Jacks host league-leading ORU

he South Dakota State University baseball team closes out the home portion of its Summit League schedule with a three-game weekend series against league-leading Oral Roberts.
Friday's series opener is set for 3 p.m. at Erv Huether Field. Games Saturday and Sunday are slated for 1 p.m. starts. The SDSU senior class will be honored prior to Sunday's game.
All three games can be heard locally on KJJQ?910 AM with Tyler Merriam calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts also will be streamed online through the Jackrabbits All-Access media portal at GoJacks.com.
The Jackrabbits enter the weekend 19-28 overall and in third place in the Summit League standings with a 12-12 mark. SDSU dropped two of three games at home last weekend to Fort Wayne before returning to the win column Wednesday with a non-conference win at North Dakota.
Oral Roberts, meanwhile, is 29-16 overall and holds a four-game lead over Omaha at 18-6 in league play with six games remaining in the Summit regular season schedule.

THE SERIES: This weekend's matchups will mark the 47th, 48th and 49th meetings between SDSU and Oral Roberts on the baseball diamond. ORU holds a 34-12 advantage in the series, which dates back to the 1971 Jackrabbit season opener.
The Golden Eagles won two of three games played between the two teams March 18-20 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. SDSU pulled out a 3-2, 12-inning victory in the opener, before Oral Roberts posted decisive victories of 13-3 and 9-1 to close out the series.
ORU won the season series, 4-3, in 2015. The two squads split the regular season series at 3-all, with each team winning two of three games on each others' home field. The Golden Eagles won the decisive game in the season series, posting a 9-3 victory over the Jackrabbits in the second round of the Summit League Baseball Championship in Sioux Falls.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some brief notes regarding the Jackrabbit baseball team heading into this weekend's series:
• Luke Ringhofer has reached base safely in 39 consecutive games, which is now the second-longest streak by a Jackrabbit in the Division I era. Ringhofer passed Eric Cain's 38-game streak set in 2011 and trails Zach Coppola's record streak of 46 games set last year.
• Matt Johnson tied the SDSU record for longest hitting streak in the Division I era at 19 games, matching Tyson Fisher's streak in 2005. Johnson wound up batting .400 (28-for-70) with five home runs and 24 runs batted in during his streak, which began on March 29 and ended April 30.
• Four other Jackrabbits have strung together hitting streaks of at least 10 games this season: Luke Ringhofer (13), Phil Velez (10), Jesse Munsterman (10) and Cody Sharrow (10).
• Matt Johnson's most recent home run was a grand slam in the ninth inning of SDSU's 15-3 victory at Omaha on April 23. It marked the first grand slam by a Jackrabbit since Jake Ratz connected against Alabama A&M on Feb. 21, 2014.
• Ringhofer and Newt Johnson hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning of the March 19 game at Oral Roberts, becoming the first Jackrabbit tandem to hit consecutive round-trippers since Matt Johnson and Newt Johnson in a home game against North Dakota State on April 12, 2015.
• Newt Johnson (Feb. 27 vs. Virginia Commonwealth), Paul Jacobson (April 15 vs. North Dakota State) and Matt Johnson (April 16 vs. North Dakota State ) all have two-home run games this season.
• Each of Greg Casper's three saves this season have come in outings of at least two innings. Casper struck out four batters over two innings to earn the save in the April 17 series finale against North Dakota State.

