JACKS OPEN BASEBALL SEASON WITH PURDUE

Friday, February 18

Sugar Land, Texas

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Purdue

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

2/17/2022 4:09:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 1-4: South Dakota State vs. Purdue

When	Friday-Sunday, Feb. 20-22 3 p.m. Friday \| 1 p.m. Saturday (doubleheader) \| 1 p.m. Sunday
Where	Constellation Field \| Sugar Land, Texas
TV	None
Radio	PurdueSports.com
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Purdue \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

The South Dakota State University baseball team makes its season debut Friday, opening a four-game series against Purdue in Sugar Land, Texas.

Friday's series opener is slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Constellation Field, which is the home of the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate Sugar Land Space Cowboys. SDSU and Purdue are scheduled to play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the series wrapping up with another 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.

Links to live stats for all four games will be available through GoJacksLive.com.

The Jackrabbits completed the 2021 season with a 15-32 overall record, including a 9-19 mark in The Summit League. SDSU claimed the fourth and final spot in the 2021 Summit League Baseball Championship and went on to record one tournament win over host Omaha.

Purdue is coming off a 2021 season in which it turned in a 16-26 record while playing exclusively against Big Ten opponents. The Boilermakers are picked to finish outside the top half in the Big Ten race this season.

THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the first-ever meeting between South Dakota State and Purdue on the baseball diamond.

The Jackrabbits have three other games scheduled against Big Ten opponents this season — one against Nebraska (March 23) and two versus Minnesota (March 2, April 26). All three of those games are slated to be played on the road.

FOR OPENERS: The Jackrabbits are 5-12 in Opening Day games during the Division I era, which began with the start of the 2005 season. SDSU has won two out of five season openers under head coach Rob Bishop, with both wins in games 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.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish fourth in the 2022 Summit League baseball race, according to a poll conducted among the league's seven coaches that was announced Wednesday.

Defending regular season champion Oral Roberts grabbed the top spot in the poll with six first-place votes and 36 points, followed by 2021 tournament champion North Dakota State with 31 points and one first-place vote.

Omaha edged the Jackrabbits for third place by one point, 24-23, while new affiliate member Northern Colorado placed fifth with 13 points. Western Illinois (12 points) and Summit League newcomer St. Thomas (8 points) rounded out the poll.

The top four teams will advance to the Summit League Baseball Championship May 25-28 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. SDSU has qualified for the league tournament in 11 of 12 seasons it has been eligible for postseason play.

In addition, infielder Luke Ira was named as a Summit League Player to Watch and redshirt sophomore right-hander Nic McCay was tabbed as a Summit League Pitcher to Watch.

A junior from Iowa City, Iowa, Ira took over starting duties at shortstop last season and led the team with 48 hits and 11 doubles while starting all 47 games. Ira contributed three home runs and also ranked second on the squad with a .268 batting average and 23 runs batted in.

McCay makes a return to the Jackrabbits' starting rotation after sitting out the past two seasons due to injury. A?native of Carlisle, Iowa, McCay was a Freshman All-America
selection by Collegiate Baseball in 2019 after compiling a 6-1 record with a 4.08 earned run average in 14 starts. He struck out 83 batters in 79 1/3 innings that season.

SEASON PREVIEW: The South Dakota State University baseball team returns a solid nucleus, but will rely on an infusion of some new talent as it looks to move up the Summit League standings in 2022.

If the Jackrabbits are to return to the winning side of the ledger in 2022, sixth-year head coach Rob Bishop said much of that will be determined at the plate.

"I thought that the disappointing piece of our season last year was our overall offensive production," he said. "I thought in the back half of the season we started to show flashes and we figured out how to win games different ways, but we had a hard time consistently scoring runs."

To help bolster the offense, the Jackrabbits brought in reinforcements from the junior college ranks and through the transfer portal.

"Dawson Parry, Cade Stuff and Nic Nelson were all really good junior college players who will come in and add some thump to our lineup, and Henry George (a graduate transfer from Minnesota Duluth) is a scrappy player who puts together good at-bats and can affect the game with his legs," Bishop said.

Leading the contingent of returning players are all-Summit League performers Derek Hackman and Drew Beazley. A senior catcher, Hackman emerged as the team's top offensive performer last season by leading the squad in batting average (.318) and home runs (8), while ranking second in runs batted in with 26.

Beazley has been a two-way player for the Jackrabbits and earned his 2021 all-league accolades on the mound. He moved into the starting rotation midway through the conference season and posted a 4-2 record with a team-best 2.16 earned run average. Beazley also has been the team's primary first baseman, although he had a down year offensively in 2021, hitting .203 with one home run and 20 RBIs.

Following is a more in-depth look at the Jackrabbit lineup for 2022:

Infield
Outside of shortstop Luke Ira, the Jackrabbit infield will likely have a much different look this season.

