JACKS VENTURE TO MINNEAPOLIS FOR CAMBRIA CLASSIC

Friday, March 6

Minneapolis, Minn. // U.S. Bank Stadium

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Northwestern

South Dakota State baseball players huddle before the start of their March 4, 2026, game at Nebraska.

Photo by: SDSU Athletics

3/5/2026 12:15:00 PM | Baseball

South Dakota State (4-8) at Cambria Classic

When	Friday-Sunday, March 6-8 • vs. Northwestern, 11 a.m. Friday • at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Saturday • vs. Southern Illinois, 10 a.m. Sunday
Where	U.S. Bank Stadium \| Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV	Big Ten Plus Friday's Broadcast \| Saturday's Broadcast \| Sunday's Broadcast
Radio	None
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Northwestern \| Minnesota \| SIU \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The South Dakota State baseball team will make a trip north for the first time this season as it heads to Minneapolis for three games in the Cambria Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Jackrabbits, who dropped a 5-4 decision at Nebraska on Wednesday, will square off against two more Big Ten Conference opponents to open tournament play, starting with an 11 a.m. matchup Friday against Northwestern. SDSU, which is in the midst of playing its first 21 games of the season away from home, enters the weekend with a 4-8 overall record while Northwestern has posted a 5-5 mark so far this season.

SDSU will then face host Minnesota at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Golden Gophers have compiled a 9-3 record thus far during the 2026 season, including a sweep of a two-game mid-week series against UW Milwaukee that concluded Wednesday night.

To close out the Cambria Classic, the Jackrabbits are slated to face Southern Illinois at 10 a.m. Sunday. The Salukis are 4-7 on the season, including recent wins against Summit League opponents Oral Roberts and North Dakota State.

All games of the Cambria Classic will be available for viewing through the Big Ten Plus streaming platform (subscription required).

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

THE SERIES: The Jackrabbits' three opponents at the Cambria Classic are a mix of familiar and unfamiliar.

• vs. Northwestern
Friday's opener against Northwestern will mark the first-ever meeting between the Jackrabbits and Wildcats on the baseball diamond.

• vs. Minnesota
SDSU and the Golden Gophers will square off for the 58th time since the series began in 1947. Minnesota leads the all-time series by a 42-15 count and has won the last five meetings, including by scores of 4-3 and 4-2 last April at Siebert Field.

The Jackrabbits' last victory in the series was a 12-6 triumph on April 26, 2022, a game in which SDSU led 10-0 after three innings behind a grand slam by Drew Beazley.

• vs. Southern Illinois
The Jackrabbits and SIU will play for the sixth time overall and first time in 20 years in their Sunday morning matchup. The Salukis hold a 4-1 series advantage after sweeping a three-game series late in the 2005 season, which was SDSU's first at the Division I level.

The squads split a two-game series in March 2006, with SIU taking the opener, 6-2, before the Jackrabbits claimed a 9-7 victory to earn a split. Caleb Thielbar, who went on to pitch for the Minnesota Twins and is a current member of the Chicago Cubs, was the winning pitcher for the Jackrabbits after tossing four solid innings of relief.

All previous games against SIU were played on the Salukis' home field in Carbondale, Illinois.

SHORT HOPS: Following are some more quick notes regarding the South Dakota State baseball team heading into this weekend's Cambria Classic:

SDSU set a program single-game record by scoring 17 runs in the fourth inning of its 19-11, series-opening win at Incarnate Word. Each of the first 12 batters of the inning reached base safely and a total of 21 men went to the plate in the frame.
SDSU has sent 15 different pitchers to the mound so far this season. Nine of the 15 are in their first seasons at SDSU and made their debuts during the first week of play.
Freshman Logan Campbell has made a team-leading seven appearances so far this season, including two in consecutive series against Incarnate Word, Tarleton State and Central Arkansas.
After allowing double figures in runs in each of their first five games, the Jacks have given up a total of 36 runs over the last seven games. Sam Schlecht has allowed only one run over 11 innings in that span to lead the pitching staff.
Left-handed reliever Tristan Augedahl has registered 15 strikeouts in only 8 2/3 innings of work so far this season. Augedahl has appeared in five games and has struck out four batters in three of those outings, including in the Feb. 28 win at UCA.
Newcomer Austin Henry has yet to allow a run in six relief appearances covering 4 2/3 innings. The Dell Rapids native was part of a Jackrabbit bullpen that strung together six consecutive scoreless innings Wednesday at Nebraska with his longest outing of the year at 1 2/3 innings.
Sophomore third baseman Nolan Grawe had his streak of reaching base safely end at 26 games in the March 1 series finale at Central Arkansas. Grawe ended the 2025 season by reaching base in the final 18 games of the year and reached base in the first eight games he played in 2026, including hittindg his first home run of the season Feb. 27 to open the UCA series.
Long streaks are nothing new for Grawe, who has had separate hitting streaks of 19 games (2025) and 14 games (last 12 games or 2025 and first two games of 2026) en route to setting an SDSU freshman record with 69 hits.
Carter Taylor became the first Jackrabbit with more than one home run this season after he connected on a game-tying solo shot in the eighth inning of the March 1 series finale at Central Arkansas. Taylor also leads the team in batting average (.400) and hits (16).
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 has made starts on the mound in two mid-week games this season.
Sophomore Dayton Franke hit the first Jackrabbit grand slam of the season Feb. 18 at Incarnate Word. It was Franke's second career grand slam.
Franke hit his 10th career home run in his 109th collegiate at-bat Wednesday, tying the game at 4-all in the eighth inning of the game at Nebraska. As a freshman in 2025, Franke hit eight home runs in 65 at-bats, including three in one game against Oral Roberts, and has two home runs in 44 trips to the plate so far this season. Franke currently leads the team with 12 runs batted in.
Both Franke and Brady Brown were hit by pitches three times in a game last month. Franke was plunked three times in the Feb. 17 series opener at Incarnate Word, while Brown was hit three times in the Feb. 22 series finale at Tarleton State.
After missing the season-opening eight-game road trip through Texas due to injury, sophomore utility player Nic Werk returned to the lineup Feb. 27 at Central Arkansas. Werk has started games at second base (2), shortstop and left field since his return and is batting .250 with a .400 on-base percentage. He opened the scoring in SDSU's Feb. 28 victory at UCA with a two-run double.
Junior first baseman/designated hitter Luke Luskey recorded his 100th career hit — an RBI infield single — the Feb. 22 series finale at Tarleton State. Luskey now has 101 hits and 92 RBIs for his career in only 97 games played. He leads active Jackrabbits with 23 home runs and also has 29 multi-hit games in his career after tallying two or more hits in three games this year.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State has had players selected as Kwik Star Summit League Baseball Peak Performers of the Week each of the last two weeks.

Tuesday, right-hander Sam Schlecht was honored Tuesday as the Kwik Star Summit League Peak Pitcher of the Week for his performance in a Feb. 28 victory at Central Arkansas.

A senior from Maple Grove, Minnesota, Schlecht carried a shutout into the sixth inning, stretching his scoreless innings streak to 10 before giving up a two-run home run. He struck out a season-high seven batters, walked only one and scattered four hits in improving to 2-1 on the season as the Jackrabbits held on for an 8-5 victory.

The previous week, outfielder Carter Taylor was named the Kwik Star Summit League Baseball Peak Performer of the Week after helping lead the Jackrabbits to three wins.

A freshman from Missoula, Montana, Taylor batted .522 (12-for-22) over five games and notched multiple hits in four of those contests. In his first career start, Feb. 17 at Incarnate Word, he went 4-for-6, including hitting his first collegiate home, driving in two runs and scoring twice in a 19-11 Jackrabbit victory. The following day he closed the series with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate that included three RBIs. Taylor, who hit safely in all five games last week to extend his overall hitting streak to six games, tallied two hits in both the Feb. 20 series opener and Feb. 22 finale at Tarleton State.

For the week, his totals included four runs scored, five RBIs, a .696 slugging percentage and a .577 on-base percentage.

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 Feb. 11.

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 178-246 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 a 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 727-568-1 record (.561 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 continue a stretch of games against power conference teams with a March 11 matchup at Big 12 Conference opponent Kansas State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.

Video coverage of the game at Kansas State will be available through the ESPN+ streaming platform.

From there, SDSU will move on to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to open Summit League play with a three-game series March 13-15 at Oral Roberts.

The Jackrabbits' home opener is set for March 20 against North Dakota State.

-GoJacks.com-