SDSU REMAINS IN SAN ANTONIO FOR SERIES AT UIW

South Dakota State (0-3) at Incarnate Word (2-1)

When	Tuesday-Wednesday, Feb. 17-18 (two-game series) 2 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday
Where	Sullivan Field, sponsored by H-E-B \| San Antonio, Texas
TV	ESPN+ Game 1 \| Game 2
Radio	None
Live Stats	UIWCardinals.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| UIW \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

Same city, different results.

That is the mission for the South Dakota State baseball team over the next couple of days after suffering a season-opening sweep at the hands of UTSA this past weekend. The Jackrabbits, 0-3 on the young season, move across San Antonio to the University of the Incarnate Word for a two-game mid-week series.

Games both Tuesday and Wednesday are slated for 2 p.m. starts at Sullivan Field, sponsored by H-E-B. Video coverage of the series is scheduled to be available through the ESPN+ streaming platform.

UIW enters the series with a 2-1 record under first-year head coach Nick Zaleski. The Cardinals opened the season by winning a series against Illinois-Chicago by posting victories of 8-3 and 13-4 before a loss in the finale by a 9-2 score.

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

THE SERIES: Tuesday's series opener will mark the sixth-ever game between South Dakota State and Incarnate Word on the baseball diamond. UIW leads the all-time series, 4-1.

The series began in 1991, when the Cardinals swept a doubleheader on their home field. UIW won both games by one run, claiming the opener, 2-1, before securing an 8-7 victory in Game 2.

The two programs would not meet again until Feb. 24-25, 2022, in San Antonio. UIW opened the series with a 10-7 victory before the two squads split a doubleheader with SDSU posting a 6-4 victory in Game 1 and the Cardinals taking the nightcap, 1-0.

In the Jackrabbit victory, Dawson Parry hit a grand slam in the third inning and Ryan Bourassa pitched four solid innings of relief after Cody Carlson pitched the first five innings.

For UIW, Michael Garza, Seth Higdon and Chandler David combined on a two-hit shutout in the decisive game of the series. The Cardinals scored the lone run of the game in the second inning on an RBI double by Ridge Rogers.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some quick notes regarding the South Dakota State baseball team heading into this week's series at Incarnate Word:

With their 17-4 loss at UTSA on Feb. 13, the Jackrabbits dropped to 5-17 in Opening Day games during the Division I era, which began with the start of the 2005 season. SDSU holds a 2-8 record in its last 10 season openers including dropping seven in a row.
SDSU sent 13 different pitchers to the mound in the three-game season-opening series at UTSA. Seven of the 13 made their Jackrabbit debuts during the weekend.
Ty Madison was tabbed as the Jackrabbits' Opening Day starter for the second year in a row, becoming the first SDSU pitcher to start back-to-back openers since Adam Mazur (2020 and 2021).
Austin Henry was the lone SDSU pitcher to make more than one appearance as he came on in relief in each of the first two games in the series at UTSA, totaling one inning.
SDSU starting pitchers combined for only 5 2/3 innings of work in the UTSA series, with Sam Schlecht turning in the longest outing at 2 2/3 innings on Feb. 14.
Right-handed pitcher Will Kent made his return to action in the Feb. 13 opener after missing the entire 2025 season due to injury. Kent logged 2 1/3 innings in relief.
Freshman Logan Campbell tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings and Jacob Sjuts threw a pair of scoreless innings in their first Jackrabbit appearances.
After setting an SDSU freshman record with 69 hits in 2025, third baseman Nolan Grawe began his sophomore season with a three-hit performance in the Feb. 13 opener at UTSA.
Grawe, who did not play in the final two games of the series at UTSA, has a 13-game hitting streak dating back to last season. He had a separate 19-game hitting streak in 2025.
Sophomore center fielder Owen Siegert was the lone Jackrabbit to hit safely in all three games of the UTSA series. Siegert went 4-for-11, good for a .364 average.
Freshman Jaren Vogt hit the first Jackrabbit home run of the season in Game 2 of the series against UTSA, which also was his first career start. Vogt is a two-way player who is tentatively listed as the Jackrabbits' starting pitcher for Wednesday's game.
Junior first baseman/designated hitter Luke Luskey led the Jackrabbits at the plate in the UTSA series, posting a .455 batting average (5-for-11) with a triple and RBI. Luskey tallied three hits in the season opener and notched a pair of hits in the series finale to give him 28 multi-hit games for his career.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish fourth in the upcoming Summit League baseball race, according to a preseason poll conducted among the league's six head coaches and announced Wednesday.