PRESEASON POLL: The South Dakota State University baseball team was picked to finish third in the Summit League standings during the 2016 season, according to a poll among the league's six head coaches that was released Feb. 11.
The Jackrabbits received one first-place vote and tallied a total of 17 points for their third-place showing in the preseason poll. Defending regular season and tournament champion Oral Roberts received the other five first-place votes to be tabbed as the favorite with 25 points. Tournament runner-up Fort Wayne was second with 19 points.
Rounding out the poll were Omaha (15), North Dakota State (8) and Western Illinois (6).
Oral Roberts will host the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship May 25-28 at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER: In an April 13 game at TD?Ameritrade Park in Omaha, brothers Henry (SDSU) and Ethan (Creighton) DeCaster faced off against each other on the mound.
A left-hander, Henry DeCaster allowed one run over two innings. Ethan DeCaster, meanwhile, retired all six batters he faced with two strikeouts in two innings. Neither factored in the decision.
The DeCasters are natives of Shoreview, Minnesota, and pitched for the highly successful Mounds View High School program. Henry DeCaster went on to earn the win in the series finale against North Dakota State on April 17, allowing two unearned runs while striking out two and walking one in a career-best seven innings.

CLEMEN CLIMBS THE CHARTS: Although he has moved into a starting role in 2016, Jackrabbit pitcher Andrew Clemen is poised to move into the SDSU career top 10 for appearances this season.
A senior from Des Moines, Iowa, Clemen has made 63 appearances — 50 of which have been out of the bullpen — in his Jackrabbit career. Should Clemen make his scheduled start on Friday, he will move into a tie for 10th place in career appearances with Caleb Thielbar (64 appearances from 2006-09) and Mike Robinson (2007-10).
Clemen also stands ninth on the SDSU career charts for strikeouts per nine innings at 8.60, striking out 144 batters in 150 2/3 career innings. Clemen recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in his March 25 start at Western Illinois and has fanned at least five batters in seven of his last 11 starts. He recorded the only complete game by a Jackrabbit pitcher so far this season, striking out four in a losing effort April 22 at Omaha.
The SDSU record for strikeouts per nine innings, with a minimum of 60 innings pitched, is 11.40 by Pete Torgerson during his lone season in a Jackrabbit uniform in 1989. Dick Barnes ranks second with an average of 9.99 strikeouts per nine innings from 1964-66, with Bob Ehrke (1952-54) third at 9.70 K's per nine innings.
During the 2015 season, Clemen posted the fifth-highest single-season ratio in school history with an average of 10.76 strikeouts per nine innings, fanning 47 batters in 39 1/3 innings.
With 144 career strikeouts, Clemen could make a run to move into the SDSU all-time top 10 for strikeouts. Billy McMacken (1987-90) currently holds the 10th spot with 156 career K's.

BUSCH BLANKING OPPONENTS: Since moving to the bullpen at the beginning of March, Landon Busch has been lights out against the opposition.
A junior left-hander, Busch had a string of 14 consecutive innings ove which he did not give up a run during a stretch of four consecutive appearances in which he earned the win. Over his 11 relief outings, Busch has posted a 1.76 earned run average (9 ER?in 46.0 IP) and has struck out 50.
Busch has matched Blake Treinen (2010) and Caleb Thielbar (2007) for the longest individual winning streak by a Jackrabbit pitcher in the Division I era. The school record for consecutive decisions won is 21 by Trevor Schulte between the 1993 and 1994 decisions. That mark also stood as the NCAA?Division II record for 17 seasons.
Last weekend, Busch made a pair of two-inning appearances, including earning his first save in the Jackrabbits' series-opening win over Fort Wayne on May 6.
A Brookings native, Busch is in his first season pitching for the Jackrabbits. He spent his first two seasons (2013-14) at Kansas State before transferring to SDSU in the fall of 2014. He sat out the 2015 campaign due to NCAA?transfer rules.

JACOBSON JOINS TOP 10s: Senior outfielder Paul Jacobson has moved into several Jackrabbit career top 10s in recent weeks.
A Dakota Dunes native, Jacobson has played in 205 career games, including 186 starts, to rank fourth in the Jackrabbit annals. Jacobson, who has moved to right field this season after serving as the team's primary left fielder the previous three seasons, is the lone Jackrabbit to start all 47 games this season.
Eric Cain holds the Jackrabbit record of 218 games played from 2009-12.
With a team- and career-best 20 stolen bases so far this season, Jacobson has upped his career total to 44, putting him in a tied for sixth place on the Jackrabbit career charts with Darrell Bren (1988-89) and Jon Crow (1989-92). Jacobson stole 10 bases in both 2013 and 2015, and added four steals as a sophomore in 2014.
Jacobson also ranks fifth for career at-bats (712) and eighth in doubles (47). His 15 doubles so far this season lead the team and tie a career high.
In addition, Jacobson enters the weekend with 197 hits, three away from becoming the 17th player in program history to record 200 career hits.

