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 eight seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 174-238 record at SDSU, including a 109-109 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.

The Jackrabbits continued their offensive prowess in 2023 by setting 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 in 2024, but missed the four-team league tournament for the first time since 2012 after posting a 20-29 overall record and an 11-17 mark in conference play.

Fielding a lineup of young position players in 2025, the Jackrabbits got off to a slow start before gaining more consistency during conference play to make a return trip to the Summit League Baseball Championship. SDSU ended the year 16-36 overall and 12-18 in The Summit League.

Overall, Bishop holds a 723-560-1 record (.573 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.

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.

Following the 2023 MLB Draft, pitcher Ryan Bourassa signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves organization, and in 2025, relief pitcher Dylan Driessen was selected in the 18th round of the MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

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.

CAREER COACHING RECORD

School	Record	Years
Huron	38-18	2000 (1)
Miles City CC	377-151	2001-10 (10)
Montana State-Billings	134-153-1	2011-16 (6)
South Dakota State	174-238	2017-present (9)
Overall	723-560-1	2000-present (26)

AT SDSU

Year	Overall	Summit League
2017	26-24	18-12
2018	18-32	14-13
2019	28-22	19-10
2020	5-12	0-0
2021	15-32	9-19
2022	22-23	13-9
2023	24-28	13-11
2024	20-29	11-17
2025	16-36	12-18
Totals	174-238	109-109

Name	Title	Email Address
Rob Bishop	Head Coach	Rob.Bishop@sdstate.edu
Danny Higginbotham	Assistant Coach	Daniel.Higginbotham@sdstate.edu
Michael Newstrom	Pitching Coach	Michael.Newstrom@sdstate.edu
Nate Robertson	Assistant Coach

Completed Event: Baseball versus Arizona State on May 30, 2026 , Loss , 0, to, 17

Completed Event: Baseball at Nebraska on May 29, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 23, 2026 , Win , 9, to, 6

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 23, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4

Completed Event: Baseball versus Northern Colorado on May 21, 2026 , Win , 2, to, 1

Completed Event: Baseball versus Oral Roberts on May 20, 2026 , Win , 7, to, 3

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