A junior, Ira previously started at both third base and second base before sliding into the starting shortstop role last season. He came on offensively in the second half of the 2021 campaign to lead the team with 11 doubles, while ranking second with a .268 batting average and contributing three home runs and 23 RBIs.

The aforementioned junior college trio of Parry (first base), Stuff (second base) and Nelson (third base) will all contend for starting roles on the infield, along with sophomores Jordan Sagedahl and Avery Mellman. Sagedahl shared time at third base last season, while Mellman was a regular at second base.

Hackman makes up one half of a dynamic duo at catcher, teaming with junior Ryan McDonald to give SDSU added flexibility in the lineup to leverage left-right pitching matchups on offense, as well as developed specialized relationships with members of the pitching staff. McDonald batted .218 with four home runs and 17 RBIs a season ago.

"Having two guys back there that we as coaches trust and our guys trust is crucial," Bishop said.

Outfield
With George expected to patrol center field, returners Jamie Berg and Jess Bellows are penciled in as the Opening Day starters at the corner outfield positions. Both players hit .250 last season, with Bellows playing every day during a freshman season in which he hit a home run and tallied 16 RBIs.

Also returning to the Jackrabbit outfield are sophomore Reece Anderson and senior Colton Cox. Junior college transfer Thatcher Kozal also is in the running for a prominent role.

Pitching Staff
Including Beazley, the Jackrabbits return three of their top four starters from last season and also will welcome the return of Nic McCay. After missing both the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to injury, McCay appears to have regained the form that allowed him to post a 6-1 record and earn Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball back in 2019.

Also returning from the starting staff last season are Cody Carlson (2-5, 4.07 ERA) and Owen Bishop (1-5, 6.45 ERA).

Carlson pitched at least five innings in 10 of his 12 starts, while Bishop threw well down the stretch, with his lone win — over league regular season champion Oral Roberts — solidifying the Jackrabbits' spot in the conference tournament.

The Jackrabbit bullpen is anchored by junior right-hander Ryan Bourassa and left-hander Bret Barnett. Bourassa, who began last season in the starting rotation, made a seamless transition to the bullpen midway through the year and responded by striking out 65 batters in only 42 1/3 innings to set an SDSU single-season record with an average of 13.82 K's per nine innings pitched.

Barnett will attempt to regain the dominance he displayed during an all-league 2019 season in which he posted a 5-1 record and seven saves, while turning in a 1.31 ERA over 20 relief appearances. Last season, Barnett tallied a pair of saves and struck out 36 batters in 24 1/3 innings en route to a 1-2 mark.

In between, the Jackrabbits will bridge the gap with a group of newcomers that includes Jake Goble, Alex Clemons, Dane Toman and Joe Husak. Coach Bishop plans for the quartet to start the season in the bullpen, but says some in the group could graduate to making midweek starts or finding a role in the weekend starting rotation by season's end.

"We really like those arms and a bunch of those guys will be in our top eight or nine, which means they are going to throw on the weekend in some role," Bishop said. "I like our veteran guys, but you always need that new class to jump in and contribute."

The Schedule
As is usually the case, the Jackrabbits will play nearly the entire first half of their schedule away from home. And they will do it against a mix of Power 5 and top-tier mid-major programs that includes the likes of Purdue, Minnesota, Nebraska, Creighton and Wichita State.

"The nature of mid-major baseball in the North is that we're going to be playing really tough opponents early," Bishop said. "Over those first 20 games, there's no let up in the schedule, but it will sharpen us for the conference season."

Summit League play begins with a three-game series March 25-27 at Oral Roberts. The league is expanding to seven teams this season with the additions of St. Thomas and Northern Colorado as an affiliate member, making a conference tournament berth even more challenging.

"My view of the Summit League in baseball is that the league has gotten better each year," Bishop said. "I think there's going to be a lot of competitiveness throughout the league."

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 five seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 92-122 record at SDSU, including a 60-54 mark in Summit League regular season games.

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.

When play resumed in the spring of 2021, the Jackrabbits posted a 15-32 overall record and suffered their first losing season in league play since 2016, but managed to earn the fourth and final spot in the Summit League Baseball Championship. In the conference tournament, the Jacks staved off elimination with a shutout victory over host Omaha before falling in 11 innings to regular season champion Oral Roberts.

Overall, Bishop holds a 641-444-1 record (.591 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 20 times during Bishop's 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 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 2021 SDSU baseball roster features 35 players from nine different states. Of the 35 players, 10 are from Iowa, nine are from South Dakota and seven hail from Minnesota. Two players are from Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota, while Colorado, Utah and Washington are represented by one player each.

By class, two are graduate students, three are seniors, nine are juniors, nine are sophomores and 11 are freshmen (three returning, eight incoming).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will remain in Texas to play a three-game series Feb. 24-26 at the University of the Incarnate Word. The first two games of the series are set for 6:30 p.m. starts at Daniel Sullivan Field in San Antonio, with the series finale slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

-GoJacks.com-