100-RBI CLUB: With three runs batted in during the May 11 game at North Dakota, first baseman Matt Johnson became the latest member of the Jackrabbits' 100-RBI?club.
A junior from Ankeny, Iowa, Johnson enters the weekend with 102 career runs batted in. He has tallied a team- and career-best 44 RBI so far this season and shares the team lead with seven home runs.
Paul Jacobson, who also shares the team lead with seven home runs this season, has totaled 99 runs batted in during his Jackrabbit career. Jacobson has driven in a career-best 33 runs so far during the 2016 campaign.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State has had a player honored as a Summit League player of the week three times during the 2016 season.
Catcher Luke Ringhofer was honored March 14 as co-Summit League Player of the Week in helping lead the Jackrabbits to a pair of victories at Northern Colorado.
A sophomore from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, Ringhofer hit safely in four of the five games in which he had an official at-bat, including a pair of multi-hit games against Northern Colorado as the Jackrabbits claimed the three-game series. For the week, he batted .412 (7-for-17) with a home run, four runs batted in and six runs scored. He also walked six times.
Outfielder Paul Jacobson earned Summit honors on April 25. A senior from Dakota Dunes, Jacobson batted .500 (8-for-16) in four games against Mayville State and Omaha, leading the Jackrabbits to a 2-2 record. Jacobson hit safely in all four games and tallied three multi-hit games. He opened the week with a two-hit game in an April 20 win over Mayville State. In the second game of a weekend series at Omaha on April 23, Jacobson went 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles, adding two runs batted in and three runs scored as SDSU defeated the Mavericks, 15-3.
He finished the Omaha series with a two-hit, two-RBI game on April 24.
Junior pitcher Landon Busch was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week on March 21 for his efforts in the Jackrabbits' series-opening win at Oral Roberts.
A junior from Brookings, Busch earned the win after tossing three shutout innings March 18 as the Jackrabbits rallied for a 3-2, 12-inning victory. Busch finished his outing with five strikeouts, including striking out the side in the bottom of the 12th to preserve the win.

SCHNEIDER NAMED TO ACADEMIC TEAM: South Dakota State University infielder Anthony Schneider was named earlier this month to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 6 Baseball Team.
A sophomore from Altoona, Iowa, Schneider was selected to the 12-member team with a 3.91 grade-point average while majoring in biology and pre-medicine. On the field, Schneider enters this weekend's Summit League series against Oral Roberts with a .276 batting average, three home runs and 21 runs batted in. He has started 36 of the team's 47 games and ranks second on the team with 12 stolen bases.
Schneider will advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration later this month. Selections to the Academic All-District 6 Baseball Team were based upon a vote of sports information directors in Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Candidates must be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, a starter or key reserve on his team and carry at least a 3.3 GPA.

