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South Dakota State University Athletics
Jackrabbits move on to Oral Roberts
4/9/2009 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
BROOKINGS, S.D. ? The South Dakota State University baseball team will attempt to get back on the winning track this weekend, when it travels to Tulsa, Okla., for a four-game Summit League series against perennial league champion Oral Roberts.
The series opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at J.L. Johnson Stadium, followed by a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. The series finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
SDSU has lost its last three games and enters the series 5-18 overall, 1-3 in Summit League action. The Jackrabbits opened Summit League play last weekend at Centenary, winning the second game of the second game of the four-game series.
Oral Roberts, which has held a stranglehold on The Summit League by winning the last 11 league championships, is again atop the the league standings with a 4-0 record after sweeping IPFW last weekend. The Golden Eagles are 13-9 overall.
THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the renewal of a rivalry that dates back to 1971, when ORU swept a two-game series.
Overall, the Golden Eagles hold a 9-2 series advantage, after winning three of four meetings last season. The 2008 series marked the first time the two schools had met as conference opponents and also was the first time SDSU and ORU played in Brookings.
After play was suspended after one pitch on the opening day of the series a year ago, Oral Roberts went on to post 6-3, 5-3 and 12-1 victories in a marathon day of baseball at Erv Huether Field last May 3. The Jackrabbits salvaged the series finale on May 4, holding on to win 12-8. Erik DeJong and Nick Adams each homered for SDSU, while Isaac Johnson pitched 5 1/3 innings to pick up the victory and Kirby Morsching added a three-inning outing to earn the save.
ROAD WARRIORS: This weekend's trip to Oklahoma will mark the 10th different state in which the Jackrabbits have played a game this season.
After having its scheduled four-game home series against North Dakota postponed two weekends ago, SDSU has not yet played a game at Erv Huether Field this season. The Jackrabbits are now scheduled to open the home season April 17-19, hosting a four-game Summit League series against North Dakota State.
REVISED SCHEDULE: SDSU and North Dakota have rescheduled one of the doubleheaders lost March 28-29 due to the weather. The two teams are now scheduled to play a twinbill at Erv Huether Field on April 20, starting at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: Northern Iowa scored early and often, cruising to a 14-4 victory over South Dakota State in non-conference baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Waterloo Riverfront Stadium.
UNI scored five times in the first inning and tacked on six more runs in the second frame to build an 11-0 lead. The Panthers led 14-0 after four innings, plating two runs in the third and one in the fourth.
Jeff Taliaferro was the hitting star for UNI, going 4-for-5 with five runs batted in. The junior catcher delivered two-run singles in each of the first two innings and added an RBI double in the third. Deric Manrique, Travis Bennett and Jason Summers each added three hits as the Panthers pounded out 16 hits in the game. Bennett drove in three runs, while Manrique knocked in a pair with a base hit in the second inning.
SDSU got on the board in the sixth inning as Billy Stitz led off with his first home run of the season. Jesse Sawyer, who followed Stitz's blast with a single, later came around to score on an RBI groundout off the bat of Joel Blake.
The Jackrabbits scored the final two runs of the game in the ninth inning. Zach Briggs doubled with one out and scored on a base hit by Stitz. Sawyer added a run-scoring hit later in the inning to drive in Stitz.
Stitz, Ayala, Sawyer and Briggs each collected two of the Jackrabbits' 10 hits.
Starter Blaine Alberta was saddled with the loss after giving up 11 runs and 10 hits in the first two innings. The Jackrabbit bullpen trio of Austin Busse, Isaac Johnson and Caleb Thielbar combined to throw six innings, allowing three runs and six hits, while striking out three and walking three.
Colin Rea earned the victory for UNI, hurling three perfect innings with four strikeouts.
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 has been 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.
CAREER UPDATES: Several Jackrabbit players are moving up the career charts in the pitching and fielding categories this season.
Senior left-hander Caleb Thielbar is poised to put his name atop several pitching categories in the coming weeks. Thielbar, who has come out of the bullpen in his last three appearances, took over the career lead in innings pitched last weekend at Centenary, passing Trevor Schulte's career mark of 218.1 innings set from 1991-94. Thielbar enters the weekend with 223.1 innings pitched.
With one more start, the Randolph, Minn., native will tie Billy McMacken (1987-90) for most career starts with 39. In addition, Thielbar is currently fifth in career appearances with 52 and joined the Jackrabbit top 10 for career victories last week with his victory at Centenary. He enters the weekend with a 17-17 career record, tying him for eighth with four others on the career victories chart.
Reliever Kirby Morsching begins the weekend ranked third in career appearances with 57, including sharing team-high honors at 10 with Thielbar. Morsching also ranks in a tie with Brandon Groebner (1994-97) for sixth place on the Jackrabbit career saves chart with eight.
Fellow senior right-hander Isaac Johnson is fourth in career appearances with 56.
In the fielding department, senior catcher Tony Martin has moved into eighth place in career putouts with 641. He stands two away from tying Russ Langer (1998-2001) for seventh place in Jackrabbit history.
CANADIAN CONNECTION: SDSU has received some strong performances at the plate from a pair of Canadian newcomers. Jesse Sawyer and Joel Blake currently rank among the top four hitters on the team this season.
Sawyer, from Calgary, Alberta, leads the team with four home runs, while ranking second with 15 runs batted in and third among regulars with a .302 batting average. Sawyer, who has seen action at designated hitter, first base and third base, 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, has been a consistent hitter this season, ranking fourth on the team with a .281 average and second in home runs with two. 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.).
TURNER TURNING IT ON: Jackrabbit first baseman Stephen Turner has been a main offensive threat so far this season for SDSU. A senior from Torrance, Calif., Turner currently leads the team with a .333 batting average, 19 runs batted in and three triples. He also ranks second on the team with a .493 slugging percentage.
In addition, Turner has posted three three-hit games so far this season and shares the team lead with seven multi-hit games. He also leads the team with six multiple-RBI games.
BRIGGS FINDING HIS STROKE: True freshman Zach Briggs has begun to make his mark on the Jackrabbit lineup recently.
A starter at catcher or designated hitter in each of the last three games, Briggs has responded by hitting .500 (6-for-12), including three hits in the second game of a twinbill April 4 at Centenary.
Overall, the Dallas, Texas, native has strated five games for the Jackrabbits this season.
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.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to make a return trip to Minneapolis on April 15 for a mid-week game at Minnesota. First pitch is slated for 3:05 p.m. at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus.
SDSU then is slated to finally open the home season, hosting a four-game series against Summit League rival North Dakota State next weekend at Erv Huether Field. The series opener is set for 2 p.m. on April 17, followed by a noon doubleheader on April 18. The series finale on Sunday, April 19 is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
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