JACKS REGROUP AT WESTERN ILLINOIS

Friday, March 26

Macomb, Ill.

noon

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Courtesy Photo

3/24/2021 4:02:00 PM | Baseball

Games 17-20: South Dakota State (6-10, 1-3 Summit) at Western Illinois (5-12, 1-3 Summit)

When	Friday-Sunday, March 26-28 Doubleheader Friday \| noon and 3 p.m. Saturday \| 1 p.m. Sunday \| 1 p.m.
Where	Alfred D. Boyer Stadium \| Macomb, Illinois
TV	GoLeathernecks.com/watch (Friday only)
Radio	None
Live Stats	GoLeathernecks.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Western Illinois \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

The South Dakota State University baseball team returns to the diamond this weekend for a four-game Summit League series at Western Illinois.

Friday's series opener will consist of a doubleheader starting at noon at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Illinois, followed by single games Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday's games are slated for viewing at GoLeathernecks.com/watch.

SDSU enters the second weekend of conference action with a 1-3 mark in Summit League play and 6-10 overall. The Jackrabbits dropped three of four games at league favorite Omaha last weekend. Omaha swept a March 19 doubleheader by scores of 6-1 and 7-1 before SDSU rallied for three runs in the eighth inning of the March 20 contest to earn a 7-6 victory. The Mavericks secured the series victory with another 7-1 win in the March 21 finale.

Western Illinois also comes into the week with a 1-3 Summit League record after salvaging the final game of a four-game home series versus North Dakota State last weekend. The Fighting Leathernecks are 5-12 overall.

THE SERIES: South Dakota State and Western Illinois will play for the 63rd time when the two squads meet in Friday's series opener. The Jackrabbits hold a 37-25 advantage in the series that dates back to 2006.

When they last met, in 2019, SDSU claimed the season series, 5-2, although none of the games were played on a home field. In March of that year, the Jackrabbits won two of three games in a Summit League series played in Springfield, Illinois. A month later, SDSU moved its scheduled home series to Sioux Falls and won two of three games.

SDSU and Western Illinois met for a seventh and final time during the 2019 season in an elimination game at the Summit League Baseball Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Fighting Leathernecks led 4-1 through six innings before the Jackrabbits tied the game with a three-run seventh and took the lead with a five-run eighth en route to a 9-5 victory.

Brett Mogen pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory, while Nick Smith led the offense by going 4-for-4. Drew Beazley, Derek Hackman and Gus Steiger each drove in two runs for the Jackrabbits.

SUMMIT LEAGUE SUCCESS: South Dakota State has been a consistent winner in The Summit League since it became a league member more than a decade ago. In 13 seasons as a member of The Summit League, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 181-140 (.564 winning percentage) in regular season conference games. SDSU has posted a .500 or better record in league play nine times and has qualified for the four-team postseason tournament 10 out of the 11 years it has been eligible.

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

SHORT HOPS: Following are a few quick notes about the Jackrabbits heading into this weekend's series:

All 16 of the Jackrabbits games so far this season have been played away from home, a number that will reach 24 if all scheduled games are played before the April 9 home opener versus Omaha;
SDSU was limited to a .139 team batting average in the four-game series at Omaha;
The Jackrabbits have been outscored 15-1 in the first inning of games so far this season;
True freshman position players Jess Bellows (13), Jordan Sagedahl (9), Avery Mellman (8) and Garrett Stout (7) have combined for 37 starts so far this season;
Ryan McDonald has drawn 14 walks this season and ranks second on the team with a .418 on-base percentage;
Freshman left-hander Clay Odenbach made a pair of scoreless pitching appearances in relief in the Omaha series;
Jackrabbit pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the March 20 win at Omaha, marking the 10th time this season SDSU hurlers posted double digits for K's in a game.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish fourth in the 2021 Summit League baseball race, according to a preseason poll conducted among the league's five coaches.

Defending champion Omaha grabbed the top spot in the poll with three first-place votes and 15 points, edging Oral Roberts with two first-place votes and 14 points. North Dakota State was third with 10 points, followed by the Jackrabbits with seven. Western Illinois rounded out the poll with four points.

The top four teams will advance to the Summit League Baseball Championship May 26-29 in Omaha, Nebraska. SDSU has qualified for the league tournament in 10 of 11 seasons it has been eligible for postseason play.