COACH SCHRAGE: Veteran baseball coach Dave Schrage (pronounced Schrag) enters his 28th season as a collegiate head coach — and fifth at South Dakota State University — during the 2016 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 two 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.
The Jackrabbits again contended for a Summit League title during the 2015 season, posting an overall record of 33-23 and a second-place mark of 18-11 in league play. SDSU put together win streaks of six and eight games midway through the season to move into the upper division of The Summit League.
Under Schrage's leadership, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 133-137-1 record andqualified for the Summit League postseason tournament each of the last three seasons.
Schrage enters the weekend with a 729-801-2 career mark. He recorded his 600th career victory in his first season at SDSU, and tallied career win No. 700, when the Jackrabbits defeated Omaha, 5-1, on April 17, 2015, at Erv Huether Field. Schrage's 100th win at the helm of the SDSU program came on April 11, 2015, in a 5-4 home win over North Dakota State.
In 27-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has averaged more than 25 victories per season, including seven campaigns with 32 or more wins. He has coached players who have earned all-conference honors 75 times and 42 of his former student-athletes have gone on to play professionally, including 2015 draft picks Zach Coppola (Philadelphia Phillies) and Adam Bray (Los Angeles Dodgers).
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. After posting a .500 record (28-28) his first season in South Bend, Schrage put Notre Dame back in contention for postseason play with a 33-21-1 record in 2008 and a 36-23 mark in 2009. The Fighting Irish led the BIG EAST Conference in fielding in both 2008 and 2009, while consistently ranking at or near the top in batting, on-base percentage and earned run average.
Schrage has previously found success in building programs at the mid-major level, including coaching stops at Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois and Evansville (Ind.).

JACKS IN THE PROS: Last month, Layne Somsen became the third former South Dakota State pitcher in four seasons to be called up to the Major Leagues.
Somsen was promoted by the Cincinnati Reds after steadily working his way up the minor league system since being selected in the 22nd round of the 2013 MLB Draft. The Yankton native, who has again been recalled to Cincinnati after not pitching in his previous three-game stint, has made 83 appearances over parts of four seasons in the Reds organization, compiling a 9-5 record with a 2.51 earned run average. He also earned four saves while striking out 177 batters in 176 career innings pitched. At Triple-A Louisville (Ky.) so far this season, Somsen made eight appearances with a 1.29 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 14 innings.
Right-handed pitcher Blake Treinen is once again the only former Jackrabbit currently on a Major League roster. A member of Jackrabbit teams in 2010 and 2011, Treinen has pitched for the Washington Nationals for three seasons (2014-16) and has a 2-1 record with a 4.15 ERA in 2016, including earning the victory on Opening Day. Treinen made 60 appearances for the Nationals during the 2015 season, posting a 2-5 record and 3.86 ERA.
Two other former Jackrabbits are currently in the minor leagues.
Adam Bray, who was a 33rd round draft choice by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015, has been assigned to the Class A Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Michigan, where he is 2-0 on the young season with a 2.77 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 13 innings. Bray made his professional debut with Ogden (Utah) in Rookie ball last summer, going 2-2 with 33 strikeouts and only four walks in eight starts.
Zach Coppola is a Philadelphia Phillies farmhand after being drafted in the 13th round last year. Coppola, who is currently leading the Class A Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws with a .386 batting average, spent the summer of 2015 at Class A?Williamsport (Pa.), where he batted .271 with 19 steals.
Three other Jackrabbits are slated to pitch in the independent American Association this season. Chris Anderson (2014-15) recently signed with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, while Stephen Bougher (2010-13) is set to return to the Sioux Falls Canaries. Left-hander Caleb Thielbar recently re-signed with the St. Paul Saints. Thielbar pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 2013-15.

THE ROSTER: The 2016 SDSU baseball roster features 36 players from eight different states plus one Canadian province. Of the 36 players, 12 are from South Dakota, 11 are from Minnesota, seven hail from Iowa, while Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Vermont are represented by one player each. In addition, one player is from the Canadian province of British Columbia.
By class, eight are seniors, nine are juniors, 11 are sophomores, three are redshirt freshmen and five are true freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to wrap up the home portion of their schedule with a May 17 game against Minnesota. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at Erv Huether Field.

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Chris Anderson

Adam Bray

Landon Busch

Greg Casper

Andrew Clemen

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Henry DeCaster

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Newt Johnson

Jesse Munsterman

Luke Ringhofer

Anthony Schneider

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Completed Event: Baseball at Omaha on May 22, 2025 , Loss , 6, to, 7 , 10 inn.

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 21, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 11

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 17, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 9

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 16, 2025 , Loss , 11, to, 13

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 15, 2025 , Loss , 11, to, 14

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 15, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 11

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