JACKRABBITS MAKE RETURN TRIP TO MINNESOTA

GAME 33: South Dakota State (15-17) at Minnesota (11-26)

When	Tuesday, April 26 \| 3 p.m.
Where	Siebert Field \| Minneapolis, Minn.
TV	Big Ten Network Plus (subscription required)
Radio	none
Live Stats	GopherSports.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Minnesota \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

The South Dakota State baseball team is scheduled to wrap up a string of three consecutive games against nonconference opponents Tuesday as it makes a third trip of the season to the Twin Cities to take on Minnesota.

Due to cold temperatures in the forecast, the scheduled start time has been moved ahead. First pitch is now set for 3 p.m. at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus. Video coverage of Tuesday's game is slated to be available online through Big Ten Network Plus.

The Jackrabbits, who posted 10-run wins against lower-division foes Dakota Wesleyan and Briar Cliff last week, enter the matchup with a 15-17 overall record. SDSU?has won nine of its 11 games during the month of April, starting with a three-game sweep of Summit League rival St. Thomas April 2-3 in St. Paul.

Minnesota, meanwhile, holds an 11-26 overall record after dropping two of three games at home this past weekend to Big Ten rival Penn State. The Golden Gophers have dropped six of their last seven games, although their one victory over the weekend marked legendary head coach John Anderson's 600th Big Ten win — the most all-time.

THE SERIES: Tuesday's game against Minnesota will mark the 52nd time SDSU and the Golden Gophers have met on the baseball diamond. Minnesota leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1947, by a 37-14 count.

The Jackrabbits have won each of the last two meetings, starting by ending a seven-game losing streak to their neighbors to the east by posting a 10-8 victory on March 4, 2020. That was one of the teams' final games before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SDSU's latest victory over the Golden Gophers came earlier this season. In their March 2 meeting at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Jackrabbits jumped out to a 5-0 first-inning lead and held on for a 7-5 victory. Drew Beazley capped the early outburst with a three-run home run after a run-scoring infield single by Derek Hackman and RBI groundout off the bat of Jamie Berg.

Four freshman pitchers combined to throw the first seven innings for the Jackrabbits. Dane Toman worked the first two innings, while Reece Arbogast followed with two shutout innings to be credited with the victory. Joe Husak and Alex Clemons also saw action on the mound before Bret Barnett closed out the Jackrabbit victory with a perfect ninth inning.

Hackman was 3-for-4 to lead the Jackrabbits' 11-hit attack, with Beazley and Henry George each adding two hits.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick Jackrabbit notes entering this week's slate of games:

The Jackrabbits have homered in 15 straight games. It is the longest stretch of games with a home run since a program-record 16-game streak from April 20-May 9, 2009.
SDSU's 38 home runs so far this season are the most by a Jackrabbit team since the 2010 squad hit a school-record 84 round-trippers.
The Jackrabbits set a season high for hits in back-to-back games last week. SDSU tallied 15 hits against Dakota Wesleyan and 16 the next day (April 20) versus Briar Cliff.
Dawson Parry and Ryan McDonald have each hit two grand slams this season. McDonald's latest grand slam capped a seven-run third inning in the Jackrabbits' April 19 win over Dakota Wesleyan.
Parry has hit safely in seven games in a row, during which he is batting .448 (13-for-29) with four home runs and 15 runs batted in.
Derek Hackman has scored seven times over the last two games and 12 times in the last five contests.
Drew Beazley has reached base safely in 15 games in a row and also has a seven-game hit streak.
SDSU shortstop Luke Ira has extended his streak of consecutive games started to 101, which dates back to late in the 2019 season. Ira has made 80 straight starts and a total of 82 starts at shortstop during his current streak, while also starting 17 games at second base and two at third base.
Ira has moved into 10th place in career assists at SDSU with 318.
SDSU hurlers have given up two earned runs or less in eight of 11 games during the month of April.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Brady Hawkins made his collegiate debut in the win over Dakota Wesleyan on April 19. Hawkins struck out five and walked two in allowing one run in 3 2/3 innings as the Jackrabbits' starting pitcher.

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. Now in its 14th season as a member of The Summit League, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 196-161 (.549 winning percentage) record 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.

TOP CATCHING TANDEM: South Dakota State's Derek Hackman and Ryan McDonald have provided plenty of offensive pop and solid defense from the catching position during the 2022 campaign.

The team's regular starting catcher, the left-handed hitting Hackman has been a consistent offensive performer for the Jackrabbits each of the past two seasons.

A senior from Johnston, Iowa, Hackman has reached base safely in 27 of 32 games this season and shares the team lead with 26 runs scored while ranking second in on-base percentage (.419) and fourth in both home runs (5) and runs batted in (22). Hackman tied a single-game career high with four runs batted in against Incarnate Word on Feb. 24.

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.

Hackman has moved into the Jackrabbit career top 10 in a pair of categories during his senior season. His 104 career walks currently stand sixth, while his 899 career putouts rank seventh.

