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South Dakota State University Athletics
Jacks prepare for key Summit series at WIU
4/23/2009 5:45:00 PM | Baseball
The South Dakota State University baseball team will attempt to stay in contention for a Summit League postseason tournament berth this weekend, when it travels to Western Illinois for its final regular season road games.
The four-game series kicks off at 3 p.m. Friday at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium on the WIU campus in Macomb, Ill. The two teams are scheduled to play a noon doubleheader on Saturday, with Sunday's series finale also starting at noon.
SDSU enters the key weekend series with a 10-25 overall mark, including a 3-8 record within The Summit League. The Jackrabbits opened the home season by splitting a four-game series last weekend against North Dakota State. Although the Jackrabbits currently stand seventh among eight Summit League teams, SDSU is only two games behind NDSU for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Western Illinois is a game ahead of the Jackrabbits in the league standings, entering weekend play 8-22 overall and 4-7 in The Summit League. The Leathernecks salvaged the final game of a four-game series at Southern Utah last weekend.
Video coverage of this weekend's games are scheduled to be available on the Jackrabbit Extra, with the feed originating from Western Illinois. The Jackrabbit Extra subscription service is available for $9.95 per month.
THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark only the second series SDSU and Western Illinois have played in baseball.
The two squads played a three-game series at Macomb in 2006 ? two years before SDSU joined The Summit League. SDSU won the opening game of the series, 7-6, on March 31, 2006, before WIU swept an April 1 doubleheader by scores of 7-3 and 7-6.
Last year's scheduled four-game series in Brookings was canceled due to a late-spring snowstorm.
PRICE ERA BEGINS: SDSU enters a new era of leadership as the Jackrabbits will play the 2009 season under interim head coach Ritchie Price.
Price served as infield and third base coach for the Jackrabbits in 2008, and was elevated to interim head coach following the resignation of Reggie Christiansen in June 2008.
A native of San Luis Obispo, Calif., Price has been around college baseball nearly his entire life. His two brothers ? Ryne and Robby ? have played at the University of Kansas, where their father, Ritch, is currently the head baseball coach.
Ritchie Price also played at Kansas, setting Jayhawk career records for games played (255), at bats (1,022), hits (312), runs scored (204), sacrifices (35) and hit by pitches (53). Price's graduating class owns the most wins of any class in Kansas baseball history.
In 2006, Price helped lead the Jayhawks to a Big 12 championship, as Kansas went 4-0 to win the conference title. After earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, Price's squad went 1-2, earning a win over Hawaii in the opening game.
Price was one of the ironmen of college baseball, starting 252 consecutive games at shortstop. Although no official records are kept by the NCAA, his streak likely ranks among the best in college baseball history. He was a four-time all-Big 12 selection, and was named the conference's best defensive shortstop in 2004 by Baseball America.
Following his highly successful career with the Jayhawks, Price was an 18th-round draft pick of the New York Mets in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft. Not only did Price play rookie ball with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League, but he also spent a week in Class A, playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League.
Price graduated from Kansas in 2007 with a degree in communication studies.
SUMMIT LEAGUE RACE: South Dakota State was picked to finish fourth in the eight-team Summit League race, according to a preseason poll conducted by the league's coaches.
SDSU received one first-place vote and 30 points, while defending conference champion Oral Roberts was picked to win its 12th consecutive Summit League title with seven first-place votes and 49 points.
Southern Utah was picked second with 49 points, followed by Centenary in third place with 35.
Rounding out the fifth through eighth spots were: Western Illinois (29), Oakland (17), IPFW (13) and North Dakota State (11).
TRANSITION OVER: The NCAA Division I Management Council Administrative Committee, acting on behalf of the DI Management Council, announced in late June 2008 that South Dakota State University has met the requirements to become an active member of NCAA Division I, starting at the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year.
Previously a member of Division II, SDSU successfully completed the five-year process of moving its athletics programs to comply with Division I membership requirements. Requirements include compliance with Division I rules for the final four years, meeting minimum financial aid and contest scheduling limits, engaging in a rules compliance review and successfully completing the athletics certification process.
SDSU officials submitted an extensive self-study to the NCAA in the spring of 2007 and a peer-review team completed the study during a campus visit in October 2007.
