Yellow Jackets Look To Bounce Back As They Host #9 Cougars

The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (20-19 (17-11 RMAC)) are entering a very important series versus the #9 Colorado Christian Cougars (38-2 (28-0 RMAC)) who have yet to lose a game in RMAC play. BHSU is coming off a setback series versus Colorado School of Mines, where they went 1-3 and lost their four-game series winning streak. BHSU will now look to bounce back versus one of the top teams in the country on Saturday and Sunday at Yellow Jacket Field.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Date/Time/Location (All Times MT): Saturday, April 11 at 12 and 2 PM at Yellow Jacket Field in Spearfish, S.D.
Sunday, April 12 at 11 AM and 1 PM at Yellow Jacket Field in Spearfish, S.D.

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.

Linear TV: Due to connectivity issues for the time being, softball games will not be on linear TV

StatBroadcast: Live Stat links for all games can all be found at the links above

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State currently sits at 20-19 and 17-11 in RMAC play after falling in the series to Colorado School of Mines. That series loss ended a streak of four straight series wins that included wins over Highlands, Chadron, Regis, and MSU Denver. BHSU’s loss to CSM was only the second series loss of the year including a loss to CSUP earlier this year.
• The Yellow Jackets were outhit in the series versus CSM 41-27, but they did hit more doubles, 7-4, and walk more times 18-14. CSM also stole 15 bases versus the Yellow Jackets. BHSU were run-ruled for the first time in RMAC play in their final game versus the Orediggers 11-3 and only the third time all season. They did get one win in the series in game three, when BHSU took a 3-3 tied game into the fourth and scored four runs in the final four innings.
• Outside of BHSU’s Oklahoma trip, six of the Green and Gold’s 13 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 nine different stats. They are 13th in hit by pitches (35), 22nd in walks (138), 25th in doubles (67), 26th in RBIs (218), 36th in doubles per game (1.72), 37th in hits (327), 39th in RBIs per game (5.59), 39th in on-base percentage (0.408), and 40th in total runs (230).
• 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 a tie for fourth with Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver at 17-11.
• 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.
• 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 4.67 ERA in 99.0 innings and has appeared in 26 of the 39 games this season. She has 100 strikeouts, which ranks first in the RMAC compared to only 66 earned runs and sits second in team history in single season wins with 11 compared to seven losses. She is only the ninth pitcher in BHSU history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season. She has only allowed 32 extra base hits. Besides strikeouts, she is second in the conference in strikeouts per seven innings (7.0) and is second in pitching appearances (26). 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.
• 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  4.67 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. Honse has allowed only 29 earned runs in 42.2 innings pitched while striking out 24 and walking 26 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. 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.
• Brooklyn Theiler has been on absolute fire as of late. The freshman of Buckeye, Arizona has started 19 of the last 21 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.
• 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 .375 with an insane OPS of 1.130 with a .616 slugging percentage and a .514 on-base percentage. She has 42 hits and 38 runs in 37 games with 22 walks, 19 RBIs, five home runs, two triples, and eight doubles. She is third in hit by pitches (10), fourth in on-base percentage (.514), fifth in runs per game (1.06), and seventh 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. 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 .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 37 games, a hit in 28 of 37, including 20 of the last 22 an RBI in 23 of 37, and has reached base in 30 of 37. 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 fourth on the team with a .350 with 31 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, 15 runs scored, and 63 total bases. She has a .612 slugging percentage and a .425 on-base percentage. On the fielding side, she has 11 caught stealing, which is second 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 25 of 33 games this year and has reached base in 29 of 33 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. 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.
• Caylee Mann was the top player for BHSU early and was another transfer who made an immediate impact. She has a .310 batting average with an .857 OPS, a .483 slugging percentage, and has 27 RBIs with 13 runs scored, 11 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. 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.
• Alyssa Wong was named to All-RMAC Gold Glove team and started this year with a .294 batting average, .464 on-base percentage with 22 walks, 25 hits, three doubles, a triple, seven RBIs and 17 runs scored. She sits at fourth in the RMAC in walks per game (.64). 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.
• 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 82-127, a BHSU record of 62-78, and a RMAC record of 56-58. 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.

