Jacks host key series against ORU

Friday, May 10

Brookings, S.D.

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

5/9/2019 1:38:00 PM | Baseball

Games 43-45: Oral Roberts (23-21, 14-10 Summit) at South Dakota State (24-18, 16-8 Summit)

When	Friday, May 10 • 3 p.m. \| Saturday, May 11 • 1 p.m. \| Sunday, May 12 • 1 p.m.
Where	Erv Huether Field \| Brookings, South Dakota
TV	none
Radio	GoJacks.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Oral Roberts \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

South Dakota State and Oral Roberts enter the stretch run of the Summit League schedule by playing a key three-game series this weekend at Erv Huether Field.

The series opener is set for 3 p.m. Friday, with games Saturday and Sunday slated for 1 p.m. The Jackrabbits' senior class will be honored during a pregame ceremony Saturday.

Audio broadcasts of all three games will be available online through GoJacks.com/Watch with Tyler Merriam calling the play-by-play. Live stats can be accessed at GoJacksLive.com.

The Jackrabbits open the weekend homestand with a two-game lead over ORU for second place in the league standings with a 16-8 mark after sweeping a three-game home series from Purdue Fort Wayne last weekend. SDSU trails Omaha by two games for the top spot with six league contests remaining. Overall, the Jackrabbits are 24-18 after falling 5-0 at Minnesota earlier in the week

Oral Roberts finds itself in unfamiliar territory as the perennial conference champion Golden Eagles are third in the Summit standings with a 14-10 record. ORU holds a 23-21 overall record on the season.

The league race tightened considerably last weekend as Western Illinois took two of three games at ORU and North Dakota State won two of three home games against Omaha. Both WIU and NDSU are 12-12 in league play.

The top four teams in the regular season standings will advance to the Summit League Baseball Championship May 22-25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the 69th meeting on the baseball diamond between South Dakota State and Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles hold a 52-16 advantage in the series that dates back to 1971.

The Jackrabbits claimed the first series of the season between the two squads March 22-24 at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, winning the final two games in their last at-bat. All three games in the series were decided by a single run.

Oral Roberts won the opener, 1-0, behind a combined six-hit shutout by Josh McMinn and Trey Wolf. McMinn struck out six over eight innings, while Wolf fanned two in a perfect ninth inning to earn the save.

The Jackrabbits evened the series with a 2-1 victory, which was decided on a solo home run by freshman Drew Beazley in the top of the ninth.

SDSU claimed the decisive game, 9-8, as Luke Ira doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning of a back-and-forth game.

LAST WEEK: Following are some notes from the Jackrabbits' series sweep over Purdue Fort Wayne:

The Jackrabbits limited Purdue Fort Wayne to six runs, 11 hits and a .129 batting average in the three-game series;
SDSU played its first true home Summit League games of the season and improved to 4-0 at Erv Huether Field;
Tyler Olmstead pitched the second complete-game shutout by a Jackrabbit this season, tossing a four-hitter in the May 3 series opener;
Freshman Nic McCay posted his second complete game of the year in the series finale as the Jackrabbits won 12-2 in seven innings;
Landon Badger led the Jackrabbits at the plate with a .545 batting average (6-for-11), adding a home run, two doubles and five runs scored;
Gus Steiger (6-for-12, 6 RBIs) and Josh Falk (5-for-10, 7 RBIs) each hit .500 in the weekend series;
The Jackrabbits used only four pitchers in the entire three-game series;
SDSU improved to 8-1 in games played on Sundays this season.

FRESHMEN AT THE CORNERS: Two first-year freshmen have held the corner infield positions throughout Summit League play for the Jackrabbits.

Drew Beazley, who was named Summit League Player of the Week on March 25 after the first series of the season against Oral Roberts, shares the second spot on the squad with four home runs while batting .271 with 17 runs batted in. The Johnston, Iowa, native has seen action both in the field and on the mound for the Jackrabbits, seeing most of his recent playing time at first base. He is hitting .303 in Summit League play, going 23-for-76 with eight doubles, all four of his home runs and 14 runs batted in, while slugging .566.

Beazley also has made 10 appearances out of the bullpen this season and ranks second on the team with three saves.

Fellow freshman Luke Ira has started 39 of 42 games this season, mostly at third base. He is tied for second on the team with 14 multi-hit games while batting .247 overall and ranking in a tie for third on the squad with 24 runs batted in. Ira delivered the game-winning RBI?double in the top of the ninth inning as part of a two-hit performance in the March 24 series finale at Oral Roberts.

STEADY STEIGER: Sophomore Gus Steiger has made a seamless transition to the shortstop position in 2019. A native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, Steiger took over the starting role at second base early in the 2018 campaign and led the team with a .311 batting average. He also was nearly flawless in the field, committing only one error in 195 defensive chances for a .995 fielding percentage.

So far this season, Steiger again leads the team in batting with leads the team with a .323 average, 15 stolen bases and 39 runs batted in. He had his streak of reaching base safely end at 36 games May 7 at Minnesota. That streak ranked in a tie for the fourth-longest streak in the program's Division I history (since 2005) with Eric Danforth (2015).

