28 runs scored, nine stolen bases with 11 doubles and six home runs. This includes a walk-off inside-the-park home run versus Adams in game three. She ranks fourth in the RMAC in doubles (11), sixth in doubles per game (0.32), seventh in home runs (6), fifth in RBIs (35), and fifth in RBIs per game (1.03). She has a run in 21 of 35 games, a hit in 26 of 35, an RBI in 23 of 35, and has reached base in 28 of 35. She earned her first RMAC Player of the Week nod two weekends ago for going off in Broomfield 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.
• Desi Hernandez is coming off an excellent freshman season where she was named All-RMAC honorable mention. Hernandez is hitting in a tie for second on the team with a .355 with 26 RBIs, five doubles, two triples, five home runs, 15 runs scored, and 57 total bases. She has a .613 slugging percentage and a .410 on-base percentage. On the fielding side, she has ten caught stealing, which is tied for first in the RMAC and 13th 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 19 of 23 games this year and has reached base in 21 of 23 games. 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.
• Alyssa Wong was named to All-RMAC Gold Glove team and started this year with a .301 batting average, .474 on-base percentage with 21 walks, 22 hits, three doubles, a triple, six RBIs and 14 runs scored. She sits at fourth in the RMAC in walks per game (.69). She has reached base in all but five 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.
• Caylee Mann was the top player for BHSU early and was another transfer who made an immediate impact. She has a .298 batting average with an .840 OPS, a .481 slugging percentage, and has 24 RBIs with 13 runs scored, ten doubles and three 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.
• 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 81-124, a BHSU record of 61-75, and a RMAC record of 55-55. 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.

 
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES STORYLINES

• Colorado School of Mines currently sits at 13-21 and 9-15 in conference play. The Orediggers have had a rough go of it lately losing 13 of the last 15 games and getting swept in back-to-back series versus MSU Denver and Colorado Christian. They were able to bounce back and split the series versus Regis taking the middle two games.
• The Orediggers have played in three run rules in the last six games and are 1-2 in those games. This includes a 5-13 loss in six innings versus Colorado Christian, a 2-11 loss to Regis in five innings in game one of their series, and an 11-1 win over Regis in game three of the series. They are now sitting at seven run rule games and are 3-4 on the season in such performances.
• In the non-conference play, CSM went 4-6 in their games with three losses to RMAC opponents in MSU Denver and Regis and also losses to #24 Missouri Southern, Emporia State and UT Dallas at the Lone Star D2 College Classic in Mansfield, Texas. They were able to get wins over Texas A&M Kingsville, MSU Moorhead, and two wins over MSU Billings.
• CSM has only six qualified hitters this season, but has had 20 different hitters take at bats. They have a team batting average of .303, a team slugging of .448, and a team on-base percentage of .379.
• CSM is a fast team, is a good baserunning team, and also has a great infield. They are ranked top 20 in the country in six different stats. They are leading the country in triples (23), they are second in triples per game (.68), tenth in double plays (16), 13^th in double plays per game (.47), 13^th in sacrifice flies (16), and 16^th in sacrifice bunts (32).
• CSM was projected sixth in the RMAC Preseason Poll with 68 points. They were seven points behind UCCS for fifth place and were only four points ahead of BHSU. Currently, they are sitting in seventh place six games behind UCCS for sixth in and one game ahead of Regis at 9-15 in RMAC play. They just missed the RMAC tournament last year finishing four games outside the tournament.
• Kellan Ton has been the star for the Orediggers. Through 34 games, the junior from Sugar Land, Texas, who was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention is hitting .410 with a .995 OPS, a slugging percentage of .538, and an on-base percentage of .457. She has 48 hits with five triples, two doubles, a home run, 13 RBIs, 28 runs scored and a team high 23 stolen bases in 27 attempts. She leads the RMAC and is 11^th in the country in triples (5), she is second in the RMAC in triples per game (.15), third in stolen bases (23), third in stolen bases per game (.70), sixth in hits (48), and eighth in batting average (.421). Ton has a hit in 21 of the last 24 games. She had a monster series versus Regis where she went 7-for-14, with seven RBIs, four runs scored, a home run, and a triple.
• Kendall Aragon is the next top hitter for Colorado Mines, she's hitting .385 with a .985 OPS, a .552 slugging percentage, and a .430 on-base percentage. She has 37 hits with 22 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 11 walks, nine doubles, two triples, and a home run. She sits fifth in the country in sacrifice flies with six, which also leads the RMAC. She has a hit in 11 of the last 13 games. She went 6-for-12 with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and two RBIs versus Regis.
• Katie Bauer is the third qualified hitter hitting over .300 for Mines with a .366 batting average, a 1.032 OPS, a .610 slugging percentage, and a .422 on-base percentage. Bauer is currently sitting at 30 hits, 21 RBIs, ten doubles, two triples, two home runs, and seven runs scored. She is fourth in doubles per game (.34), seventh in doubles (10), and seventh in caught stealing (4). She has a hit in 15 of the last 19 games, but struggled versus Regis only getting a hit in one out of three games where she went 2-for-6 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI in the series.
• The top pitcher for Colorado School of Mines is Rylee Church, who in 43.1 innings, has a 3.55 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. She has a 2-3 record, has given up 22 earned runs and has 35 strikeouts to 30 walks. Church has only made two starts this season while being mainly a bullpen arm in only 12 appearances. In those two starts she went the full seven innings in each gave up a combined three earned runs, walked ten batters, while giving up 12 hits and striking out nine.
• Taylor Wayne has been the main starter out of CSM's rotation. The redshirt senior from California has thrown 77.0 innings with 43 earned runs, and 4.09 ERA in 14 starts and 17 appearances and five complete games. Wayne had a great start to the season not allowing more than three earned runs in eight of her first nine appearances, but she has allowed three earned runs or more in her last seven starts including 14 runs and 13 earned runs in 3.1 innings versus Regis while giving up seven walks and three strikeouts.
• Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk is in her second season as head coach of CSM and 13^th overall. Echo-Hawk has a 287-387 (.426) overall record and 35-53 record at CSM (.398). Since her first four years of her coaching career, she has not had a winning season. Echo-Hawk spent the last 11 years in Division 1 at Portland State and UTEP before making the move to CSM.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• CSM is winning the overall series 11-34-1. They have won nine of the last 12, but BHSU won a series in 2022 and split the series in 2024.
• Last season, Colorado School of Mines was one of only two teams to beat BHSU in the season series last year with CSM winning 3-1 in a series where the location switched from Spearfish to Golden and BHSU took game three of the four-game series.