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South Dakota State University Athletics
Jacks play four at UNC
3/22/2012 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
BROOKINGS, S.D. - The South Dakota State University baseball team will attempt to move closer to the .500 mark as it plays a four-game weekend series at Northern Colorado.
The non-conference series gets under way at 3 p.m. Mountain Time (4 p.m. Central) Friday at Jackson Field in Greeley, Colo. A doubleheader is slated to start at noon MT on Saturday, with the series finale set for noon MT on Sunday.
The Jackrabbits enter the series with a 4-10-1 overall record after winning two of three games in an abbreviated series last weekend at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. UNC has posted a 6-9 overall mark.
Audio streaming and live stats of all four games will be available at UNCBears.com.
THE SERIES: Friday's game against Northern Colorado will mark the 42nd meeting between the two baseball programs, dating back to a 10-1 UNC victory at the 1973 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional in Maryville, Mo.
The two programs renewed their rivalry as members of the North Central Conference before both joined the Division I ranks last decade. With the exception of the 2009 campaign, the two squads have faced each other every year since 2005, with SDSU holding a 15-5 advantage.
The Jackrabbits hold an overall lead in the series of 25-16 after sweeping a four-game series last season in Greeley. During that four-game set last season, SDSU outscored UNC 41-7 and jump-started a run in which the Jackrabbits won nine in a row and 19 of 20 games en route to a 37-20 season.
COLORADO CONNECTIONS: The weekend series will mark a homecoming for five members of the Jackrabbit baseball team who hail from the state of Colorado.
Four of the five players from Colorado are residents of Littleton: senior shortstop Eric Cain, senior outfielder Andrew Phelan, junior infielder Andrew Melton and junior catcher Steven Autenrieth. Freshman pitcher Talon Jumper is from nearby Brighton.
STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS: Work has begun on improvements to the Jackrabbits' home park, Erv Huether Field.
Thanks to a donation from former Jackrabbit standout Dave Lane, as well as gifts from other baseball alumni and friends of the program, a permanent grandstand and press box will be constructed behind home plate. The seating project, which is slated to accommodate approximately 600 fans, is expected to be completed in time for SDSU's home opener on April 10.
SUMMIT LEAGUE RACE: The South Dakota State University baseball team has been picked to finish third by Summit League coaches, according to a preseason poll released earlier this month.
The Jackrabbits finished behind perennial league champion Oral Roberts and Western Illinois in the poll conducted by the league's coaches. ORU received six of the seven first-place votes for 36 points, with the Fighting Leathernecks finishing second with 27 points. SDSU tallied 25 points, with North Dakota State placing fourth with 21 points.
Southern Utah received the other first-place vote in the balloting, but finished fifth with 19 points. Oakland (11 points) and IPFW (8 points) rounded out the poll.
Conference play begins April 6-8, when the Jackrabbits travel to IPFW for a four-game series. In all, SDSU is slated to play 24 league games before the Summit League Championships May 24-26 in Tulsa, Okla.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES: Four Jackrabbits were named to the 2012 Preseason All-Summit League Team selected by CollegeSportsMadness.com. First-team honors went to shortstop Eric Cain and outfielder Beau Hanowski, while outfielder Andrew Phelan and pitcher Kolton Emery received second-team recognition.
A senior from Littleton, Colo., Cain has led the Jackrabbits in runs batted in each of the last two seasons, tallying a school-record 83 in 2010 and 46 during the 2011 campaign. Cain also recently special mention from Baseball America as one of the top collegiate impact players in the Midwest.
Hanowski earned first-team all-Summit League honors in 2011 after recording team bests of 49 runs scored and a .449 on-base percentage while hitting out of the leadoff spot. The Little Falls, Minn., native batted .349 with a home run and 26 RBI last season.
However, Hanowski suffered a shoulder injury in the March 4 game at Arkansas State and is likely lost for the season.
Phelan platooned in right field for much of the 2011 campaign before earning all-tournament honors at the Summit League Baseball Championship. Slated to move to center field this season, the Littleton, Colo., native batted .333 with two home runs and 27 RBI, and added a team-high six stolen bases.
Emery solidified the back end of the Jackrabbit starting rotation in 2011, compiling a 7-1 record with a 5.09 earned run average. The Black Hawk native and graduate of Rapid City Stevens High School also ranked among the nation's leaders in fewest walks per nine innings (1.66), issuing only 14 free passes in 76 innings of work.
BOUGHER BLANKING OPPONENTS: South Dakota State right-hander Stephen Bougher has thrown back-to-back shutouts, earning Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors each of the last two weeks.
A junior from Papillion, Neb., Bougher fired a two-hit, seven-inning shutout in an 11-0 victory at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 9. In that contest, he allowed only a pair of singles and two walks, while striking out three.
One week later, March 16 at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Bougher fanned six, walked four and surrendered three singles in a nine-inning, 5-0 Jackrabbit victory.
For the season, Bougher has a 2-2 record with a 2.62 earned run average. He has struck out 16 and walked eight in 24 innings.
HEEMSTRA BACK ON THE HILL: The Jackrabbit bullpen is expected to get a little more depth this weekend as Marcus Heemstra rejoins the team.
A sophomore right-hander, Heemstra will suit up in his baseball uniform for the first time in 2012 after a successful run on the basketball court that included South Dakota State making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division I level. A reserve forward, Heemstra played in 29 of the Jackrabbits' 35 games, posting averages of 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
CAIN ON CAREER CHARTS: Jackrabbit shortstop Eric Cain is rapidly moving up the career charts in a number of categories during his senior season, and is adding to one record he set during his junior campaign.
