Jacks to host Fort Wayne in Missouri

Saturday, April 7

Joplin, No.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Fort Wayne

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

4/5/2018 4:01:00 PM | Baseball

By: Jason Hove

GAMES 24-26: Fort Wayne (6-17, 2-7 Summit) vs. South Dakota State (4-19, 2-5 Summit)

When	TBA Saturday, April 7 \| noon Sunday, April 8 (doubleheader)
Where	Warren Turner Field \| Joplin, Missouri
TV	None
Radio	None
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Series Notes	South Dakota State \| Fort Wayne
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #EarnIt

The South Dakota State University baseball team is once again on the move as it deals with extended wintry weather on the homefront.

The Jackrabbits' three-game weekend series against Fort Wayne has been moved for the second time — this time to Joplin, Missouri. The series, which earlier had been moved from Erv Huether Field to Sioux Falls, also has been condensed from three days to two and is now scheduled to consist of a single game Saturday and doubleheader on Sunday at Warren Turner Field on the campus of Missouri Southern State University. Game time has yet to be determined for Saturday, while Sunday's twinbill is set for a noon start.

Live stats of all three games will be available through GoJacksLive.com.

SDSU enters the weekend with a 4-19 overall record and 2-5 mark in The Summit League. The Jackrabbits salvaged the final game of a three-game series last weekend at Omaha, 6-2.

Fort Wayne, meanwhile, has posted a 6-17 overall mark so far this season, including a 2-7 record in The Summit League. The Mastodons are coming off a weekend in which they won two of three games versus Western Illinois, sandwiching 3-1 and 6-1 wins around a 9-3 defeat.

The Jackrabbits have dealt with weather-related issues from the start of the 2018 season. Each of SDSU's first two weekend series, originally scheduled for Itta Bena, Mississippi, and Nacogdoches, Texas, were moved to the St. Louis area. In addition, the final two games of SDSU's Summit League series at Western Illinois were canceled due to snow. Other contests at Creighton and versus Dakota Wesleyan have been rescheduled.

THE SERIES: South Dakota State and Fort Wayne will play for the 61st time, when the two squads meet in Saturday's series opener. The Jackrabbits hold a 47-13 advantage in the series that dates back to 2006, when both schools competed as Division I independents.

SDSU swept the season series in 2017, winning all six games. The Jackrabbits won all three games of a home series played March 31-April 2 at Erv Huether Field, claiming the opener, 1-0 in 11 innings, before tallying wins of 12-2 and 10-6.

In the second three-game series, May 12-14 in Fort Wayne, the Jackrabbits recorded double figures in runs in all three games to earn the sweep. SDSU notched an 11-2 win in the opener, followed by an 11-2, 10-inning victory in Game 2 and a 10-5 triumph in the series finale.

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 150-120 (.556 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 WEEKEND: After dropping the first two games of a Summit League series at Omaha, the Jackrabbits salvaged the final game of the three-game set with strong pitching and timely hitting.
Game 1 Recap
Game 2 Recap
Game 3 Recap

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

Sophomore left-hander Brady Stover, who is slated to start Saturday's series opener, has recorded 25 strikeouts in only 17 2/3 innings pitched, highlighted by a nine-strikeout performance in only five innings March 9 at Northern Colorado. His current pace of 12.73 strikeouts per nine innings pitched is just shy of the SDSU single-season record of 12.86 set by Bob Ehrke in 1953.

Sophomore right-handers Brady Moxham and Tyler Olmstead also have more strikeouts than innings pitched. Olmstead, who fanned a career-high 10 batters in his last outing, March 31 at Omaha, upped his season strikeout total to 32 in 29 1/3 innings. Moxham has struck out 38 in 37 1/3 innings, including a season-best eight K's in his Jackrabbit debut Feb. 17 versus Austin Peay.

Out of the bullpen, senior Derek Feige has struck out 14 batters in only 9 2/3 innings. Austin Suhr (17 K's in 17 IP) and Otis Roby (12 K's in 12 IP) are each averaging one strikeout per inning pitched.

KUHLMANN IN CONTROL: Junior left-handed pitcher Korey Kuhlmann ranks third on the team with 19 2/3 innings pitched so far this season and has yet to issue a walk. Kuhlmann has made seven appearances, including three starts, and recorded 13 strikeouts, including a season-high four in his Jackrabbit debut Feb. 18 versus Illinois.

SCHNEIDER CLEARS THE BASES: Anthony Schneider made the most of his run-scoring opportunities during the month of March.

A senior from Altoona, Iowa, Schneider collected only 10 hits during the month, but drove in 13 runs in 11 games.

In a March 2-4 weekend series at Southeast Missouri State, Schneider plated seven runs in eight official at-bats. He began the weekend by hitting a pinch-hit grand slam in the March 2 series opener, then went 1-for-4 with a run-scoring double the next day. His grand slam was the first by a Jackrabbit player since Matt Johnson connected on April 23, 2016, at Omaha.

In the March 4 series finale, Schneider plated a first-inning run with a double and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

Schneider added to his total with four RBIs in the March 15 series opener against Oral Roberts. He connected on a three-run home run to give SDSU?a momentary 4-2 lead in the third inning, then drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning to give him his second four-RBI game of the month.

KJOLSING STREAK ENDS: 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 enters the weekend tied for third among base stealers in The Summit League with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts, and has again reached base safely in the last eight games.

FALK LEADS OFFENSE: Sophomore first baseman Josh Falk has been the top hitter for the Jackrabbits during the first month of the season. The Minnetonka, Minnesota, native has hit safely in 14 of the last 19 games, with a team-best eight multi-hit games.

Falk connected on his first home run as a Jackrabbit March 6 at Air Force, a game in which he also collected a season-high three runs batted in. He added a home run in the March 11 series finale at Northern Colorado.

STEIGER IN THE CLUTCH: Freshman Gus Steiger notched game-winning RBIs in back-to-back victories at Southeast Missouri State to open the month of March.

In a March 3 game, Steiger hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break a 2-all tie as the Jackrabbits went on to post their first win of the season, 7-4. The next day, he delivered a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth that gave SDSU the lead in a 6-5 victory.

Steiger also plated the tying run in the top of the ninth in the March 9 series opener at Northern Colorado with a two-out single. The Jackrabbits went on to fall, 3-2, in 11 innings in their first extra-innings contest of the season.

A native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, Steiger has started 17 of the Jackrabbits' last 18 games either at second base or center field, and batted leadoff in 11 of those contests.

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.

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 579-365-1 record (.614 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach, including a 30-43 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 scheduled to play a makeup game Tuesday (April 10) at Creighton. First pitch for the game, which was originally set for March 20, is slated for 6:30 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

SDSU is then scheduled to play its first true home game of the season Wednesday (April 11) by hosting Dakota State. Start time is set for 3 p.m. at Erv Huether Field.

Further updates will be available through GoJacks.com and Twitter (@GoJacksBaseball).

-GoJacks.com-