Jacks meet Fort Wayne in tournament opener

Saturday, May 16

Erv Huether Field

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Fort Wayne

5/20/2015 2:34:00 PM | Baseball

By: SDSU Sports Info

The South Dakota State University baseball team will be in search of its second Summit League Baseball Championship in three years as it opens postseason tournament play Wednesday night in Sioux Falls.
First pitch against third-seeded Fort Wayne is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sioux Falls Stadium.
The second-seeded Jackrabbits enter the week with a 32-21 overall record, including an 18-11 mark in The Summit League. Fort Wayne is 26-24 overall after compiling a 13-16 record in league play.
SDSU won the regular season series against Fort Wayne, 4-1, including splitting an abbreviated two-game series last weekend at Erv Huether Field.
A complete schedule for the four-team, double-elimination Summit League Baseball Championship, presented by First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, is as follows:
Wednesday, May 20
Game 1: #4 North Dakota State (20-29) vs. #1 Oral Roberts (38-14), 2 p.m.
Game 2: #3 Fort Wayne (26-24) vs. #2 South Dakota State (32-21), 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 21
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 22
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 23
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7: Second championship game (if necessary), 4:30 p.m.

Please note the stadium will be cleared between games on May 20 and 21. All seating is general admission.

Ticket prices are as follows:
• All-session – $45
• Adult single-game – $10
• Youth (12 and under) single-session – $5

Radio coverage of Jackrabbit tournament games will be available on Brookings-based KJJQ 910 AM and also streamed online free of charge through the Jackrabbit Extra at GoJacks.com, with Tyler Merriam calling the play-by-play. Free live streaming video and live stats also will be available at GoJacks.com.
Saturday's championship game will be televised on Midco Sports Net. The winner of the tournament will advance to the NCAA Tournament, which begins May 29 at campus sites.
Sioux Falls Stadium previously hosted the Summit League Baseball Championship in 2011 and 2014. SDSU also hosted the 2006 D-I Independent Tournament in Sioux Falls.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Jackrabbits have found success at the Summit League Baseball Championship, advancing to the title series four of the five times they have qualified for the four-team tournament. Overall, SDSU holds an 11-9 record in Summit League Baseball Championship games.

FORT WAYNE SERIES: Wednesday's game will mark the 47th meeting between South Dakota State and Fort Wayne on the baseball diamond — a series that dates back to a 13-1 Jackrabbit victory at the Division I Independent Tournament in Sioux Falls on May 20, 2006. Overall, SDSU leads the series, 36-10.

ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE: Six South Dakota State University baseball players, led by three-time selection Adam Bray, were announced as all-Summit League honorees at a pre-tournament banquet Tuesday night.
A senior pitcher from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Bray repeated as a first-team selection after compiling a 7-4 record with a 2.89 earned run average during the regular season. Bray ranked third among Summit League pitchers with 73 strikeouts in 84 innings and limited opponents to a .244 batting average in his 13 starts. Bray also was a second-team all-Summit League selection in 2013.
Bray is only the fourth Jackrabbit player to be a three-time all-Summit League selection, joining Joel Blake (2009-11), Jesse Sawyer (2009-11) and Billy Stitz (2008, 2010-11).
Joining Bray on the all-Summit League First Team were outfielder Zach Coppola and designated hitter Luke Ringhofer.
A junior from Windsor Heights, Iowa, Coppola finished the regular season as the league leader with 75 hits, 52 runs scored, 37 walks, a .489 on-base percentage and a school-record 38 stolen bases. He also ranked second in batting with a .381 average en route to putting together a streak of 45 consecutive games of reaching base safely. Coppola also excelled defensively, recording 10 outfield assists.
Ringhofer, a freshman from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, served as the team's primary designated hitter for much of the season while also seeing some action at catcher. He batted .333 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 40 runs batted in during the regular season. Ringhofer, who had a 17-game hitting streak late in the season, posted a .451 on-base percentage by walking 31 times and striking out only 12 times in 147 at-bats.
Three other Jackrabbits – pitcher Chris Anderson, catcher Reid Clary and second baseman Al Robbins – received second-team recognition.
Anderson, a senior from Aurora, Illinois, won his last four starts to complete the regular season as the team leader in wins with an 8-2 record. The left-hander has a 3.21 ERA, recording 56 strikeouts in 75 2/3 innings.
Clary, a two-time Summit League Player of the Week during the 2015 season, batted .279 with three home runs and 35 RBI. A senior from Princeton, Illinois, Clary shares the team lead with 13 doubles and has scored 39 runs.
A senior from West Chicago, Illinois, Robbins batted .316 with a home run and 27 RBI. He also helped solidify the Jackrabbit defense with a .983 fielding percentage, committing only three errors in 172 defensive chances.