EARLIER THIS WEEK: The Jackrabbits enter their series against Western Illinois on a season-best three-game winning streak. After dropping the opening game of a doubleheader on Monday (April 20), the Jackrabbits posted a 10-8 victory over the University of North Dakota in Game 2. SDSU then swept a twinbill at UND on Wednesday (April 22), winning by scores of 7-5 and 9-4.
Entering the week with 13 home runs as a team, the Jackrabbits nearly doubled their long-ball total in the four games against UND. The Jackrabbits slugged 12 home runs in the four games, including a season-high five in the April 22 finale. As a team, SDSU compiled a slugging percentage of .669.
Jesse Sawyer led the way with five round-trippers, including two in the series finale. Sawyer homered in all four games, with three of the home runs coming in the first inning. Sawyer's home run streak of four games trails the Jackrabbit record of six, which was set by Tyson Fisher during the 2008 season.
John Lee added three home runs, five runs batted in, six runs scored and a team-best .467 batting average (7-for-15) in the four the games. Lee has homered in each of the last three games.
In the pitching department, freshman Austin Busse earned his first career victory after pitching seven strong innings in the first game of the April 22 doubleheader. Sophomore Trever Vermeulen made three relief appearances, picking up his first career save in relief of Busse.
LEE ON A TEAR: Jackrabbit right fielder John Lee has been the team's most consistent hitter in recent weeks.
The Mason City, Iowa, native enters the Western Illinois series on a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games. Starting with a four-hit game at Oral Roberts (Okla.) on April 10, Lee has tallied a .419 batting average (18-for-43) with four home runs and 10 runs batted in. During that span, Lee has raised his batting average 89 points from .188 to .277.
Lee began his collegiate career at Nebraska before returning home to play at North Iowa Area Community College.
PIECZYNSKI IN NEW ROLE: South Dakota State right-hander Sam Pieczynski has made the transition from setup man to starter during the 2009 season.
A junior from Des Moines, Iowa, Pieczynski made 22 career relief appearances before making his first career start at Centenary (La.) on April 4. After losing his first two decisions of the season, Pieczynski has turned in back-to-back winning performances. Working under a pre-determined pitch count, he pitched the first three innings of the April 17 game against North Dakota State, then pitched a career-best 6 1/3 innings in an April 20 victory over North Dakota.
Pieczynski is the scheduled starter for the series opener on Friday.
PITCHING PROWESS: Despite earning only a split of the four-game series against North Dakota State last weekend, the Jackrabbit pitching staff put together its best series of the season.
SDSU did not allow more than three runs in any of the four games, compiling a team earned-run aveerage of 1.06 over 34 innings of work. Jackrabbit pitchers surrendered only 23 hits as the Bison batted only .187 for the series. In addition, SDSU hurlers combined for 24 strikeouts and only seven bases on balls.
In Sunday's series finale, senior left-hander Caleb Thielbar struck out a career-high 12 batters and walked only one in a losing effort.
Freshman Layne Somsen pitched the first complete game by a Jackrabbit this season in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The Yankton native allowed only one unearned run over seven innings, striking out four and walking four.
In Saturday's first game, Isaac Johnson mark his return to the starting rotation by giving up only one run in six innings. Johnson struck out two and walked one, while giving up four hits.
SDSU opened the series with a 19-0 victory over North Dakota State. Five pitchers combined on the first Jackrabbit shutout of the season: Sam Pieczynski worked the first three innings, followed by two innings each by Mike Robinson and Blaine Alberta. Trever Vermeulen and Matt Spinar worked the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
GRAND ENTRANCE: Freshman Zach Briggs hit the first grand slam by a Jackrabbit player this season, capping the scoring in SDSU's 19-0 rout of North Dakota State on April 17.
Briggs' eighth-inning blast also was his first collegiate home run. He added his second home run of the season in the second game of the April 22 doubleheader at North Dakota.
Splitting time behind the plate and at designated hitter, Briggs has seen his playing time increase in recent weeks. His five RBI in the April 17 game versus North Dakota State are the most by a Jackrabbit player in 2009.
CAIN IS ABLE: Freshman Eric Cain has taken over the starting shortstop duties for the Jackrabbits this season. The Littleton, Colo., native and graduate of Dakota Ridge High School has started 17 of the team's last 19 games and 28 overall.
