JACKS OPEN 2023 SEASON AT LITTLE ROCK

Friday, February 17

Little Rock, Ark.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Little Rock

Photo by: SDSU Athletics

2/16/2023 3:10:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 1-3: South Dakota State (0-0) at Little Rock (0-0)

When	Friday-Sunday \| Feb. 17-19 3 p.m. Friday \| 2 p.m. Saturday \| 1 p.m. Sunday
Where	Gary Hogan Field \| Little Rock, Arkansas
TV	None
Radio	None
Live Stats	Game 1 \| Game 2 \| Game 3
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Little Rock \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

A new season of South Dakota State baseball gets under way this weekend as the Jackrabbits travel to Little Rock for a three-game series.

Friday's season opener is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock, Arkansas. Games Saturday and Sunday are slated for 2 and 1 p.m., respectively.

SDSU completed the 2022 season with a 22-23 overall record, including a 13-9 mark in The Summit League. Little Rock also finished just below the .500 mark at 24-27 overall, with the Trojans turning in an 11-18 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.

Updates of Jackrabbit baseball will be available throughout the weekend via Twitter (@GoJacksBaseball) and through GoJacks.com.

THE SERIES: Friday's series opener will mark the seventh all-time meeting between South Dakota State and Little Rock on the baseball diamond. The Trojans lead the series, which dates back to 2012, by a 4-2 count with all previous games played on their home field.

Little Rock began the series by winning a pair of slugfests by scores of 14-13 and 20-8 on March 6-7, 2012. The Trojans hit eight home runs in the series finale, including three by Sean Bignall and two by Nick Rountree. Rountree also hit a home run in the opening game of the series.

SDSU broke into the win column by earning a split of a four-game series played March 8-10, 2019, at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans overcame a 6-0 deficit through two and a half innings to win the opener, 7-6.

The next day, the two squads split a doubleheader as the Jackrabbits and Trojans traded big eighth-innings — SDSU scored six times in the top of the eighth of Game 1 to pull out a 9-4 victory, while Little Rock countered with a five-run bottom of the eighth in Game 2 to seal a 10-3 victory.

The Jackrabbits salvaged the split by surviving some anxious moments in the ninth inning of the March 10 series finale, holding on for an 8-6 victory despite leading by six runs heading into the final frame. That win also marked a milestone for SDSU head coach Rob Bishop as it was his 600th career collegiate coaching victory.

FOR OPENERS: The Jackrabbits are 5-13 in Opening Day games during the Division I era, which began with the start of the 2005 season. SDSU is 2-4 in 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.

SDSU dropped a 5-4 decision to Purdue in the 2022 season opener played Feb. 18 in Sugar Land, Texas, despite third-inning home runs from Derek Hackman and Luke Ira. The Jackrabbits were swept in the four-game series by the Boilermakers.

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

The Jackrabbits, coached by Rob Bishop, are coming off a 2022 campaign in which they finished 22-23 overall and placed third in the Summit League standings with a 13-9 mark.

Reigning tournament champion Oral Roberts was tabbed as the favorite this season, earning six first-place votes for a total of 42 points. Defending regular season champion North Dakota State was picked second with 36 points and the remaining first-place vote, followed by Omaha with 30 points and SDSU with 24.

Rounding out the poll were St. Thomas (17), Northern Colorado (12) and Western Illinois (7).

League play for the Jackrabbits begins March 24 at Northern Colorado, with the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship slated for May 24-27 in Fargo, North Dakota.

In addition, SDSU seniors Luke Ira and Ryan Bourassa were included on the list of Summit League Players and Pitchers to Watch. A shortstop from Iowa City, Iowa, Ira shared the team lead in home runs last season with 10, while batting .290 and driving in 32 runs. He also tallied a career-best .508 slugging percentage while starting all 45 of the team's games.

Bourassa was a first-team all-Summit League selection as a relief pitcher in 2022, when he posted a 2.13 earned run average and was credited with five saves. The native of West Fargo, North Dakota, logged 42 1/3 innings in 17 appearances last season, striking out 64 batters and limiting opposing hitters to a .145 batting average.

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 202-165 (.550 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 12 out of the 13 years it has been eligible.

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

POWER SURGE: South Dakota State finished the 2022 season with a league-leading 62 home runs. It marked the most hit by a Jackrabbit team since posting a school-record 84 round-trippers in 2010.

The Jackrabbits hit at least one home run in 26 of their last 28 games. Included in that stretch was a school-record of 18 consecutive games with a home run from March 19-May 6.

