JACKRABBITS OPEN SUMMIT SLATE AT ORU

Friday, March 25

Tulsa, Okla.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Erik Williams

3/24/2022 1:26:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 19-21: South Dakota State (6-12, 0-0 Summit) at Oral Roberts (9-6, 0-0)

When	Friday-Sunday, March 25-27 6 p.m. Friday \| 2 p.m. Saturday \| 1 p.m. Sunday
Where	J.L. Johnson Stadium \| Tulsa, Oklahoma
TV	None
Radio	None
Live Stats	ORUAthletics.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Oral Roberts \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

The South Dakota State University baseball team opens Summit League play with a three-game weekend series at defending regular season champion Oral Roberts.

Friday's series opener is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the series finale on Sunday slated for 1 p.m.

The Jackrabbits enter the weekend with a 6-12 overall record after splitting a four-game series last weekend at Northwestern State (La.). SDSU scored a season-high 16 runs in winning the series opener, 16-2, on March 17 before dropping two of the final three games.

ORU comes into Friday's opener with a 12-9 overall record. However, the Golden Eagles will be in search of ending a four-game home losing streak as they were swept by Dallas Baptist last weekend before falling to ninth-ranked Oklahoma State, 9-4, on Wednesday.

This weekend's series will be the first between the two programs this season. The Jackrabbits and Golden Eagles are scheduled to close out the regular season with a three-game series May 19-21 at Erv Huether Field in Brookings.

THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the 83rd meeting on the baseball diamond between SDSU and Oral Roberts. In the series that dates back to 1971, the Golden Eagles hold a 63-19 lead.

The two programs met 10 times during the 2021 season, with ORU winning eight of the matchups. The Golden Eagles swept a four-game Summit League series April 30-May 2 in Tulsa. ORU claimed both games of a May 20 doubleheader in Brookings before the Jackrabbits won the final two games of the series May 21-22 to secure the fourth and final spot in the Summit League Baseball Championship.

SDSU and ORU then met twice the next week at the conference tournament, with the Golden Eagles posting a pair of wins. The Golden Eagles won the tournament opener, 7-1, on May 27 behind a complete game from Matt Gaskins. ORU eliminated the Jackrabbits from the tournament the next night with a 5-3, 11-inning victory.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick Jackrabbit notes entering Summit League play:

South Dakota State won a series opener for the first time this season with its 16-2 victory at Northwestern State on March 17. The 16 runs were the most by the Jackrabbits in a game since scoring 18 against Western Illinois on May 6, 2017.
The Jackrabbits have played all 18 of their games so far this season away from home and in five different states. SDSU also had two games scheduled to be played in Nebraska canceled.
Luke Ira has extended his streak of consecutive games started to 87, which dates back to late in the 2019 season. Ira has made 66 straight starts and a total of 68 starts at shortstop during his current streak, while also starting 17 games at second base and two at third base.
Ira had a season-best seven-game hitting streak end in the series opener at Northwestern State.
Ryan McDonald hit the Jackrabbits' second grand slam of the season in the March 17 win over Northwestern State. Dawson Parry hit the team's first grand slam in the first game of a doubleheader Feb. 25 at Incarnate Word.
SDSU set a Division I-era (since 2005) record with eight batters hit by pitches by Northwestern State in the March 17 series opener (previous record: six).
Reece Anderson stole a pair of bases in the March 18 game at Northwestern State, to take over the team lead with five.
Owen Bishop excelled in a couple different roles in the series at Northwestern State. He struck out seven and limited the Demons to two runs over six innings in winning the opener on March 17. Bishop also went 4-for-7 (.529 average) at the plate in the March 19 doubleheader with a pair of doubles and four runs batted in while playing first base.

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 in February.

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 RBIs.

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.

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 189-156 (.548 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 11 out of the 12 years it has been eligible.

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

McDONALD HONORED: South Dakota State's Ryan McDonald was honored as Summit League Baseball Player of the Week March 14 after an impressive showing at the plate during a weekend series at Wichita State.

