Jackrabbits square off against ORU

Friday, March 22

Tulsa, Okla.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Mike Janes/Four Seam Images

3/20/2019 8:54:00 AM | Baseball

Games 19-21: South Dakota State (9-9 overall, 2-1 Summit League) at Oral Roberts (9-9, 3-0)

When	Friday, March 22 • 6 p.m. \| Saturday, March 23 • 2 p.m. \| Sunday, March 24 • 1 p.m.
Where	J.L. Johnson Stadium \| Tulsa, Oklahoma
TV	Friday: ESPN+ (subscription) \| Saturday-Sunday: ORUAthletics.com
Radio	None
Live Stats	ORUAthletics.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Oral Roberts \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

After opening Summit League play with a series win over Western Illinois, the South Dakota State baseball team again hits the road for a three-game series at perennial Summit League favorite Oral Roberts.

The series opener is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday at J.L. Johnson Stadium on the ORU campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Games Saturday and Sunday are set for respective start times of 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. Friday's contest is scheduled to be televised on the ESPN+ streaming platform, with the other two contests available for viewing at ORUAthletics.com.

The Jackrabbits enter the weekend with a 9-9 overall record and a 2-1 mark in The Summit League. SDSU won two of three games against Western Illinois in a series played March 16-17 that was moved to Springfield, Illinois, due to concerns over weather and field conditions at the Leatherneck's home ballpark in Macomb.

ORU, meanwhile, also will come into the weekend 9-9 overall, but 3-0 in league play. The Golden Eagles recorded a three-game home sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne last weekend, outscoring the Mastodons by a 40-12 margin. They dropped a 9-3 decision at Central Arkansas in mid-week action Tuesday.

THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the 66th meeting on the baseball diamond between South Dakota State and Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles hold a 51-14 advantage in the series that dates back to 1971.

Oral Roberts won the 2018 season series by a 7-1 count. The Golden Eagles swept a three-game series on the opening weekend of Summit League play at J.L. Johnson Stadium claiming the March 16 opener, 14-9, before winning both ends of a March 17 doubleheader by scores of 16-12 and 4-3. The series finale was decided on a walk-off home run by the Golden Eagles' Jack Rosenberg in the bottom of the 11th inning.

SDSU's lone win against ORU last season came on April 20 in the first game of a doubleheader that was moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, due to extended wintry weather in the region. Brady Stover struck out 10 over 6 2/3 scoreless innings as the Jackrabbits prevailed, 3-1. The Golden Eagles won the second game of the twinbill, 7-3, and earned the series win with an 8-1 win the next day in a game played at Millard North High School in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Golden Eagles handed SDSU both of its losses at the 2018 Summit League Baseball Championship May 23 and 26 in Tulsa. Top-seeded ORU posted a 13-8 victory over the Jackrabbits in the opening round. After SDSU battled back through the losers' bracket to reach the title series, ORU ended the Jackrabbits' season with an 11-3 win.

LAST WEEK: Following are some highlights from last week's series win at Western Illinois:

The Jackrabbits scored first in all three games and have tallied the first run in five straight games dating back to the second game of a March 9 doubleheader at UA Little Rock.
Logan Holtz had his hitting streak end at 10 games in the series opener against Western Illinois, but did record a hit in each of the next two games. Holtz has reached base safely in 16 of the 17 games in which he has played this season.
The Jackrabbits matched a season high with three home runs in the second game of their March 16 doubleheader.
SDSU committed only one error in the three-game series and turned three double plays.
The Jackrabbits stole a season-high six bases in the March 17 game, including three by Nick Smith.
SDSU matched a season high by drawing nine walks in the March 17 series finale.

CREIGHTON GAME POSTPONED: The Jackrabbits' game scheduled for March 20 at Creighton has been postponed due to concerns over field conditions at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. No makeup date has been determined.

STEIGER AND SMITH STREAKING: Two of the top three hitters in the Jackrabbit batting order are working on long hitting streaks.