Meanwhile, the SDSU pitching staff allowed only 30 home runs a season ago. The Jackrabbits tallied 48 more extra-base hits than the opposition in 2022, 150-102, and also held a .438 to .374 advantage in slugging percentage.

All three of SDSU's players who shared the team lead with 10 home runs a year ago — Luke Ira, Ryan McDonald and Dawson Parry — return to the lineup in 2023. In all, the Jackrabbits return 47 of 62 home runs — 75.8 percent. Eleven different players connected on at least one home run a season ago.

Five of the Jackrabbits' home runs last season were grand slams. McDonald and Parry each connected on a pair of grand slams, with Drew Beazley adding one.

McDonald leads active Jackrabbit players with 18 career home runs, while Ira enters the 2023 season with 15 and Beazley has tallied 13.

McDONALD LOOKS TO EXTEND STREAK: South Dakota State's Ryan McDonald brings a streak of reaching base safely in 33 consecutive games into Friday's season opener at Little Rock.

A senior from Prior Lake, Minnesota, McDonald's streak of reaching base by either hit, walk or hit by pitch began when he drew a base on balls in the second game of a March 5, 2022, doubleheader at Central Arkansas. Included in the string are a pair of seven-game hitting streaks, the second of which also remains active.

In earning second-team all-Summit League honors as a utility player last season, McDonald recorded team highs for batting average (.329), doubles (12), slugging percentage (.630) and on-base percentage (.446). He also shared the team lead with 10 home runs.

After splitting time at catcher, right field and designated hitter a year ago, McDonald is expected to make more of a full-time return behind the plate in 2023.

IRA STREAK PASSES 100 STARTS: Senior shortstop Luke Ira has started 114 games in a row for the Jackrabbits, a streak that dates back to late in the 2019 season.

A native of Iowa City, Iowa, Ira has made 93 consecutive starts and a total of 95 starts at shortstop during his current streak. He also has made 17 starts at second base and two at third base.

Ira shared the team lead with 10 home runs and led the squad with 53 hits in 2022. He finished the year with a .290 batting average and 32 runs batted in.

In addition, Ira enters his final season seventh on the Jackrabbit career chart for assists with 349. He needs only five assists to jump all the way to fourth place.

KEY PLAYERS RETURN: Three players who missed all or most of the 2022 season due to injury are expected to return to the Jackrabbit lineup and could play key roles throughout the upcoming season. All three were granted redshirts or injury hardships and did not lose a year of eligibility.

Sophomore outfielder Jess Bellows was limited to six games before being lost for the remainder of the 2022 campaign due to a shoulder injury. Bellows was off to a hot start at the plate with a .300 batting average (6-for-20) with three doubles.

As a freshman in 2021, Bellows batted .250 with a home run and 16 runs batted in in 44 starts while seeing action both in the outfield and at second base.

Junior infielder Cade Stuff appeared in five games with a pair of starts before being shut down for the remainder of the 2022 season. Stuff is expected to vie for action at both second base and third base during the upcoming season.

On the mound, junior right-hander Eli Sundquist will be asked to play a prominent role in the Jackrabbit bullpen this season as either a setup man or closer. A native of Chisholm, Minnesota, Sundquist missed the entire 2022 campaign after making a combined 22 appearances, including two starts, during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He holds a 6-4 career record and has struck out 53 batters in 36 career innings.

BOURASSA CONTINUES RECORD PACE: Senior right-hander Ryan Bourassa enters the 2023 season as the Jackrabbits' all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

In 84 2/3 career innings over two seasons, Bourassa has struck out 129 batters for an average of 13.71 K's per nine innings. That rate nearly two strikeouts per complete game better than the nearest Jackrabbit pitcher — former teammate Bret Barnett with a ratio of 11.88 K's per nine innings.

Bourassa also holds two of the top three single-season ratios in program history. He began his Jackrabbit career in the starting rotation in 2021, fanned 65 batters in only 42 1/3 innings that year to set an SDSU single-season record with an average of 13.82 K's per nine innings pitched.

The native of West Fargo, North Dakota, made a full-time transition to the bullpen last season and nearly equaled his previous totals with 64 strikeouts in another 42 1/3 innings for a ratio of 13.61 strikeouts per nine innings, which stands third in program history behind Barnett's rate of 13.80 from 2022.

Bourassa turned in the best performance of his Jackrabbit career March 25, 2022, 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.

McCAY NEARS TOP 10: Junior right-hander Nic McCay made a successful return to SDSU's starting rotation a season ago and is position to move into the Jackrabbits' career top 10 for strikeouts early in the 2023 season.