TURNING TWO: The Jackrabbit defense came up big in several key situations during its three-game series April 24-26 at Oral Roberts, turning a total of seven double plays. SDSU recorded three double plays in each of the first two games of the series. In fact, Oral Roberts hit into six double plays in a seven-inning span starting with the sixth, seventh and ninth innings of the series opener and concluding with the first three innings of Game 2.
For the season, the Jackrabbits have turned 49 double plays, recording three in a game four times. SDSU has turned a double play in nine of the last 14 games for a total of 17 twin killings.

POWER OUTAGE, POWER SURGE: Sophomore Matt Johnson ended a long home run drought by the Jackrabbits when he connected on a three-run homer in the first inning of the second game of an April 1 doubleheader against Dakota Wesleyan.
SDSU had gone 14 full games between home runs, dating back to when freshman Luke Ringhofer hit a two-run shot in the second game of a March 7 twinbill at Southern (La.).
Since Johnson's first home run of the season, the Jackrabbits have hit 16 home runs over the next 27 games, including three more by Johnson. SDSU connected on four solo home runs in the April 12 victory over North Dakota State, marking the most homers in a game by the Jackrabbits since the 2010 season.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS: As part of the Jackrabbits' four-home-run game against North Dakota State on April 12, Matt Johnson and Newt Johnson hit back-to-back solo home runs in the third inning. The last time SDSU had hit back-to-back home runs was on April 30, 2011, in the first game of a doubleheader at Erv Huether Field as Jesse Sawyer and Zach Briggs accomplished the feat.

IN THE BIG INNING(S): Two times during their long April homestand the Jackrabbit baseball team scored double figures for runs in an inning.
The first occurrence came in the second inning of the second game of an April 1 doubleheader against Dakota Wesleyan, when the Jackrabbits scored 10 times.
SDSU exceeded that total with an 11-run fourth inning April 14 against North Dakota. The Jackrabbits sent 16 men to the plate in that frame.

OUTFIELD ASSISTS: The Jackrabbits entered play this week unofficially ranked second among all Division I baseball teams with 20 outfield assists. Incarnate Word (Texas) held the top spot with 21.
Junior center fielder Zach Coppola ranks in a three-way tie for second place nationally after recording his 10th outfield assist against Western Illinois on May 1. Paul Jacobson ranks second on the team with five outfield assists, followed by four from Eric Danforth and one from Zach Holt.

100 AND COUNTING: Five Jackrabbits have reached a career milestone this season by recording their 100th career hit.
Junior outfielder Paul Jacobson became the first Jackrabbit to achieve the feat this season, when he tallied his 100th career hit March 11 in a game against Mississippi Valley State. A three-year starter, Jacobson enters tournament with 142 career hits.
Junior center fielder Zach Coppola joined the 100-hit club March 14 at Omaha and enters the week with a team-best 154 career hits. Coppola had a 14-game hitting streak snapped in the series opener against Omaha on April 17, during which he batted .560 (28-for-50) and tallied five three-hit games. Coppola went on another 15-game hitting streak, giving him a hit in 29 of 30 games. Those hitting streaks were part of a string of reaching base safely in a Division I-era best 45 consecutive games. Coppola has failed to reach base safely in only two games this season — the Feb. 27 series opener at Stephen F. Austin (Texas) and May 14 versus Fort Wayne.
Senior infielder Al Robbins became the third member of the team to record his 100th career hit, reaching the milestone March 21 at Western Illinois. Robbins enters the week with 137 career hits. He also has been on a hot streak of late, batting .350 (36-for-103) with 21 RBI over his last 32 games.
Senior outfielder Eric Danforth became the fourth member of the 100-hit club this year, notching hit No. 100 April 4 against Oral Roberts. A Watertown native, Danforth had a streak of reaching base safely end at 36 games in the May 9 series finale at North Dakota State. Danforth has recorded a hit in 25 of 28 games — during which he is batting .394 (41-for-104), Danforth has tallied 133 career hits.
Catcher Reid Clary joined the 100-hit club with a home run May 2 against Western Illinois. Of Clary's 105 career hits, 32 have been for extra bases (26 doubles, two triples and four home runs.
Clary also has moved into the Jackrabbit career top 10 for putouts, and is currently ninth with 708 putouts. He also ranks in a tie for seventh on the SDSU career charts with 11 sacrifice flies.

CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN: South Dakota State center fielder Zach Coppola has broken one of the Jackrabbits' longest-standing single-season records in 2015. A junior from Windsor Heights, Iowa, Coppola is a perfect 38-for-38 on stolen-base attempts this season, surpassing the previous single-season record of 26 by Darrell Bren in 1988 with a three-steal performance April 18 against Omaha. Coppola has stolen 43 consecutive bases dating back to 2014.
With 61 career stolen bases, Coppola has moved into sole possession of second place on the SDSU charts after breaking a tie with Cole Irish (60 stolen bases from 1993-96) in the May 15 game against Fort Wayne. Dave Lane holds the Jackrabbit career record of 75 stolen bases from 1983-86.

BRAY RECORD WATCH: South Dakota State right-hander Adam Bray, who
Bo is the scheduled starter for Wednesday's Summit League Baseball Championship opener against Fort Wayne has set three Jackrabbit career records during his senior season in 2015.
A native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Bray enters the week with 257 career strikeouts, passing Trevor Schulte (226 strikeouts from 1991-94) with a five-strikeout, complete-game performance against North Dakota State on April 10. Bray has struck out 73 batters in 84 innings so far this season, after fanning 95 batters in 103 innings in 2014.
Bray has logged 319 1/3 career innings, passing the mark of 299 1/3 innings set by Stephen Bougher from 2010-13 in his April 24 start against Oral Roberts. Bray also has surpassed Bougher for the career lead in games started by a pitcher with 50, taking over sole possession of the record May 8 at North Dakota State.
A two-time all-Summit League honoree and the Summit League Pitcher of the Week in back-to-back weeks (April 13, April 20) this season, Bray also has moved into a tie for second place in career victories at SDSU by recording his 22nd career win in the May 8 victory at North Dakota State Bray's career record stands at 22-16, matching the win total set by Bougher. Schulte holds the SDSU career record with 26 wins.

MOORE SETS SAVES MARK: Senior closer J.D. Moore broke Summit League record as he recorded his 31st career save in the Jackrabbits' 3-2 victory at North Dakota State in the first game of a doubleheader on May 9.
A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Moore has served as the team's primary closer since midway through his freshman season, when he led the team with five saves. Moore set a Jackrabbit single-season record with 13 saves during his sophomore season in 2013 and added eight more saves as a junior, when he did not allow a run — earned or unearned — in Summit League play en route to setting the SDSU career saves mark.
Moore broke the Summit League career saves record previously set by Brett Davis, who tallied 30 saves for Illinois-Chicago from 1988-91. Moore added to his saves total by notching save No. 6 of the season and No. 32 of his career in the first game of a twinbill at North Dakota on May 12.
Moore also has moved into sole possession of second place in career appearances at SDSU with 84 as he broke a tie with Gary Olechoski, (71 appearances from 2003-06) in a March 17 game at Creighton. All-American Trever Vermeulen holds the career appearances record with 89 from 2008-11.

HEEMSTRA ON THE HILL: After playing a key role on three Jackrabbit postseason-qualifying basketball teams, pitcher Marcus Heemstra is playing his first full season of baseball at South Dakota State.
A senior right-hander from Rock Valley, Iowa, Heemstra made a combined 21 pitching appearances between the 2011 and 2012 seasons before redshirting in 2013 as the Jackrabbit basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Heemstra returned to the Jackrabbit baseball team in 2014, posting a 1.64 earned run average in seven appearances covering 11 innings.
Thus far in 2015, Heemstra is fourth on the team with 16 appearances — all in relief — and has posted an 0-3 record with a 4.02 ERA. He had not allowed a run in seven of his last eight appearances, covering 12 1//3 innings, before taking the loss in an April 26 game at Oral Roberts. For the season, Heemstra has struck out 23 and walked eight in 31 1/3 innings.
Heemstra played in 118 career basketball games — with eight starts. He posted career-high averages of 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game as a senior.

