Jacks head to West Coast for series

Friday, February 21

Stockton, Calif.

6 p.m. PT/8 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

Pacific

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

2/20/2020 3:56:00 PM | Baseball

Games 4-6: South Dakota State (0-3) at Pacific (3-1)

When	Friday, Feb. 21 • 6 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. CT) \| Saturday, Feb. 22 • 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT) \| Sunday, Feb. 23 • noon PT (2 p.m. CT)
Where	Klein Family Field \| Stockton, Calif.
TV	TheW.tv -- Game 1 \| Game 2
Radio	None
Live Stats	P acificTigers.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| P acific \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

BROOKINGS, S.D. — In search of its first win of the 2020 season, the South Dakota State University baseball team heads to the West Coast this weekend for a three-game series at Pacific (Calif.).

The series opener is set for 6 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. Central) at Klein Family Field in Stockton, California. The other two games of the series are set for afternoon starts — 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT) on Saturday and noon PT (2 p.m. CT) on Sunday.

Broadcasts of the games Friday and Saturday are scheduled to be available for viewing online through the West Coast Conference Network at TheW.tv.

The Jackrabbits enter the weekend with an 0-3 record after being swept at Dallas Baptist on the opening weekend, Feb. 14-16.

Pacific, meanwhile, won three of four games on its home field against California Baptist to open the 2020 season. The Tigers, who ended the 2019 season 23-26 overall and 10-16 in the West Coast Conference, scored 37 runs in their opening series, putting up respective totals of 13 and 14 runs in the final two contests.

THE SERIES: The Jackrabbits and Pacific will meet for only the second time in Friday's series opener.

Pacific claimed the inaugural meeting between the two squads, 5-2, in a game played March 8, 2016, in Stockton, California. The Tigers scored the final four runs of the game, scoring twice in both the sixth and eighth innings.

SDSU scored both of its runs in the fifth inning. Tony Kjolsing scored the first Jackrabbit run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Paul Jacobson, while Skyler Wenninger plated Newt Johnson with a single that gave the Jackrabbits a momentary 2-1 lead.

Wenninger was 3-for-3 to lead SDSU's seven-hit attack.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish third in the upcoming Summit League baseball race, according to a poll conducted among conference coaches that was announced Feb. 6 by league officials.

The Jackrabbits received two of the six first-place votes, finishing with 18 points. Oral Roberts received three first-place votes and topped the poll with 23 points, followed by defending league champion Omaha with one first-place vote and 19 points.

Rounding out the poll were: North Dakota State, 16 points; Western Illinois, 9 points, and Purdue Fort Wayne, 5 points.

Among the Jackrabbit returners, juniors Gus Steiger and Bret Barnett were recognized among the Summit League's top players to watch.

A two-time all-Summit League honoree, Steiger paced the Jackrabbits offensively in 2019 with team highs in batting average (.324), hits (73) runs scored (45), runs batted in (43), doubles (13) and stolen bases (18). He also ranked second on the squad with five home runs in starting all 50 games.

Steiger, a native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, was a first-team all-Summit selection at shortstop in 2019, after earning second-team recognition as a second baseman his freshman year.

Barnett emerged as the top relief pitcher in the Summit League during the 2019 season, earning first-team honors after posting a 5-1 record with seven saves. The left-hander from Indianola, Iowa, registered a 1.31 earned run average, struck out 47 batters in 34 1/3 innings and limited opposing hitters to a .138 batting average.

Summit League play is slated to begin March 13, when SDSU opens a three-game set at Oral Roberts. League teams will play a pair of three-game series (home and home) for a total of 30 regular season contests.

The top four teams during the regular season will advance to the 2020 Summit League Baseball Championship, which is scheduled for May 20-23 in Omaha, Nebraska.

LAST WEEK: The Jackrabbits came up short in a competitive season-opening series at a Dallas Baptist squad that was ranked 23rd in the Baseball America preseason poll.