The Jackrabbits finished the COVID-shortened 2020 season with a 5-12 overall record. The season was canceled just before the start of Summit League play.

In addition, Drew Beazley was named as a Summit League Player to Watch and right-hander Adam Mazur was tabbed as a Summit League Pitcher to Watch.

A sophomore from Johnston, Iowa, Beazley hit .239, drove in nine runs and shared the team lead with two home runs during an abbreviated 2020 season. He earned Freshman All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball in 2019 and was a second-team all-Summit League selection after batting .275 with four home runs and 21 runs batted in.

Besides playing first base, Beazley is expected to see an expanded role on the Jackrabbit pitching staff in 2021.

Mazur rose to the top of the SDSU starting rotation as a true freshman in 2020. The Woodbury, Minnesota, native made four starts, compiling a 1-2 record. He struck out 18 batters in 20 1/3 innings.

BELLOWS BREAKS IN: Freshman Jess Bellows started the final three games of the Northern Colorado series for the Jackrabbits and has since put his stamp on the SDSU lineup.

A native of Miles City, Montana, Bellows led SDSU with a .556 batting average (5-for-9) with six runs batted in and six runs scored in the UNC series. He doubled twice and hit his first career home run en route to a 1.111 slugging percentage. Both of his doubles came in extra innings with the international tiebreaker in effect and resulted in three of his RBIs.

Bellows, who also action at the corner infield spots, as well as at second base recently, has hit safely in 11 of the 13 games in which he has played, putting together separate hitting streaks of five and six games. Overall, he shares the team lead with nine runs scored and ranks second in batting average (.298), slugging percentage (.447) and runs batted in (8).

HACKMAN HEATS UP: While the rest of the Jackrabbit offense was scuffling last weekend against Omaha, junior catcher Derek Hackman heated up. The Johnston, Iowa, native batted .417 (5-for-12) with two home runs, a double, four runs batted in and three runs scored in the four-game series.

Both of Hackman's home runs were two-run blasts in the Jackrabbits' 7-6 victory on March 20 as he established a new career high with four RBIs. He became the first SDSU player to hit two home runs in a game since Anthony Schneider connected twice against Western Illinois on May 13, 2018.

Hackman has reached base safely in all 15 games in which he has played this season, including recording hits in 11 of those contests. He leads the squad in multiple offensive categories, including batting average (.333), on-base percentage (.459), slugging percentage (.521), hits (16) and runs batted in (9). He also is the only Jackrabbit with more than one home run so far this season.

BARNETT MOVES UP SAVES CHART: Junior relief pitcher Bret Barnett recorded the 11th save of his career in the Jackrabbits' win over Kansas on March 20. Barnett notched the final six outs, including three by strikeout, to close out SDSU's first Summit League win of the season.

With his latest save, Barnett broke a tie with Chad Coley (10 saves from 1990-93) for sixth place in program history and moved into a tie with Bruce Mogen (11 saves from 1983-86) for fifth place in program history. The Indianola, Iowa, native earned seven saves en route to first-team all-Summit League honors in 2019, and tallied two saves during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In five appearances this season, Barnett has struck out 16 over eight innings.

MOGEN JOINS TOP 10: Senior right-hander Brett Mogen moved into the SDSU career top 10 for appearances when he pitched the final inning of the Jackrabbits' 12-0 series-opening victory at Northern Colorado on Feb. 26.

Mogen made his 65th career appearance in the March 6 game at SIUE, putting him in a tie for seventh place on the SDSU charts with Isaac Johnson (2006-09), Austin Busse (2009-12) and Talon Jumper (2012-15). Next on the list are Shane Kraemer (2010-13) and Andrew Clemen (2013-16), who each made 66 pitching appearances during their Jackrabbit careers.

Mogen put together his best season in a Jackrabbit uniform in 2019 with a 1-1 record and 1.67 ERA in 20 appearances. His ERA ranked as the sixth lowest in a season by an SDSU pitcher with more than 30 innings pitched.

SUNDQUIST RACKS UP THE K'S: Returning freshman right-hander Eli Sundquist has picked up where he left off from an abbreviated 2020 season in the first month of 2021.

The Chisholm, Minnesota, product struck out three batters among the five outs he recorded in his Feb. 20 season debut against Kansas, and has yet to allow an earned run over five appearances. He added four more punchouts in each of his next two outings at Northern Colorado (Feb. 27-Game 1) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (March 7).