CLARY ON BENCH LIST: Senior catcher Reid Clary was added recently to the official watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, which is presented annually to the top catcher in college baseball by BaseballSavings.com.
A native of Princeton, Illinois, Clary is batting .279 with three home runs and ranks second on the team with 35 runs batted in entering play this weekend. He also has thrown out 16 of 44 would-be base-stealers (36 percent).
A group of finalists will be named in early June. The award will be presented June 25 in Wichita, Kansas.

RINGHOFER NEARS FRESHMAN MARK: Freshman Luke Ringhofer has provided a potent bat in the middle of the Jackrabbit lineup during his first season with the Jackrabbits. A native of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, Ringhofer currently leads the team with 40 runs batted in — a total that ties the program's freshman record in the Division I era. Nick Adams (2005), Billy Stitz (2008) and Daniel Telford (2010) all drove in 40 runs during their freshman seasons.
Ringhofer tied the record after recording seven RBI in a three-game series against Western Illinois May 1-3. He established a new career high — and most by a Jackrabbit this season — with six RBI in the May 2 victory over Western Illinois. He also had a 17-game hitting streak end in the regular season finale against Fort Wayne. His 17-game hitting marked the second longest by a Jackrabbit during the D-I era, only two games shy of Tyson Fisher's 19-game streak in 2006.

NATIONAL LEADERBOARD: The Jackrabbits are well-represented in a variety of categories on the leaderboard of the msot recent Division I baseball statistics. As a team, the Jackrabbits rank 25th in scoring with an average of 7.0 runs per game, while Zach Coppola ranks third individually with 38 stolen bases, 23rd with a .483 on-base percentage and 28th in batting average at .381.

COACH SCHRAGE: Veteran baseball coach Dave Schrage (pronounced Schrag) is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach — and fourth at South Dakota State University — during the 2015 season. Schrage was hired to take over the reins of the Jackrabbit baseball program on Aug. 8, 2011.
After posting an 18-33-1 record in his first season at South Dakota State, including a 7-14 mark in The Summit League, Schrage directed a big turnaround in 2013, leading SDSU its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level. The Jackrabbits, who ended the season with a 35-24 overall record, won four consecutive games to claim their inaugural Summit League postseason tournament title and advance to the Eugene Regional of the NCAA Tournament, where they were edged in a pair of one-run games.
SDSU again earned the top seed for the Summit League Baseball Championship during the 2014 season, finishing with an 11-11 mark in a tightly contested league race. Overall, the Jackrabbits finished with a 28-29 overall record. Six Jackrabbit players earned all-Summit League accolades.
Schrage enters the week with a 709-769-2 career mark, including a 113-107-1 record at SDSU. He recorded his 600th career victory on March 19, 2012, when the Jackrabbits posted an 11-8 victory at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, and reached the 700-win mark with a 5-1 victory over Omaha on April 17, 2015. In 26-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has averaged more than 25 victories per season, including six campaigns with 32 or more wins. He has coached players who have earned all-conference honors 69 times and 40 of his former student-athletes have gone on to play professionally, including Layne Somsen and Stephen Bougher from the Jackrabbits' 2013 squad.
Prior to South Dakota State, Schrage was head coach at Notre Dame for four seasons, leading the Fighting Irish to a 119-104-1 record from 2007-10.

THE ROSTER: The 2015 SDSU baseball roster features 37 players from eight different states plus two Canadian provinces. Of the 37 players, 10 are from South Dakota, eight are from Minnesota and Iowa, and five are from Illinois, while Colorado, Indiana, Missouri and Vermont are represented by one player each. In addition, two players are from Canada — one each from Alberta and Ontario.
By class, 12 are seniors, 11 are juniors, seven are sophomores and seven are true freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: Should the Jackrabbits win the Summit League Baseball Championship, they will advance to NCAA Tournament play starting on May 29.