The Jackrabbits totaled 12 points in the poll and are coming off a 2025 campaign in which they compiled a 16-36 overall record, including a 12-18 mark in The Summit League. SDSU returned to the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship, marking the 14th time in 16 years of Division I eligibility that the Jackrabbits qualified for the double-elimination tournament.

Oral Roberts earned the top spot in the preseason poll with 24 points and four first-place votes. Omaha received the other two first-place votes and tied with defending regular season champion St. Thomas for second place in the survey with 19 points.

North Dakota State (11 points) and Northern Colorado (6 points) rounded out the poll.

The Jackrabbits begin Summit League play March 13-15 with a three-game series at Oral Roberts.

The top four teams in league play will advance to the Summit League Baseball Championship May 20-23 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In addition to the preseason poll, Jackrabbit first baseman Luke Luskey was named a Summit League Player to Watch and Ty Madison was selected as a Summit League Pitcher to Watch.

Luskey, a junior from Green Isle, Minnesota, has earned second-team all-Summit League honors each of the last two seasons. In 2025, he led the league with 14 home runs despite missing the final 12 games of the season due to injury. Luskey also paced the Jackrabbits with 52 runs batted in and a .691 slugging percentage while batting .336.

A senior from Omaha, Madison began the 2025 season in the starting rotation before moving to the bullpen. He made a team-high 22 appearances, striking out 26 batters in 30 innings and posting a 2-2 record.

SUMMIT LEAGUE SUCCESS: South Dakota State has been a consistent winner in The Summit League since it became a league member in 2008. Now in its 19th season as a member of The Summit League, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 239-210 (.532 winning percentage) record in regular season conference games.

SDSU has posted a .500 or better record in league play 10 times and has qualified for the four-team postseason tournament 14 out of the 16 years it has been eligible (no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic).

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

COACH BISHOP: Rob Bishop, who has guided college baseball teams to more than 700 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 nine-plus seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 174-241 record at SDSU, including a 109-109 mark in Summit League regular season games. He also has led the Jackrabbits to the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship seven times, highlighted by finals appearances on two occasions — in 2018 and 2023.

The 2023 squad set a school record with 89 home runs in 52 games. SDSU played only one true home game but managed a 24-28 overall record and another winning season in Summit League play with a 13-11 mark. That momentum carried over to the four-team league postseason tournament, where the Jackrabbits made a run to the title game.

SDSU hit a Summit League-best 80 home runs in 2024 and also led the circuit with a .492 slugging percentage..

Overall, Bishop holds a 723-563-1 record (.562 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He earned his 700th career victory in the Jackrabbits' 11-7 win at North Dakota State on April 6, 2024.

Individually, Jackrabbit players have been honored as all-Summit League performers 48 times during Bishop's tenure, including seven all-league selections in 2025.

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 2025 SDSU baseball roster features 34 players from 10 different states and one foreign country (Australia). Of the 34 players, 13 are from Minnesota, five are from Nebraska and South Dakota, three are Iowa natives and two hail from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington. Arizona and Wyoming are represented by one player each.

By class, one is a graduate transfer, three are seniors and nine are juniors. The sophomore class consists of 10 players and there is one redshirt freshmen, while 10 are incoming freshmen.

ON DECK: The Jackrabbits close out their season-opening road trip through the state of Texas with a three-game weekend series at Tarleton State. Games on both Friday and Saturday are set for 3 p.m. starts at the Tarleton State Baseball Complex in Stephenville, with first pitch for the Sunday finale slated for noon.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Logan Campbell

Nolan Grawe

Austin Henry

Will Kent

Luke Luskey

Ty Madison

Sam Schlecht

Owen Siegert

Jacob Sjuts

Jaren Vogt

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Incarnate Word on February 17, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Incarnate Word on February 18, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Tarleton State on February 20, 2026 at 3 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Tarleton State on February 21, 2026 at 3 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Tarleton State on February 22, 2026 at noon

Upcoming Event: Baseball at Central Arkansas on February 27, 2026 at 4 p.m.

Completed Event: Baseball at UTSA on February 15, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 13

Completed Event: Baseball at UTSA on February 14, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 13

Completed Event: Baseball at UTSA on February 13, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 17

Completed Event: Baseball at Omaha on May 22, 2025 , Loss , 6, to, 7 , 10 inn.

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 21, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 11

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 17, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 9

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