Jacks host NDSU in Sioux Falls

Thursday, April 12

Sioux Falls, S.D.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

4/11/2018 2:21:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 28-30: North Dakota State (13-14, 6-5 Summit) vs. South Dakota State (7-20, 5-5 Summit)

When	11 a.m. Thursday, April 12 (doubleheader) \| 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 13
Where	Karras Park Home of Ronken Field \| Augustana University \| Sioux Falls, S.D.
TV	None
Radio	KJJQ 910 AM \| GoJacks.com/Watc h
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Series Notes	South Dakota State \| North Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #EarnIt

The Summit League baseball season reaches the halfway mark this week with South Dakota State hosting North Dakota State in a three-game series.

Due to unplayable field conditions at Erv Huether Field, the series has been moved to Sioux Falls and will consist of a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Thursday, followed by a single game at 9:30 a.m. Friday. All games will be played at Karras Park Home of Ronken Field on the Augustana University campus.

SDSU enters the three-game Summit League series 7-20 overall and 5-5 in league play. The Jackrabbits reached the .500 mark in Summit contests by sweeping a three-game series from Fort Wayne last weekend in Joplin, Missouri.

North Dakota State holds a half-game lead over the Jackrabbits for third place in the league standings with a 6-5 mark. The Bison are 13-14 overall after sweeping an abbreviated two-game series at Omaha last weekend.

As a result of moving this week's games to Sioux Falls, the Jackrabbits' planned Alumni Weekend events have been postponed. Details in regards to rescheduling of the event will be announced at a later date.

THE SERIES: Thursday's games will mark the 181st and 182nd meetings on the baseball diamond between SDSU and North Dakota State. In the series that dates back to 1956, the Jackrabbits hold a 114-66 lead.

Since the two programs joined The Summit League at the start of the 2008 season, the Jackrabbits hold a 25-23 edge in league regular season games. NDSU won four of the six games between the two squads played during the regular season in 2017. In each of the two series, the Bison won the first two games before the Jacks salvaged the series finale.

The two squads also met twice during the 2017 Summit League Baseball Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The third-seeded Jacks knocked off NDSU, 6-5, in the opening game of the tournament on May 24 behind a go-ahead home run from Tony Kjolsing in the top of the seventh inning.

The Bison eliminated the Jackrabbits from the double-elimination tournament two days later by recording an 8-2 victory.

PRESEASON POLL: The Jackrabbit baseball team was picked to finish second in the upcoming Summit League race, according to a poll of league coaches released Feb. 8.

SDSU received 20 points and one first-place vote, finishing behind defending champion Oral Roberts, which received the other five first-place votes and 25 total points. North Dakota State completed the top half of the poll with 17 points.

Rounding out the second half of the poll were Western Illinois (14 points), Omaha (9) and Fort Wayne (5).

The Jackrabbits, who return six position starters, will attempt to qualify for the Summit League postseason tournament for the ninth time in 10 years. The 2018 Summit League Baseball Championship is slated for May 23-26 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In addition, SDSU shortstop Tony Kjolsing was selected as a Summit League Player to Watch. A senior from Chaska, Minnesota, Kjolsing batted .291 with four home runs and 21 runs batted in while playing in 32 games during the 2017 season.

SUMMIT LEAGUE SUCCESS: South Dakota State has been a consistent winner in The Summit League since it became a league member a decade ago. In 10-plus seasons as a member of The Summit League, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 153-120 (.560 winning percentage) in conference games. SDSU has posted a .500 or better record in league play seven times and has made eight appearances in the four-team postseason tournament out of the nine years it has been eligible.

The Jackrabbits shared a Summit League regular season title in 2010 and won the Summit postseason tournament in 2013.

LAST TIME OUT: Creighton scored nine unanswered runs that included a five-run fifth inning in rallying for a 9-4 victory over South Dakota State in nonconference baseball action Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

The Bluejays, who won for the eighth time in nine games, improved to 19-7 overall. SDSU, which had its season-best four-game winning streak snapped, fell to 7-20 on the season.

The Jackrabbits got out to a fast start, building a 4-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. In the opening inning, reigning Summit League Player of the Week Phil Velez continued his hot hitting by delivering a one-out single to left that scored both Anthony Schneider and Nick Smith.