Game 1 Recap | Game 2 Recap | Game 3 Recap

FOR OPENERS: With their 4-1 loss to Dallas Baptist on Feb. 14, the Jackrabbits dropped to 5-11 in Opening Day games during the Division I era, which began with the start of the 2005 season. SDSU haf won two out of its first three season openers under head coach Rob Bishop, both of which were played at neutral sites.

The Jackrabbits claimed the 2017 season opener against Northern Illinois, 7-2, in a game played in Glendale, Arizona, and scored a 15-3 victory over UT?Martin in the 2019 opener played at Russellville, Arkansas.

BARNETT EARNS PRESEASON HONORS: South Dakota State University relief pitcher Bret Barnett was named in December to the Preseason All-America Second Team by Collegiate Baseball.

A native of Indianola, Iowa, Barnett enters his junior season after turning in one of the best seasons ever by a Jackrabbit hurler during the 2019 campaign. The left-hander posted a 5-1 record with a team-high seven saves in 20 appearances. His 1.31 earned run average was the third-lowest single-season mark by a Jackrabbit with more than 30 innings pitched.

Barnett also struck out 47 batters in 34.1 innings and held the opposition to a .138 batting average en route to first-team all-Summit League honors. He did not allow a run over his last seven appearances and brought a scoreless streak of 13.1 innings into the 2020 season.

Barnett was the lone Summit League player honored on the preseason All-America squad.

In addition, Barnett was recently named to the 2020 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

MOGEN SETS UP AGAIN: Senior relief pitcher Brett Mogen picked up where he left off from the 2019 season with four shutout innings in his first appearance of the 2020 campaign Feb. 15 versus Dallas Baptist.

The right-hander from Dell Rapids struck out three and walked three, while limiting DBU to two hits.

Dating back to last season, Mogen has not allowed a run over his last five appearances, covering 10 1/3 innings. He finished 2019 with a 1.67 earned run average in sharing the team lead with 20 appearances. His 2019 ERA ranks as the sixth-best in a season by a Jackrabbit who pitched more than 30 innings.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS: When Matt Krambeck and Drew Beazley hit back-to-back home runs in the Feb. 15 game at Dallas Baptist, it marked the first time the Jackrabbits connected on consecutive circuit clouts in nearly a full calendar year.

The last time SDSU accomplished the feat was Feb. 16, 2019, versus UT Martin, when Logan Holtz and Ryan McDonald went back-to-back in the fifth inning. That also was the second game of the season.

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

Now in his fourth season with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 72-81 record at SDSU.

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.

SDSU bounced back in 2019, posting a 28-22 overall record that included a second-place mark of 19-10 in Summit League play. The Jackrabbits won or split nine of the 10 league series in regular season play en route to making an appearance in the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship for the 10th time in 11 years.

Overall, Bishop has compiled a 621-403-1 record (.611 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He earned his 600th career victory in the Jackrabbits' 8-6 victory at UA Little Rock on March 10, 2019.

Individually, Jackrabbit players have been honored as all-Summit League performers 18 times during his brief tenure, including eight all-league selections in 2019. Utility player Nick Smith was honored for the third consecutive season, while shortstop Gus Steiger and starting pitcher Tyler Olmstead were repeat selections in 2019.

In addition, catcher Luke Ringhofer was selected in the 22nd round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles and relief pitcher Chris Halbur was offered a free agent contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers after Bishop's first season in Brookings. In 2019, left-handed pitcher Brady Stover was a 31st-round pick of the Washington Nationals, but opted to return to the Jackrabbits for his senior season.

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 the past 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 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 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 four different states. Of the 31 players, 14 are from Iowa, eight are from South Dakota, seven hail from Minnesota and two are Nebraska natives.

By class, seven are seniors, three are juniors, eight are sophomores and 13 are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will make the first of three trips to Minneapolis this season, traveling Feb. 26 to play Minnesota in a midweek matchup. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium.

From there, SDSU will travel to Edinburg, Texas, for a four-game weekend series at UT Rio Grande Valley. The series begins with a 7 p.m. contest Feb. 28, followed by a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Feb. 29. The series concludes March 1 with a noon matchup. All four games will be played at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

-GoJacks.com-