#9 COLORADO CHRISTIAN STORYLINES

• Colorado Christian is in historic territory right now. They are currently sitting at 38-2 and 28-0 in RMAC play. The Cougars are currently rolling through the RMAC right now and are undefeated in conference play while riding a 34-game win streak. They are coming off their seventh straight sweep after winning all four versus the MSU Denver Roadrunners the week after MSUD lost three to BHSU. The Cougars didn’t show any mercy to MSU Denver, run ruling them twice. First in game one when they won 8-0 in five innings, and then in game three, when they won 10-2 in five innings. They also held them to zero in game two nearly getting a third run-rule winning 7-0, and then scraping a sweep in game four winning 6-5 on a walk-off in the seventh.
• The Cougars have played an easier conference schedule so far with a sweep over UCCS and MSUD being the lone highlights. They now start a tough stretch where they face three top five teams to end the season. Their season started off strong with wins over Dominican and #17 Cal State East Bay, before they dropped a game to Hawaii Pacific before winning the last two in California at Concordia Kickoff Classic. After that, they went to Lake Elsinore and lost in a run-rule to #3 Western Washington 4-14 and then winning in eight innings over Northwest Nazarene. 3-2. That win kickstarted a 34-game win streak including a 5-0 record at the D2 West Coast Challenge including a win over RV Concordia Irvine.
• Christian started the season unranked in the NFCA Coaches Poll, but after their first week, they jumped to 21 and have continued to climb all the way into the top 10, where they reached that height last week and jumped to #9 this week. They have also been ranked 20th, 18th, 17th, 15th, 13th, 14th, and 10th.
• Seven of Christian’s eight qualified hitters have a batting average over .300 and six of them having a batting average over .350. All four of CCU’s qualified pitchers have an ERA under 3.50 and three of them are under 3.00.
• CCU is one of the best teams in the country and the stats definitely show it. They are ranked top 10 in 16 different categories. They lead the country in win/loss percentage (.950), hits (433), and runs scored (348). They are second in the country in RBIs (311), slugging percentage (.602), and sacrifice flies (26). They are third in the country in batting average (.378), double plays (21), RBIs per game (7.78), and scoring (8.70). The Cougars are also fourth in doubles (83), sixth in double plays per game (.53), sixth in on-base percentage (.442), seventh in home runs (42), ninth in home runs per game (1.18), and tenth in doubles per game (2.08).
• CCU was projected first in the RMAC Preseason Poll with 117 points. They received seven first place votes and four second place votes. After winning the RMAC Regular season title and the RMAC Championship, they were only given eight more points than Colorado Mesa. However, CCU is easily fulfilling that ranking sitting at a perfect 28-0 in conference play and looking like a lock for the regular season title.
• Kat Hanson is the star for the Cougars and is looking like a too early too call RMAC Player of the Year frontrunner. The star sophomore from Apache Junction, Arizona is hitting an incredible .521 with a .910 slugging percentage, a .553 on-base percentage, and a 1.463 OPS. She has 75 hits, 51 RBIs, 50 runs scored, 131 total bases, 15 doubles, four triples, and 11 home runs. Hanson is second in the country in hits (75), second in total bases (131), fifth in runs (50), seventh in batting average (.521), tenth in RBIs (51), tenth in slugging percentage (.910), 12th in doubles (15), 22nd in home runs (11), and 24th in on-base percentage (.553). Hanson is one-time RMAC Player of the Week on March 24th after going 11-14 (.786) with two home runs, a double, six runs scored and seven RBIs. She has a hit in all but two games this season, has a run scored in 14 of the last 16 games and has an RBI in 18 of the last 20. Against MSU Denver, she went 9-for-16 (.563) with nine RBIs, four doubles, a home run, and four runs scored.
• Leah Garcia is the next top hitter for Colorado Christian. The Senior from Amarillo, Texas is having an incredible year batting .423 with a .700 slugging percentage, a .467 on-base percentage and a 1.167 OPS. Garcia has 55 hits, 41 runs, 39 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs with 91 total bases and 13 stolen bases in 13 attempts. Garcia is ranked 14th in the country in sacrifice flies (5), as well as fourth in the RMAC in RBIs (39), fifth in caught stealings (6), hits (55), home runs (7), runs (41), RBIs per game (0.98), total base (91), and sixth in slugging percentage (.700). She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week when she played against Chadron and went 11-for-17 (.647) with eight RBIs, two home runs, two doubles, and seven runs scored. In game one of that series, she went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, a home run, and three runs scored. She had a hit in 23 of 25 games going into last week’s series, but started the series 0-for-4 before hitting a three-run home run in game three.