Freshman catcher Derek Hackman led off the second inning for SDSU with a double to left-center, was bunted to third and scored on Tony Kjolsing's single to left. Kjolsing scored what wound up being the Jackrabbits' final run of the game on a groundout off the bat of Newt Johnson.

SDSU was poised to add to its lead after Schneider opened the fourth inning with a triple, but two foul outs and a groundout ended the threat.

Freshman right-hander Andrew Zimmerman made his collegiate debut for the Jackrabbits and pitched three shutout innings before giving up a two-run home run to left field by Jack Strunc with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.

Zimmerman exited after allowing a leadoff double in the fifth inning. Creighton went on to send 10 more men to the plate against four Jackrabbit pitchers in the inning. Will Robertson knotted the game at 4-all with a two-run single and Thomas Luevano plated the go-ahead run with an infield single. The Bluejays tallied four hits and were the beneficiaries of four walks in the inning.

Creighton put the game out of reach with two more runs in the seventh inning, taking advantage of two Jackrabbit errors. SDSU committed a total of four errors in the game.

SDSU out-hit Creighton, 11-8, but managed only one hit after the fourth inning. Smith recorded a team-high three hits in five trips to the plate, while Hackman registered his first collegiate multi-hit game by going 2-for-3.

Strunc was 3-for-4 to lead the Bluejays, while Luevano was 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs.

Zimmerman struck out one, walked one and surrendered four hits in four-plus innings. SDSU used a season-high seven pitchers in the contest.

The Creighton bullpen pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and was led by Ian Evans, who was credited with the win after hurling the first 3 2/3 innings of relief. Evans did not walk or strike out a batter.

VELEZ HONORED: South Dakota State University outfielder Phil Velez was honored Monday as Summit League Baseball Player of the Week after helping lead the Jackrabbits to a weekend sweep over Fort Wayne.

In two games, Velez batted .857 (6-for-7) and drove in seven runs, highlighted by a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning of the series finale April 8 in Joplin, Missouri. A senior from Des Moines, Iowa, Velez went 4-for-4 in the second game of an April 7 doubleheader, then was 2-for-3 with a career-high six runs batted in the next day. He also tallied a 1.429 slugging percentage, scored four times and threw out a runner at home plate during the series.

Velez is the first Jackrabbit to earn player of the week honors this season.

He continued his hot hitting by delivering a two-run single in the top of the first inning Tuesday night at Creighton, giving him nine RBIs over the last three games.

BATS COME ALIVE: With runs and hits at a premium during the first six weeks of the season, the Jackrabbits put together their best offensive weekend of the season in their three-game sweep of Fort Wayne April 7-8.

SDSU entered the weekend with a meager .227 team batting average, but managed to hit .410 and score a total of 30 runs in the three games against the Mastodons. Of the Jackrabbits' 41 hits, 11 went for extra bases as they tallied eight doubles, two triples and a home run for a .560 slugging percentage.

Six different Jackrabbit players hit better than .400 in the series, including freshman Gus Steiger, who was 5-for-9 (.556) with three runs batted in. Landon Badger (.545) and Nick Smith (.500) each tallied two hits in all three games.

Smith marked his return to the Jackrabbit lineup after a two-week absence by recording a pair of doubles and a triple among his six hits. He notched his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 Tuesday at Creighton. Smith is batting .529 (9-for-17) in the four games returning to the lineup.

K AN INNING: Two of the three pitchers who are scheduled to start games for the Jackrabbits this weekend are averaging better than a strikeout an inning.

Sophomore left-hander Brady Stover has recorded 38 strikeouts in only 24 innings pitched. In his last outing — April 7 in the first game of a doubleheader versus Fort Wayne — Stover set a new Jackrabbit single-game mark in the Division I era with 13 strikeouts. He allowed only one hit — an infield single — over 6 1/3 innings.

Stover's current pace of 14.25 strikeouts per nine innings pitched is well ahead of the SDSU single-season record of 12.86 set by Bob Ehrke in 1953.

Sophomore right-hander Tyler Olmstead also has more strikeouts than innings pitched. Olmstead, who fanned a career-high 10 batters in a March 31 start at Omaha, upped his season strikeout total to 35 in 34 innings with three strikeouts in a no-decision April 8 against Fort Wayne.

SDSU's other weekend starter, Brady Moxham, is just off the pace with 41 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings pitched.