After tallying only one run batted in over his first 75 collegiate at-bats, Cain has driven in seven runs in his last 20 trips to the plate. He broke the drought with a 2-for-4, three-RBI day at the plate April 17 against North Dakota State and added a pair of hits and two RBI a day later against the Bison.
Cain hit his first career home run in the second game of the April 22 doubleheader at North Dakota.
CANADIAN CONNECTION: SDSU has received some strong performances at the plate from a pair of Canadian newcomers, Jesse Sawyer and Joel Blake.
Sawyer, from Calgary, Alberta, leads the team with nine home runs, 24 runs batted in and a .556 slugging percentage, while ranking third among regulars with a .286 batting average. Sawyer, who has seen action at designated hitter, first base, third base and left field, was named Summit League Player of the Week on March 16. His three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning of the Missouri State series finale on March 11 tied the game at 6-all ? a game SDSU eventually won 7-6 in 12 innings. Sawyer also hit a two-run home run that stood up as the difference in the Jackrabbits' 4-2 victory March 15 at Creighton (Neb.).
Blake, a native of Langely, British Columbia, was the team's most consistent hitter in the early going of the season, and currently ranks third on the team with three home runs. He has put together separate hitting streaks of seven and six games so far this season.
Two other Canadians are on the roster this year: freshman infielder Daniel Marra (Toronto), freshman outfielder Daniel Telford (Newmarket, Ont.).
MORE FROM MARTIN: Senior catcher Tony Martin has picked up where he left off offensively from a season ago, when he posted the second-highest batting average by a Jackrabbit player in the Division I era.
Martin, who hit .365 in 2008, again leads the team with a .326 average this season. A starter in all 35 games this season, he also leads the team with 44 hits and shares the team lead with eight doubles and three triples.
The Omaha native also has an outside chance to reach the 200-hit plateau this season. He enters weekend play with 171 career hits.
CAREER UPDATES: Several Jackrabbit players are moving up the career charts in the pitching and fielding categories this season.
Senior left-hander Caleb Thielbar has put his name atop two career pitching categories in recent week weeks. Thielbar took over the career lead in innings pitched at the beginning of the month and enters the weekend with 237.2, passing Trevor Schulte's career mark of 218.1 innings set from 1991-94. With his start April 19 against North Dakota State, the Randolph, Minn., native broke a tie with Billy McMacken (1987-90) for most career starts with 40.
In addition, Thielbar is currently fifth in career appearances with 55 and joined the Jackrabbit top 10 for career victories with his victory at Centenary on April 4. He enters the weekend with a 17-18 career record, tying him for eighth with four others on the career victories chart. Thielbar also has moved into sixth place in career strikeouts with 149. He leads the staff with 53 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings, including a career-best 12 in his last start, which came against North Dakota State on April 19.
Senior right-hander Isaac Johnson stands in third place for career appearances with 60. Johnson is 2-0 since rejoining the starting rotation last weekend, after making five consecutive relief appearances.
Reliever and fellow senior Kirby Morsching begins the weekend ranked fourth in career appearances with 58. Morsching, who has been sidelined from pitching duties in recent weeks due to injury, also ranks in a tie with Brandon Groebner (1994-97) for sixth place on the Jackrabbit career saves chart with eight.
In the fielding department, senior catcher Tony Martin has vaulted into fifth place in career putouts with 695. In the past week, Martin moved past Russ Langer (643 putouts from 1998-2001), Chris Studer (648 from 1999-2002) and Josh Guse (663 from 1997-2000). Next on the list is Ryan Krogman, who recorded 814 putouts from 1991-94.
THE ROSTER: The 2009 SDSU baseball roster features 28 players from 11 different states plus Canada. Of the 28 players, six are from South Dakota, five are from Minnesota, three hail from Iowa, with two each from California and Texas. Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oregon are represented by one player each. In addition, four players are from Canada. By class, seven are seniors, five are juniors, seven are sophomores and nine are incoming freshmen.
ON DECK: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to play the remainder of their regular schedule at home, including a pair of midweek games April 28 and 29.
SDSU is scheduled to host Creighton (Neb.) at 2 p.m. on April 28, while Minnesota will pay a visit to Erv Huether Field on April 29 for a 3 p.m. matchup. The Jackrabbits return to Summit League play May 1-3 with a four-game series against Oakland (Mich.). SDSU will honor Jackrabbit baseball alumni during the May 2 twinbill.
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