When not catching, McDonald has been the Jackrabbits' primary right fielder in 2022. He was honored as Summit League Baseball Player of the Week March 14 after hitting .600 (6-for-10) during a weekend series at Wichita State.

McDonald has continued his hitting prowess since the Wichita State series by reaching base safely in 21 consecutive games, including a March 17 game at Northwestern State (La.) in which he went 3-for-5 with a triple, grand slam and career-high seven RBIs.

A junior from Prior Lake, Minnesota, McDonald currently leads the team with a .310 batting average, 10 doubles, .640 slugging percentage, .430 on-base percentage and 28 RBIs. He also ranks second on the squad with seven home runs.

BOURASSA CONTINUES RECORD PACE: Junior right-hander Ryan Bourassa has picked up right where he left off in the strikeout department during the first half of the 2022 season.

Thus far during the 2022 season, Bourassa has tallied 43 strikeouts in only 30 1/3 innings over 11 appearances. Each of his first seven appearances covered at least two frames, including in the first game of a Feb. 25 doubleheader at Incarnate Word, in which he recorded a four-inning save.

Bourassa turned in the most dominant performance of his Jackrabbit career March 25 at Oral Roberts as he tossed six shutout innings of relief in a no-decision, notching a career-high 12 strikeouts. He fanned the side in order in both the eighth and 11th innings, and allowed only one hit and one walk for a Jackrabbit squad that eventually dropped a 5-4 decision in 14 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.

Bourassa also now holds the SDSU career mark for strikeouts per nine innings after passing the 60-inning threshold in his March 25 appearance. His 108 strikeouts in 72 2/3 innings equate to 13.38 K's per full game.

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 33 batters and walking only eight in a combined 19 1/3 innings of relief over 10 appearances so far this season, the native of Indianola, Iowa, has notched 134 strikeouts in 100 2/3 career innings for a ratio of 11.98 strikeouts per nine innings that currently ranks as the second-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 matched that strikeout total in another three-inning save April 16 at Northern Colorado.

The save was his second of the series and 17th of his career, solidifying his hold on third place on the SDSU career charts. He also has moved into sole possession of sixth place in career appearances for the Jackrabbits with 69, passing both Shane Kraemer (66 appearances from 2010-13) and Andrew Clemen (66 appearances from 2013-16) in recent weeks.

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 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.

TAKING ONE (OR EIGHT) FOR THE TEAM: South Dakota State set a new program record in the Division I era when Jackrabbit hitters were hit by pitches a total of eight times in the March 17 series opener at Northwestern State.

Nic Nelson and Derek Hackman were each plunked twice in the 16-2 Jackrabbit victory, while Reece Anderson, Henry George, Adam Benes and Ryan McDonald were each awarded one free pass. SDSU batters have been hit by a pitch a total of 43 times so far this season.

The previous single-game record of six hit batters was set on three occasions, the most recent being Feb. 28, 2021, at Northern Colorado.

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 107-139 record at SDSU, including a 67-59 mark in Summit League regular season games. He recorded his 100th win with the Jackrabbits on April 3, 2022, as SDSU posted a 2-1 victory at St. Thomas.

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 656-461-1 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.

KUNZ JOINS TEAM: Former Jackrabbit football player Blake Kunz recently was added to the SDSU baseball roster.

A junior from Germantown, Wisconsin, Kunz made his first collegiate pitching appearance in the April 17 series finale at Northern Colorado, a game in which he allowed one run in 2/3 of an inning. He struck out one, walked two and allowed a hit.

The right-hander was a standout pitcher and first baseman at Germantown (Wis.) High School during his prep career.

Kunz played tight end in 34 games over three seasons at SDSU, tallying 32 career receptions for 528 yards (16.5 ypr) and six touchdowns.

THE ROSTER: The 2021 SDSU baseball roster features 36 players from 10 different states. Of the 36 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, Washington and Wisconsin are represented by one player each.

By class, two are graduate students, three are seniors, 10 are juniors, 10 are sophomores and 11 are freshmen (three returning, eight incoming).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to begin the second half of their Summit League schedule by hosting league-leading North Dakota State in a three-game weekend series. The series opener is set for 3 p.m. Friday at Erv Huether Field, followed by 1 p.m. games Saturday and Sunday.

-GoJacks.com-

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Reece Anderson

Reece Arbogast

Bret Barnett

Drew Beazley

Adam Benes

Jamie Berg

Ryan Bourassa

Alex Clemons

Henry George

Derek Hackman

Brady Hawkins

Joe Husak

Luke Ira

Blake Kunz

Nic McCay

Ryan McDonald

Nic Nelson

Tyler Olmstead

Dawson Parry

Jordan Sagedahl

Gus Steiger

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Completed Event: Baseball versus Arizona State on May 30, 2026 , Loss , 0, to, 17

Completed Event: Baseball at Nebraska on May 29, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 23, 2026 , Win , 9, to, 6

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 23, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4

Completed Event: Baseball versus Northern Colorado on May 21, 2026 , Win , 2, to, 1

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 20, 2026 , Win , 7, to, 3

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