NEXT STOP FOR JACKRABBIT BASEBALL IS WKU - South Dakota State University Athletics

Friday, March 10

Bowling Green, Ky.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Kentucky

Baseball Team Teaser at Utah Tech 2023-01

Photo by: Courtesy Photo

3/9/2023 5:07:00 PM | Baseball

GAMES 9-11: South Dakota State (3-5) at Western Kentucky (10-4)

When	Friday-Sunday, March 10-12 3 p.m. Friday \| 2 p.m. Saturday \| 1 p.m. Sunday
Where	Nick Denes Field \| Bowling Green, Kentucky
TV	WKU Facebook Live
Radio	Varsity Network
Live Stats	WKUSports.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Western Kentucky \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

The South Dakota State baseball team will make its second stop on its four-city Spring Break trip with a three-game weekend series at Western Kentucky.

Friday's series opener is slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Nick Denes Field in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Games Saturday and Sunday are set for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

South Dakota State enters the weekend with a 3-5 overall record following a 3-2 loss Wednesday night at Minnesota to open the eight-game trip. The Jackrabbits also are set to play at Lindenwood (March 14) and Iowa (March 17-19) on their current road trip.

Western Kenucky has already reached double figures in wins, posting a 10-4 record so far this season. The Hilltoppers claimed an 11-1 victory in their most recent action on Tuesday.

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

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

The Jackrabbits last played a current Conference USA member early in the 2019 season, when SDSU split two games against Florida International in Port Charlotte, Florida. FIU won the opener, 4-1, while the Jackrabbits claimed the finale, 4-3, behind home runs from Logan Holtz and Braeden Brown. SDSU starter Tyler Olmstead struck out nine batters over six innings before Drew Beazley pitched the ninth inning to pick up the save.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick notes about the Jackrabbit baseball team heading into this weekend's series at Western Kentucky:

Of the Jackrabbits' 86 hits so far this season, 38 have gone for extra bases — 22 doubles, two triples and 14 home runs. The Jackrabbits are hitting .320 as a team and slugging .540
Dawson Parry made a successful return to his home state by batting .563 (9-for-16) in last weekend's series at Utah Tech with a home run and six RBIs. Parry also extended his hitting streak to 10 games dating back to last season with a single in Wednesday's game at Minnesota.
Drew Beazley and Ryan McDonald and Reece Anderson each bring six-game hiting streaks into this weekend's series.
McDonald hit .533 (8-for-15) with three doubles, three homers and six RBIs for a 1.333 slugging percentage in the series at Utah Tech.
Junior outfielder Reece Anderson was caught stealing for the first time in his career in te first game of a March 4 doubleheader at Utah Tech. Anderson had been a perfect 15-for-15 on steals since the start of the 2021 season.
SDSU pitchers combined to strike out 43 batters in 30 innings in the Utah Tech series, but issued 16 free passes (13 walks, 3 hit batters) in Sunday's series finale.
Matthew Werk (March 3) and Brandon Vlcko (March 8 at Minnesota) each recently recorded their first collegiate hits.
Jack Kruger pitched 6 2/3 strong innings in his March 8 start at Minnesota. In seven games before that, Jackrabbit starting pitchers had combined to log only 17 1/3 innings this season.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish fourth in the 2023 Summit League baseball race, according to a poll among the league's seven head coaches that was released in mid-February.

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 have picked up where they left off, starting the 2023 season with 14 home runs in their first eight games. SDSU has hit at least one home run in all eight games this year and 34 of its last 36 games dating back to last season. Included in that stretch was a school-record of 18 consecutive games with a home run from March 19-May 6, 2022.

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.

Nic Nelson hit a grand slam in the 2023 season opener at Little Rock, which was the first of his Jackrabbit career.

McDonald leads active Jackrabbit players with 22 career home runs, while Ira ranks second with 18 and Beazley has tallied 14. All three of the active career leaders connected on a long ball in the first series of the season.

McDONALD STREAK PASSES YEAR MARK: South Dakota State's Ryan McDonald brings a streak of reaching base safely in 41 consecutive games into Friday's series opener.

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. McDonald extended the streak last weekend by recording two hits in each of the four games at Utah Tech, including homering in each of the last three games of the weekend set.

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 THE IRON MAN: Senior shortstop Luke Ira has started 122 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 101 consecutive starts and a total of 103 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 vaulted from seventh to fourth in career assists at SDSU during the opening weekend, and has since upped his career total to 358.

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 got off to a hot start at the plate with a .300 batting average (6-for-20) with three doubles in the season-opening three-game series at Little Rock.

As a freshman in 2021, Bellows batted .250 with a home run and 16 runs batted in while making 44 starts as he saw 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 currently leads the team with five doubles.

On the mound, junior right-hander Eli Sundquist will be asked to play a prominent role out of the 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 54 batters in 36 1/3 career innings.

BOURASSA CONTINUES RECORD PACE: Senior right-hander Ryan Bourassa entered the 2023 season as the Jackrabbits' all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings pitched and has exceeded that pace in the first few weeks of the year.

Bourassa entered the Feb. 18 game at Little Rock with the bases loaded and one out as the Jackrabbits were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. He proceeded to strike out the first two batters he faced and added five more strikeouts over the next three innings to complete the save.

In his next outing, in the second game of a March 4 doubleheader at Utah Tech, Bourassa successfully completed his second save opportunity of the season by striking out eight over three shutout innings in a 7-2 Jackrabbit victory.

In 91 2/3 career innings over two-plus seasons, Bourassa has struck out 144 batters for an average of 14.14 K's per nine innings. That rate is more than 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 and 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. His rate so far this season is 19.29 K's per nine frames.

The native of West Fargo, North Dakota, made a full-time transition to the bullpen in 2022 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.

He turned in the best performance of his SDSU career March 25, 2022, at Oral Roberts as he tossed six shutout innings of relief, 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.

KUNZ EARNS OPENING DAY START: Senior right-hander Blake Kunz was tabbed as the Jackrabbits' Opening Day starter, bringing furtther 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.

In his first career start, Feb. 17 at Little Rock, Kunz pitched only an inning-plus and was saddled with the loss. All three of the outs he recorded were via the strikeout, but he was charged with seven runs — the first three via a three-run home run by Skyler Trevino — after giving up two hits, walking two batters and hitting four.

Kunz tossed four shutout, no-hit innings in his second start of the season March 5 in the series finale at Utah Tech.

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.

Jake 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.

Brady 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.

Hawkins has made a pair of starts so far this season, pitching a total of 6 2/3 innings.

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. He picked up his first career victory in the March 5 series finale at Utah Tech.

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.

Arbogast turned in an impressive season debut Feb. 17, allowing only one run over 4 1/3 innings of relief. He set a career high with seven strikeouts.

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 six-plus seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 115-147 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 mark.

Overall, Bishop holds a 666-472-1 record (.585 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He earned his 600th career victory in the Jackrabbits' 8-6 victory at 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 slated to move on to play a mid-week game March 14 at Lindenwood, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Missouri.

From there, SDSU will continue to work its way back north with a three-game series March 17-19 at Iowa.

-GoJacks.com-