Sophomore shortstop Gus Steiger holds the team's longest active hitting streak at 10 games, dating back to a two-hit performance March 2 against Missouri. Named the Summit League Player of the Week on March 11, Steiger is batting .404 (21-of-52) during his current hitting streak with five doubles, two home runs and 11 runs batted in.

Senior outfielder Nick Smith enters the week on a nine-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .324 (11-for-34). Coincidentally, Smith also has drawn at least one base on balls in each of the last nine games for a total of 14, giving him an on-base percentage of .521. He also has scored 10 times and stolen six bases.

A CALL TO ARMS: South Dakota State starting pitchers have thrown at least five innings in 12 of the team's 18 games so far this season.

Junior Tyler Olmstead has taken over the No. 1 starter's role in recent weeks and currently leads the team with 30 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. A second-team all-Summit League selection last season, Olmstead has pitched five-plus innings in three of his first four starts, including taking a shutout into the ninth inning of his March 16 series-opening start against Western Illinois.

Freshman Nic McCay has hurled at least seven innings in each of his last two outings, including a seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance in the March 17 series finale against Western Illinois in which he ran his record to 3-1. McCay's 10 strikeouts are the most by a Jackrabbit pitcher this season. He also fanned eight UT?Martin batters over five innings in his collegiate debut on Feb. 17.

McCay was the starting pitcher in the Jackrabbits' March 6 game at Alabama. He pitched the first two innings of the midweek game before turning the game over to the bullpen. In all, SDSU used 10 pitchers in the 6-5, 14-inning loss to the Crimson Tide, tying the mark for the most pitchers used in a Division I game this season.

Out of the bullpen, sophomore left-hander Bret Barnett has emerged as the top reliever on the staff. The Indianola, Iowa, native has posted a 2-0 record and recorded the save in each of the Jackrabbits' last three victories. In eight appearances covering 11 2/3 innings so far this season, Bartnett has allowed only one run (0.77 earned run average), struck out nine and limited the opposition to a .128 batting average.

FROOM MAKES COMEBACK: Ryan Froom completed the long road back from injury by making his first appearance in nearly two years in the Feb. 16 game against UT Martin.

A sixth-year senior, Froom struck out five, walked four and surrendered three hits over five innings in finishing with a no-decision. It marked Froom's appearance since March 25, 2017, at Oral Roberts, when he suffered an arm injury. He missed the remainder of the 2017 season and was granted an injury hardship. Froom also sat out the entire 2018 campaign before rejoining the team this past fall.

Froom got back into the win column March 2 as the Jackrabbits knocked off Missouri, 6-3. After giving up a run in the bottom of the first, Froom pitched four consecutive shutout frames before tiring in the sixth. He finished with a season-high six strikeouts, while allowing three runs on four hits with five walks in 5 2/3 innings.

He again recorded the victory in the second game of a March 9 doubleheader at UA Little Rock, going seven innings. He allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking four.

Froom has logged five or more innings in four of his five starts this season to enter the weekend with a 2-1 record. He has notched 22 strikeouts in 26 innings — totals that both rank third on the staff.

The Crystal, Minnesota, native became a mainstay in the Jackrabbit rotation starting with his sophomore season in 2015. He currently ranks in a tie for fourth place in program history with 39 games started and also enters the week in fourth place on the SDSU career charts with 219 2/3 innings pitched.

POWER SURGE, POWER OUTAGE: Through the first third of the 2019 season, the Jackrabbits have out-homered the opposition, 14-12, starting with a three-homer performance in the Feb. 15 season opener against UT Martin.

Nine different players have accounted for the Jackrabbit home runs, with Gus Steiger leading the squad with three. Braeden Brown, Josh Falk and Logan Holtz have each hit two.

Holtz and Ryan McDonald connected on back-to-back homers in the fifth inning of a Feb. 16 game against UT Martin. It was the first career home run for each and marked the second time in five games dating back to last season that the Jackrabbits hit consecutive home runs. Anthony Schneider and Tony Kjolsing led off a May 24 Summit League Baseball Championship game against Western Illinois with back-to-back homers.

