JACKRABBITS SET TO FINALLY MAKE HOME DEBUT

Saturday, April 9

Brookings, S.D.

noon

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Erik Williams

4/8/2022 2:10:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 25-27: Western Illinois (3-22, 1-5 Summit) at South Dakota State (9-15, 3-3)

When	Saturday-Sunday, April 9-10 (note changes) noon Saturday (doubleheader) \| 1 p.m. Sunday
Where	Erv Huether Field \| Brookings, South Dakota
TV	GoJacks.com/Watch
Radio	KJJQ 910 AM \| GoJacks.com/watch (Sunday only)
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Western Illinois \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

After playing its first 24 games of the season across six different states, as well as having the schedule altered a few times due to weather, the South Dakota State University baseball team is finally on track to play its home opener Saturday afternoon, when the Jackrabbits open a three-game series against Western Illinois.

The series will consist of a doubleheader starting at noon Saturday at Erv Huether Field, with a single game set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Audio and video coverage of the series will be available at GoJacks.com/watch.

Saturday is designated as Military Appreciation Day with all current and former service members receiving two free tickets to that day's games.

South Dakota State enters the week with a 9-15 overall record after sweeping a three-game series this past weekend at Summit League newcomer St. Thomas.

Western Illinois comes into the matchup with a 3-22 overall record that includes a 1-5 mark in Summit League play. The Fighting Leathernecks salvaged the final game of a three-game home series against North Dakota State last weekend before dropping a 15-7 home decision to Illinois State in a nonconference game earlier this week.

THE SERIES: Saturday's series opener against Western Illinois will mark the 67th all-time meeting between SDSU and the Fighting Leathernecks on the baseball diamond. The Jackrabbits hold a 38-28 advantage in the series, which began in 2006.

Western Illinois held the upper hand in the series last season, winning three of the four games played March 26-28, 2021, in Macomb, Illinois. SDSU claimed the opener, 10-3, before WIU claimed the next three games by scores of 5-0, 4-3 and 6-5.

In the opener, Drew Beazley recorded a career-high four hits and matched a career high with four runs batted in to lead the Jackrabbit offense. Beazley knocked in his first run with a double as part of a three-run first inning that also featured a two-run single by Luke Ira.

After Western Illinois scored twice in the home half of the first, Jackrabbit starter Adam Mazur settled in, keeping Western Illinois off the board until the seventh. He retired 12 Leathernecks in a row in one stretch and ended his seven-inning start with six strikeouts.

WIU's Brett Sears tossed a three-hit shutout in the second game of the series-opening doubleheader. Dylan Botaletto drove in the first two runs with a single and Toby Allred capped a four-run fourth inning with a two-run home run.

The Fighting Leathernecks closed the series with a pair of one-run victories. WIU scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull out a 4-3 victory on March 27, then rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 walk-off win in the series finale. The final WIU?victory came after Ryan McDonald tied the game at 5-all in the top of the eighth on a pinch-hit two-run homer.

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

South Dakota State allowed only one earned run (0.33 ERA) and a total of five runs in sweeping a three-game Summit League weekend series from newcomer St. Thomas.
SDSU recorded its first doubleheader sweep since Feb. 27, 2021, at Northern Colorado.
The Jackrabbits swept a Summit League series for the first time since winning all three games in a home series versus Fort Wayne May 3-5, 2019.
SDSU has homered in seven consecutive games, marking the program's longest home run streak since a seven-game stretch in 2010 (April 28-May 8). The Jackrabbits' three home runs in the April 3 series finale — by Derek Hackman, Dawson Parry and Luke Ira — marked a season high.
Ira has extended his streak of consecutive games started to 93, which dates back to late in the 2019 season. Ira has made 72 straight starts and a total of 74 starts at shortstop during his current streak, while also starting 17 games at second base and two at third base.
In the Jackrabbits' series opening win at St. Thomas, Hackman became the first Jackrabbit player with two sacrifice flies in the same game since Cody Sharrow accomplished the feat on April 3, 2016, against Fort Wayne.
Nic McCay, who missed the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons due to injury, recorded his first win of the season in the April 2 series opener at St. Thomas. It was McCay's first victory since May 17, 2019, at North Dakota State.
Freshman right-hander Alex Clemons leads the team in appearances with nine. Clemons has not allowed a run in his last three outings, covering 3 1/3 innings. In his most recent appearance, in Game 1 of an April 3 doubleheader at St. Thomas, Clemons struck out both batters he faced after entering the game with one out in the seventh inning and with the tying run at second 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. Now in its 14th season as a member of The Summit League, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 192-159 (.547 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.

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 posted five multi-hit games and batted 14-for-24 (.583 batting average) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 runs batted in.

McDonald has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games.

HACKMAN LEADS OFFENSE EARLY ON: South Dakota State catcher Derek Hackman has a consistent offensive performer for the Jackrabbits each of the past two seasons.

A senior from Johnston, Iowa, Hackman has reached base safely in 20 of 24 games this season and leads the squad with a .422 on-base percentage, while sharing the team lead with 18 runs batted in.

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 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 37 strikeouts in only 25 2/3 innings over eight 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 102 strikeouts in 68 innings equates to 13.50 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 25 batters and walking only five in a combined 15 2/3 innings of relief over eight appearances so far this season, the native of Indianola, Iowa, has notched 126 strikeouts in 97 career innings for a ratio of 11.69 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 closed out the Jackrabbits' 5-3 victory in his April 2 appearance at St. Thomas. The save was the 15th of his career, breaking a tie with Gary Olechoski (14 saves from 2003-06) for third place on the SDSU career charts. He also has moved into sole possession of sixth place in career appearances for the Jackrabbits with 66, passing both Shane Kraemer (2010-13) and Andrew Clemen (2013-16).

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 34 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 101-137 record at SDSU, including a 63-57 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 650-459-1 record (.586 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 host Northwestern College (Iowa) in a game April 12 at Erv Huether Field before embarking on a weekend trip to Summit League newcomer Northern Colorado.

First pitch for the midweek game against Northwestern is set for 3 p.m.

The April 15 series opener at Northern Colorado is slated for 2 p.m. Mountain (3 p.m. Central) at Jackson Field in Greeley, Colorado. Games Saturday and Sunday are set for noon Mountain (1 p.m. Central).

-GoJacks.com-