Out of the bullpen, senior Derek Feige has struck out 16 batters in only 12 1/3 innings. Otis Roby (12 K's in 12 IP) also is averaging one strikeout per inning pitched.

ELITE COMPANY: Prior to Brady Stover's 13-strikeout performance April 7 against Fort Wayne, the SDSU record for strikeouts in a Division I game was 12, and was shared by Robby Apo (2006), Caleb Thielbar (twice in 2009), Blake Treinen (2010) and Layne Somsen (2013). Thielbar, Treinen and Somsen all have since gone on to pitch in the Major Leagues.

KUHLMANN IN CONTROL: Junior left-handed pitcher Korey Kuhlmann ranks fourth on the team with 20 innings pitched so far this season and has yet to issue a walk.

Kuhlmann has made eight appearances, including three starts, and recorded 13 strikeouts, including a season-high four in his Jackrabbit debut Feb. 18 versus Illinois.

KJOLSING STARTS ANOTHER STREAK: Shortstop Tony Kjolsing had his streak of reaching base safely by hit or walk end at 26 consecutive games in the March 9 series opener at Northern Colorado. A senior from Chaska, Minnesota, Kjolsing reached base safely in the final 14 games of the 2017 season and was on base in the first 12 games of 2018 before going 0-for-5 in an extra-innings loss to the Bears.

Kjolsing has since started another streak, reaching base safely by a hit or a walk in 12 consecutive games. He also enters the weekend tied for second in The Summit League for stolen bases with 10 in 12 attempts.

JOHNSON CONNECTS TWICE: Senior infielder Newt Johnson became the first SDSU player this season to homer twice in the same game as he connected on a pair of round-trippers in the first game of a doubleheader March 17 at Oral Roberts. It was the second two-homer game of Johnson's career, with the first coming on Feb. 27, 2016, versus Virginia Commonwealth in a game played in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Prior to Johnson's two-homer game, Anthony Schneider was the last Jackrabbit to homer twice in a game — March 7, 2017, at Minnesota.

The Rapid City native is tied for second in The Summit League with four home runs — all of which have come against left-handed pitchers. Johnson also leads the Jackrabbits and ranks third in The Summit League with 23 runs batted in.

GRAND OLD TIME: Phil Velez's game-winning grand slam against Fort Wayne on April 8 was the second grand slam hit by a Jackrabbit this season.

Anthony Schneider connected on a pinch-hit grand slam in SDSU's March 2 game at Southeast Missouri State.

COACH BISHOP: Rob Bishop, who has guided college baseball teams to more than 500 victories, was named head baseball coach at South Dakota State University on Aug. 1, 2016. Bishop is the ninth head coach in program history and the fourth in the Division I era of Jackrabbit baseball.

Overall, Bishop holds a 582-366-1 record (.614 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach, including a 33-44 mark with the Jackrabbits. Prior to coming to SDSU, he spent six years at NCAA Division II member Montana State University-Billings, where he led the Yellowjackets to back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season titles in 2015 and 2016, attaining the program's first-ever 30-win season with a 30-20 record in 2016.

His squads also were honored as the top academic team in the GNAC each of his last three seasons.

Previously, Bishop spent 10 years at Miles City Community College in Montana, where his teams won MonDak conference championships every year. His squads also claimed five consecutive junior college region titles and a Northwest District championship in 2007 to advance to the NJCAA Division II College World Series. He also served as athletic director the last five years of his tenure at Miles City.

Bishop served as a graduate assistant at SDSU under head coach Mark Ekeland during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In his first season as a head coach, Bishop led Huron University to the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference title in 2000.

A 1994 graduate of Jamestown College, Bishop earned NAIA All-America honors during the 1992 and 1994 seasons as an infielder.

THE ROSTER: The 2018 SDSU baseball roster features 33 players from six different states and one Canadian province. Of the 33 players, 12 are from South Dakota, 10 are from Iowa and seven hail from Minnesota. Arizona, Washington and Wisconsin are represented by one player each, as is Manitoba.

By class, seven are seniors, 11 are juniors, eight are sophomores and seven are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are slated to play a nonconference game at Minnesota on April 17, followed by a key three-game series against Summit League-leading Oral Roberts April 20-22.

The mid-week matchup is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Further updates regarding the Jackrabbit baseball schedule will be available through GoJacks.com and Twitter (@GoJacksBaseball).

-GoJacks.com-