A junior outfielder/catcher from Prior Lake, Minnesota, McDonald posted a pair of three-hit games in starting each of the last games of the series. He doubled twice in SDSU's 4-2 victory on March 12, including hitting the go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning.

In their March 13 meeting, McDonald collected another double and connected on his first home run of the season as part of another three-hit effort.

For the week, he batted .600 (6-for-10) and tallied a 1.200 slugging percentage with his home run and three doubles. McDonald also drove in four runs, scored three times and stole a base.

McDonald continued his hot hitting during a four-game series at Northwestern State March 17-19. He hit safely in all four games to extend his hitting streak to six games, a span in which he has five multi-hit games and is batting 14-for-24 (.583 batting average) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 runs batted in.

HACKMAN LEADS OFFENSE EARLY ON: South Dakota State catcher Derek Hackman has been the most consistent offensive performer for the Jackrabbits leading up to the start of league play in 2022.

A senior from Johnston, Iowa, Hackman has reached base safely in 17 of 18 games and leads the squad with a .500 on-base percentage, 14 runs batted in and five doubles. He also shares the team lead with a .357 batting average (20-for-56) after recording his fifth multi-hit game of the season March 18 at Northwestern State.

Hackman tied a single-game career high with four runs batted in against Incarnate Word in the Feb. 24 series opener.

In 2021, Hackman was a second-team all-Summit League selection after posting team highs with a .319 batting average, eight home runs and 31 runs scored.

BOURASSA CONTINUES RECORD PACE: Junior right-hander Ryan Bourassa picked up where he left off in the strikeout department as he made his 2022 season debut in the series finale against Purdue on Feb. 20.

In four innings of relief, Bourassa struck out seven and allowed only one run in keeping the Jackrabbits in the game. He followed that with a four-inning save in the first game of a Feb. 25 doubleheader at Incarnate Word in which he tallied for more strikeouts.

Thus far during the 2022 season, Bourassa has tallied 20 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings over five appearances. Each of his appearances has covered at least two innings.

A native of West Fargo, North Dakota, Bourassa began the 2021 campaign in the starting rotation, but 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, TOO: Senior left-hander Bret Barnett also has displayed big-time strikeout ability during his Jackrabbit career, recording an average of well over a strikeout an inning. After striking out 19 batters and walking only three in a combined eight innings of relief over six appearances so far this season, the native of Indianola, Iowa, has notched 120 strikeouts in 92 1/3 career innings for a ratio of 11.70 strikeouts per nine innings that currently ranks as the highest in program history.

He struck out six batters over three innings in the first game of a March 19 doubleheader at Northwestern State, notching his first three K's of the outing in succession after entering the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Barnett closed out the Jackrabbits' 4-2 victory in his March 19 appearance. The save was the 14th of his career, moving him into a tie with Gary Olechoski (14 saves from 2003-06) for third place on the SDSU career charts.

Barnett is currently replicating 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.

EARLY OUTBURSTS: Twice during the month of March, South Dakota State has put five runs on the board in the first inning of a game.

The first occurrence came in a March 2 game at Minnesota and was highlighted by a three-run home run from Drew Beazley.

The Jackrabbits duplicated the feat in the second game of a March 5 doubleheader at Central Arkansas. Two-run doubles by Derek Hackman and Jordan Sagedahl were followed by an RBI double from Reece Anderson.

Those two five-run outbursts match the most runs scored by the Jackrabbits in the initial inning of a game under head coach Rob Bishop (since 2017). SDSU has scored five times in the first inning on five occasions, including in a May 20, 2021 game versus Oral Roberts.

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-plus seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 98-134 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 647-456-1 record (.587 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.

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 in all 10 seasons, including four with 40 wins. 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 year 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 are scheduled to play a midweek game March 30 at Creighton before resuming Summit League play April 1-3 at league newcomer St. Thomas. The game at Creighton is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Charles Schwab Field in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

-GoJacks.com-