• Arianna Wright is the next top hitter for CCU. The Senior transfer from Grand Canyon University is a first basemen for the Cougars and is having a monster year. She is hitting .395 with a 1.225 OPS, a .760 slugging percentage, and a .465 on-base percentage. She has 51 hits, 57 RBIs, 98 total bases, 43 runs scored, 13 doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs. Wright is ranked second in the country in RBIs (57), sixth in sacrifice flies (6), 11th in RBIs per game (1.43), 18th in total bases (98), and 21st in runs scored (43). She is also ranked second in the RMAC in home runs (10), third in doubles (13), third in home runs per game (0.25), fourth in runs per game (1.03), and fifth in slugging percentage (.760). She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week back on March 17 after she dominated versus Regis. She went 7-for-12 (.583) with 15 RBIs, three home runs, a double, and six runs scored. In game one, she went 2-for-2 with two home runs and seven RBIs before adding four more RBIs in game four, when she had another homer and two runs scored. Since then, she’s been a little cold at the plate hitting 5-for-30 (.167) over her last nine games. She had a good game versus MSUD, where she went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
• The top pitcher for Christian has been reigning RMAC Player of the Year Elyse McMullin. McMullin won RMAC Player of the Year due to her contributions at the plate and at the mound, but it’s hard to say she’s replicating that this year with her performance at the plate, however, she is dominating on the pitching side. She boasts a 1.72 ERA, a .98 WHIP, a 7-0 record, and 32 strikeouts in 53.0 innings pitched. McMullin has only allowed 11 earned runs in nine appearances. She’s leading the conference in hits allowed per seven innings (5.42) and WHIP (.98), she is second in ERA (1.72), second in shutouts (3), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.91), second in walks allowed per seven innings (1.45), and second in walks per game (.68). She isn’t performing batting average at the plate, but she’s still taken 27 walks, 30 hits, 41 runs scored, and 23 RBIs. She is a one-time pitcher of the week from week two this season, when she pitched seven innings of one-hit ball versus Cal State San Bernandino. She is pitching one game a series and had only allowed four earned runs in her previous four starts before doubling that in her game versus MSUD, where she gave up four earned runs and eight hits in four innings.
• The other top pitcher for CCU is Felesha LePenske. The sophomore from American River College is having a great year. She has a 2.73 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, a 15-0 record, and 67 strikeouts compared to 16 walks in 84.2 innings. She has seven complete games, only given up 33 earned runs and 25 extra base hits. On the offensive side, she is hitting .387 with 48 hits, 40 RBIs, 37 runs scored, 12 doubles, and eight home runs with a .677 slugging percentage, a .487 on-base percentage, and a 1.164 OPS. Rankings wise, she is 15th in the country in victories (15), while also leading the RMAC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.19), and walks allowed per seven innings (1.32). She is also second in the RMAC in WHIP (1.15), third in RBIs (40), fourth in home runs (8), fourth in home runs per game (.21), fourth in RBIs per game (1.03), and sixth in doubles (12). She is a one-time RMAC Player of the Week back in week two for her performances against West Coast teams where she had five hits, eight RBIs, a home run, and four runs scored. She has a hit in 18 of the last 19 games including 6-for-14 (.429) versus MSUD with two RBIs, a home run, three doubles, and four runs scored. Pitching-wise, she had a great weekend versus the Roadrunners, she went ten innings with only two earned runs and 12 strikeouts.

• Head coach Larry Hays is in his eighth season as head coach of the Cougars and is in his ninth-year total as a head coach. He spent one season as the head coach of Lubbock Christian before moving over. He has a career 377-86 record and has a 323-80 record as coach of Christian. Before he moved to softball, he spent 22 years as the Head Coach of Texas Tech in baseball and won over 1500 games. He was inducted into the NCAA Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been named RMAC Coach of the Year twice, won four RMAC titles, and has made it to NCAA Regionals four times all in the last four years.. He won an NAIA National Championship at Lubbock in 2010. He is one of only four baseball coaches to compile 1500 career wins.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Green and Gold are 5-39 versus the Cougars in program history and have lost 28 of the last 30 games. BHSU is 2-15 versus CCU all time at home and are looking to be the first RMAC team to beat CCU this year
• Last season, BHSU made history splitting with CCU for the first time in program history and ending a 26-game losing streak to the Cougars. BHSU took games one and four from CCU, winning game four in ten innings. BHSU almost took the series only losing game three 2-1.