SDSU hit a total of 10 home runs in its first six contests. The Jackrabbits then went 10 full games without a long ball until hitting three in the first three innings of the second game of a March 16 doubleheader against Western Illinois. Freshman Drew Beazley notched his first career home run, while Steiger and Falk each hit their second round-trippers of the season.

Steiger tallied his third home run in the series finale March 17.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Four first-year players filled spots in the starting lineup in the Jackrabbits' Feb. 16 game against UT Martin. Drew Beazley batted out of the leadoff spot as the designated hitter, while Luke Ira (third base), Ryan McDonald (catcher) and Jamie Berg (center field) also were on the lineup card. McDonald led SDSU at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a home run.

Ira, who has started all 18 games, is tied for second on the team with seven extra base hits, while posting a .282 batting average and a .423 slugging percentage. He has recorded a hit in 12 games, including sharing the team lead with nine multi-hit performances.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State was picked to finish second in the 2019 Summit League baseball race, according to a poll conducted among conference coaches that was announced Feb. 7 by league officials.

The Jackrabbits received one first-place vote, finishing with 21 points. Defending league champion Oral Roberts again paced the six-team race with five first-place votes and 25 points. North Dakota State completed the upper half of the poll with 17 points.

Rounding out the poll were: Western Illinois, 12 points; Omaha, 9 points, and Purdue Fort Wayne, 6 points.

The top four teams during the regular season will advance to the 2019 Summit League Baseball Championship, which is scheduled for May 22-25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In addition, the Jackrabbits' Nick Smith and Brady Stover were recognized among the Summit League's top players to watch.

A two-time all-Summit League honoree, Smith has posted a batting average of better than .300 each of the past two seasons. Smith, a senior from Chanhassen, Minnesota, hit at a .303 clip with 18 runs batted in en route to first-team honors as a utility player in 2018.

Stover, a junior from Huxley, Iowa, posted a 3-2 record in 2018 with a 4.57 earned run average in 10 appearances, including nine starts. The left-hander struck out 63 batters in only 43.1 innings, setting an SDSU single-season record with an average of 13.09 strikeouts per nine innings. He also limited the opposition to a .203 batting average.

COACH BISHOP: Rob Bishop, who has guided college baseball teams to more than 600 career 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.

Now in his third season with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 53-65 record at SDSU, including a 34-26 mark in Summit League play.

In his first season, Bishop's 2017 squad returned to the winning side of the ledger with a 26-24 overall mark, including an 18-12 record for a third-place finish in The Summit League standings. SDSU won its opening-round game in the Summit League Baseball Championship, 6-5, over second-seeded North Dakota State.

In 2018, SDSU overcame a slow start to post a winning record in Summit League play at 14-13 and went on to reach the title game of the Summit League Baseball Championship. The Jackrabbits finished with an 18-32 overall record during a campaign in which they played only six home games.

Overall, Bishop holds a 602-387-1 record (.609 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He recorded career win No. 600 March 10 at UA Little Rock.

Individually, Jackrabbit players have been honored as all-Summit League performers 10 times during his brief tenure, including six all-league selections in 2018. Utility player Nick Smith and third baseman Newt Johnson received all-Summit League recognition in both 2017 and 2018.

Prior to becoming head coach at SDSU, Bishop 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. Bishop's teams won at least 30 games each of his 10 seasons, including four 40-win seasons. He ended his tenure at Miles City with a 377-151 overall record. He also served as athletic director his last five years 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 with a 38-18 record.

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

THE ROSTER: The 2019 SDSU baseball roster features 33 players from seven different states and one Canadian province. Of the 33 players, 11 are from Iowa, nine are from South Dakota and eight hail from Minnesota. Arizona, Nebraska, Washington and Wisconsin are represented by one player each, as is Manitoba.

By class, 10 are seniors, nine are juniors, five are sophomores, two are redshirt freshmen and seven are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to complete their long string of road games to start the season by playing a three-game series March 29-31 at Purdue Fort Wayne.

-GoJacks.com-