In his most recent outing, Sundquist notched two strikeouts among the four outs he recorded in a winning effort March 20 at Omaha, upping his season total to 16 strikeouts in nine innings.

In 2020, Sundquist fanned a team-high 19 batters in only 13 2/3 innings, giving him 35 career strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings over 13 appearances. That equates to a ratio of 13.90 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

OLMSTEAD RETURNS: Senior pitcher Tyler Olmstead made his first appearance since the 2019 season when he recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning in the second game of the March 19 doubleheader at Omaha.

A two-time second-team all-Summit League selection, Olmstead had been sidelined by injuries since the end of the 2019 season. The Sioux Falls native has compiled an 8-7 career record with 27 starts and ranks eighth on the Jackrabbits' all-time charts with 173 strikeouts. His 92 strikeouts in 2019 stands fourth on SDSU's single-season list.

MAZUR HONORED: South Dakota State right-hander Adam Mazur was honored as Summit League Pitcher of the Week March 1 after helping lead the Jackrabbits to a four-game weekend sweep at Northern Colorado.

A returning freshman from Woodbury, Minnesota, Mazur struck out a career-high 12 UNC batters in six shutout innings as SDSU won the Feb. 26 series opener, 12-0. Mazur struck out the side in each of the second, third and fourth innings, fanning eight Bear hitters in a row in one stretch. He allowed three hits and walked two.

Mazur's 12 strikeouts are the most by an SDSU pitcher since Brady Stover set a Jackrabbit Division I-era standard with 13 K's in a 2018 game against Purdue Fort Wayne. In 21 1/3 innings over four starts so far this season, Mazur has notched a total of 30 strikeouts.

In his latest outing, March 19 at Omaha, Mazur took the loss despite retiring 14 Maverick hitters in a row in one stretch. He is expected to be back on the mound for Friday's series opener at Western Illinois.

TIEBREAKER TIMES TWO: South Dakota State excelled in late-inning situations, winning both games of a Feb. 27 doubleheader at Northern Colorado after the international tie-breaker was implemented.

With each extra inning starting with a man at second base, the Jackrabbits erupted for four runs in the top of the 10th of the opener, then posted a three-spot on the board in the ninth inning (scheduled seven-inning game) of Game 2 once play resumed Sunday after being suspended because of darkness the previous day.

In Game 1, Jess Bellows delivered a leadoff double to score Jordan Sagedahl with the go-ahead run. Luke Ira followed two batters later with a bunt single to plate Bellows and Derek Hackman capped the scoring in a 6-2 Jackrabbit victory with a two-run double to the right-center gap.

Game 2 followed much of the same script as Ira broke a 3-all tie in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double to drive in Landon Badger. Bellows closed out the scoring in a 6-3 Jackrabbit victory with a two-run double to the left-center gap that brought home Ira and Ryan McDonald.

The Jackrabbits turned an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to escape the eighth inning of Game 2 and did not allow a run in any of the three innings played under the tiebreaker rules over the two games.

The international tiebreaker is being used in select nonconference games involving the Jackrabbits this season, but will not be used in Summit League play.

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.

Through four seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds an 83-100 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.

The 2020 season was canceled just before the start of Summit League play, with SDSU posting a 5-12 record in the first month of the season. The Jackrabbits recorded wins at Minnesota, Air Force and Kansas State the final week of the pandemic-shortened campaign.

Overall, Bishop holds a 632-422-1 record (.600 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, Bishop has mentored a handful of Jackrabbit players who have pursued professional careers. 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. Shortstop Gus Steiger signed with the Cincinnati Reds following an abbreviated 2020 MLB Draft. 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, where he also served as athletic director for five years, with a 377-151 overall record.

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 2021 SDSU baseball roster features 36 players from seven different states. Of the 36 players, 13 are from Iowa, 10 are from South Dakota and seven hail from Minnesota. Two players are from Nebraska and North Dakota, while Montana and Washington are represented by one player each.

By class, four are seniors, two are juniors, nine are sophomores and 21 are freshmen (11 returning, 10 incoming).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will go back out of conference for a four-game weekend series April 2-4 at Evansville. The series kicks off with a single game at 6 p.m. on April 2, followed by an April 3 doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The April 4 series finale also is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville, Indiana.

-GoJacks.com-