McCay missed both the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to injury, but marked his comeback by leading the team with 68 strikeouts and 68 1/3 innings pitched in 14 starts. He also started 14 games during his freshman season in 2019, when he compiled a 6-1 mark.

A native of Carlisle, Iowa, McCay enters the 2023 season with 151 career strikeouts, putting him 12 away from tying Steve Mousel (163 strikeouts from 1971-75) for the 10th spot on the SDSU career charts. McCay's 83 strikeouts his freshman season rank ninth on the Jackrabbit single-season chart.

KUNZ TABBED TO START OPENING DAY: Senior right-hander Blake Kunz is expected to be the Jackrabbits' starting pitcher when they open the 2023 season Friday afternoon at Little Rock, bringing further attention to a meteoric rise on the mound for the former SDSU football player.

A native of Germantown, Wisconsin, Kunz made only one appearance last season after being a late addition to the baseball roster. His lone outing, April 17, 2022, at Northern Colorado, lasted two-thirds of an inning and resulted in him allowing one run while giving up two walks and one hit with a strikeout.

Kunz previously played tight end for three seasons (2018-2020) for the Jackrabbit football team, seeing action in 34 games. He tallied 32 receptions for 528 yards (16.5 ypr) with six touchdowns, the last of which was a 14-yarder against Delaware in the Football Championship Subdivision national semifinals against Delaware in the spring of 2021 as SDSU advanced to the FCS title game for the first time in program history.

SOPHOMORES TAKE NEXT STEP: Four sophomore members of the Jackrabbit pitching staff are expected to be key contributors during the 2023 season.

Both Jake Goble and Brady Hawkins were in contention to crack the starting rotation for the opening week of play, but will instead be counted on to log innings out the of the bullpen in the early going.

Goble, who was sidelined by illness in the middle of his freshman season, made eight relief appearances as a true freshman in 2022. The Rapid City native turned in a 1-2 record while tossing 18 innings.

Hawkins returned from injury midway through the season to make a pair of midweek starts and appear in two more games in relief. The Mitchell native ended the 2022 season with a 2-0 record and 2.00 earned run average while striking out nine in as many innings of work.

Alex Clemons was a mainstay in the bullpen last season and will be in line for a more prominent setup role in 2023. The right-hander from Bettendorf, Iowa, shared the team lead with 17 appearances and fanned 24 batters in 22 2/3 innings while limiting the opposition to a .222 batting average.

Left-hander Reece Arbogast also is in the mix for an expanded role in the bullpen this season. The Sioux Falls native posted a 1-1 record in 16 relief appearances during his freshman campaign and averaged a strikeout in each of his 21 innings pitched.

FAIX JOINS COACHING STAFF: Connor Faix (pronounced Fay) was hired as the Jackrabbits' pitching coach in August 2022.

Faix spent the previous two seasons as the pitching coach at Akron, which reinstated its baseball program in 2020. He began his collegiate coaching run at Oberlin College in the fall of 2017, followed by a stint at North Iowa Area Community College in the spring of 2018. The following summer he served as an associate scout with the Colorado Rockies organization.

In 2019, Faix moved on to Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he helped guide the Lakers to an Atlantic Super Regional title and a berth in the NCAA Division II College World Series. Mercyhurst went 2-2 in the national championship tournament, finishing the year with a 36-16 overall record. The Mercyhurst pitching staff struck out 536 batters over 409.1 innings, good for an 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched average, which ranked second nationally.

Faix accepted his first Division I coaching position in the fall of 2019 at Campbell University, where his stint lasted only 16 games as the bulk of the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 114-145 record at SDSU, including a 73-63 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.

SDSU used a powerful offense to return to the Summit League tournament in 2022 after posting a 13-9 record in league play. The Jackrabbits, who doubled up the opposition in home runs by a 62-30 count, played only 12 home games in posting a 22-23 overall record.

Overall, Bishop holds a 663-467-1 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 25 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 2022 SDSU baseball roster features 37 players from nine different states and one Canadian province. Of the 37 players, 12 are from Minnesota, six are from both South Dakota and Iowa, and five hail from Nebraska. Two players are from Montana and North Dakota, while Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin and Ontario are represented by one player each.

By class, eight are seniors and even are juniors, while the sophomore and freshman classes are each made up of 11 players.

UP NEXT: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to travel to Lexington, South Carolina, for a three-game, neutral-site series Feb. 24-26 against George Mason.

-GoJacks.com-