With hits in 31 games during his streak, Steiger batted .348 (56-for-161) with 13 doubles, four home runs and 36 runs batted in. He collected two or more hits in 18 of the 36 games, including four-hit performances March 8 at UA Little Rock and March 24 at Oral Roberts.

Steiger also has handled the move across the diamond defensively, turning in a team-high 132 assists in compiling a .951 fielding percentage.

FALK HEATING UP: Junior Josh Falk has been on a tear at the plate as he has racked up 12 extra-base hits over the last 17 games.

Since April 1, Falk has batted .365 (23-for-63) and posted a .683 slugging percentage with five home runs and seven doubles while splitting time between first base and designated hitter. Falk has recorded seven multi-hit games and has driven in 21 runs in that span, highlighted by a four-RBI performance in Game 1 of the April 20 doubleheader with Western Illinois.

The Minnetonka, Minnesota, native had his season-best seven-game hitting streak snapped in the April 28 series finale at Omaha. He hit home runs in three of the games during the streak, including a three-run shot for his team-leading eighth round-tripper of the season that was part of a five-run first inning April 23 against Sioux Falls.

COUNTDOWN TO 200: Senior outfielder Nick Smith is making a late run to join a select group of Jackrabbits who have compiled 200 career hits.

The Chanhassen, Minnesota, native enters the weekend with 185 career hits, 15 away from becoming the 19th player in program history to reach the milestone, and the first since Matt Johnson (209 career hits) in 2017. Smith has picked up the pace recently, recording 22 hits (22-for-56) over the last 15 games and highlighted by a four-hit, five-RBI performance in the April 19 series opener against Western Illinois.

Smith also has possessed a discerning eye at the plate as he ranks fifth all-time at SDSU with 104 career bases on balls. This season, Smith has drawn a team-best 39 walks while striking out only 16 times in 188 plate appearances.

A CALL TO ARMS: South Dakota State starting pitchers have thrown at least five innings in 30 of the team's 42 games so far this season, including 21 of 24 Summit League contests.

Junior Tyler Olmstead has taken over the No. 1 starter's role and has tallied a team-best 75 strikeouts in 77 innings. Olmstead's 75 strikeouts rank as the ninth-most in a single season by a Jackrabbit pitcher and he is one strikeout outside the SDSU career top 10 with 156.

A second-team all-Summit League selection in 2018, Olmstead has pitched into at least the seventh inning in all eight of his Summit League starts, including a four-hit, complete-game shutout against Purdue Fort Wayne on May 3.

Freshman Nic McCay has hurled at least six innings in seven of his nine eight outings, highlighted by a nine-inning, 11-strikeout shutout performance in the March 31 series finale against Purdue Fort Wayne. He matched his 11-strikeout performance in seven one-hit innings at Omaha on April 28. McCay currently shares the team lead with five wins and ranks second with 74 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. His strikeout total is the 10th-most in a season by a Jackrabbit hurler.

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 holds a 5-1 record with a 1.67 earned run average. He allowed only one run in his first 16 innings of the season over 10 appearances before suffering the loss in the April 5 series opener against Omaha. In leading the team with five saves, Barnett has struck out 33 batters — in 27 innings — and has limited the opposition to a .143 batting average (13-for-93).

In his last outing, May 3 against Purdue Fort Wayne, Barnett notched strikeouts on six of the eight outs he recorded en route to the victory.

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.

Froom 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 nine of his 12 starts this season to enter the week tied for the team lead with five wins. He has notched 42 strikeouts in 62 innings.

The Crystal, Minnesota, native became a mainstay in the Jackrabbit rotation starting with his sophomore season in 2015. He currently ranks in third place in program history with 46 games started and is fourth with 255 2/3 innings pitched, while moving into sole possession of seventh place in career strikeouts with 168.

GOING DEEP: Through the first 42 games of the 2019 season, the Jackrabbits have hit 30 home runs, starting with a three-homer performance in the Feb. 15 season opener against UT Martin.

Ten different players have accounted for the Jackrabbit home runs, with Nick Smith joining the group April 19 versus Western Illinois. Josh Falk leads the team with eight homers. Gus Steiger, Drew Beazley and Logan Holtz have each hit four, while freshman backup catcher Ryan McDonald has hit three.

Holtz and 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. Beazley notched his first career home run, while Steiger and Falk each hit their second round-trippers of the season.

In all, the Jackrabbits have hit two or more home runs in a game 10 times this season.

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.

Stover began the year by striking out nine in five innings in the Feb. 15 season opener at UT Martin en route to Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors. He missed six weeks due to injury after a March 1 start at Central Arkansas and since his return made four appearances out of the bullpen before returning to the starting rotation May 7 at Minnesota.

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 68-74 record at SDSU, including a 48-33 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 617-396-1 record (.609 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He recorded career win No. 600 March 10 at UA Little Rock and coached in his 1,000th collegiate game in the April 13 series opener versus North Dakota State.

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 31 players from seven different states and one Canadian province. Of the 31 players, 11 are from Iowa, eight are from Minnesota and seven hail from South Dakota. Arizona, Nebraska, Washington and Wisconsin are represented by one player each, as is Manitoba.

By class, 10 are seniors, eight are juniors, four are sophomores, two are redshirt freshmen and seven are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits close out the regular season with a three-game series May 16-18 at North Dakota State.

-GoJacks.com-