A four-year starter, Cain holds the SDSU career record for assists with 461, surpassing the previous mark of 380 set by Pat Schmidt (1992-95).
Offensively, Cain ranks in the top 10 of the following five categories:
• Hits: sixth with 231 (fifth place is Tyson Fisher (2005-08) with 233);
• At-Bats: seventh with 689 (sixth place is Greg Geary (2002-05) with 692);
• Walks: seventh with 87 (sixth place is Korby Mintken (2005-08) with 88);
• Runs Batted In: tied for ninth with 154 (tied with Ryan Krogman (1991-94));
• Sacrifice Flies: tied for 10th with 10 (tied with two other players).
PAQUETTE FILLS IN: With starter Beau Hanowski sidelined by injury, sophomore Phil Paquette has taken over the duties in left field on a full-time basis.
In the nine games since Hanowski's injury, Paquette has batted .306 (11-for-36) with seven runs batted in and six runs scored. He also has posted a .500 slugging percentage with a home run, triple and two doubles.
MARRA AND MELTON: Despite shifting between the second and third base positions throughout the season, infielders Daniel Marra and Andrew Melton have been consistent performers for the Jackrabbits this season.
Melton, a junior from Littleton, Colo., leads the team with a .381 batting average (16-for-42) with a home run and seven RBI in 14 starts. Marra, meanwhile, is the only SDSU player to reach safely in all 15 games this season and leads the team with 20 hits. A junior from Toronto, Ont., Marra is second on the squad with a .333 batting average and is tied for second on the team with nine RBI.
COACH SCHRAGE: Veteran college baseball coach Dave Schrage (pronounced Schrag) was hired to take over the reins of the South Dakota State University baseball program on Aug. 8, 2011.
"Dave Schrage's familiarity with our recruiting area and his success in building programs like ours make him a tremendous addition to the Jackrabbit family," said Jackrabbit Athletic Director Justin Sell in announcing the hire.
Schrage posted his 600th career victory on March 18, when the Jackrabbits defeated Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 11-8, in the completion of a suspended game. In 23-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has averaged more than 25 victories per season, including five campaigns with 32 or more wins. He has coached players who have earned all-conference honors 58 times and 38 of his former student-athletes have gone on to play professionally.
"I am very humbled and appreciative for this opportunity," Schrage said. "I was so impressed with the quality of people when I visited campus. It is a great time to come to South Dakota State University. There is so much growth and excitement happening on campus. My family and I are looking forward to getting involved in the Brookings community and joining the Jackrabbit family."
Unlike many of his previous stops, Schrage inherits a winning program; SDSU has averaged 38 wins each of the past two seasons, tying the school record for wins with a 39-21 record in 2010, followed by a .37-20 mark in 2011. The Jackrabbits have advanced to the Summit League championship series three consecutive years.
"Coach (Reggie) Christiansen and coach Price did a super job building this program into a winner," Schrage said. "I expect to keep that momentum going and reach even greater heights."
Most recently, Schrage was head coach at Notre Dame for four seasons, leading the Fighting Irish to a 119-104-1 record from 2007-10. After posting a .500 record (28-28) his first season in South Bend, Schrage put Notre Dame back in contention for postseason play with a 33-21-1 record in 2008 and a 36-23 mark in 2009. The Fighting Irish led the BIG EAST Conference in fielding in both 2008 and 2009, while consistently ranking at or near the top in batting, on-base percentage and earned run average.
Schrage has previously found success at the mid-major level, including a four-year stint at Evansville (Ind.) from 2003-06, during which he guided the Purple Aces to a 130-108 record. Evansville improved its win total each of his four seasons, from 24 in 2003 to 43 in 2006. Schrage earned Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors for the third time in 2006 as Evansville won both the regular season and tournament conference titles, earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Aces advanced all the way to the finals of the Charlottesville Regional, knocking off host Virginia before falling to South Carolina in the championship.
A Chicago native, Schrage directed a dramatic turnaround in his home state during a three-year run at Northern Illinois from 2000-02. After inheriting a team that was 4-51 the year before he arrived, Schrage's squad turned in a 20-game improvement with a 24-33 record in his first season and then led the Huskies to a winning season in 2001 with a 28-27 overall mark. He was named runner-up for National Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2000.
Schrage began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant under his predecessor at Notre Dame, Paul Mainieri, at St. Thomas University (Fla.) in 1984. He later returned to his alma mater, Creighton University (Neb.), as an assistant coach for two seasons.
From 1986-87, Schrage coached the Queensland Rams club team in Brisbane, Australia, before returning stateside as he gained his first head coaching job at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. From 1988-90 he led the junior college program to a 61-66 mark.
Schrage then spent nine seasons as head coach at the University of Northern Iowa, where he was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1997. His teams improved from two league victories in UNI's first season in the MVC in 1992 to 18 during the 1997 campaign.
As a collegiate player, Schrage was an all-conference outfielder at Creighton, batting .400 as a junior and .433 his senior season. He also was an Academic All-America honoree during his senior campaign in 1983, and graduated that spring with a bachelor of science degree in finance. Schrage was honored on the MVC's Centennial Celebration baseball team and is the only person in league history to earn all-conference honors and be named MVC Coach of the Year in baseball.
THE ROSTER: The 2012 SDSU baseball roster features 33 players from eight different states plus three Canadian provinces. Of the 33 players, five are from Colorado and South Dakota, while three are from each of the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Texas. Iowa, Nebraska and Washington feature one player each. In addition, nine players are from Canada - four from Ontario, three from British Columbia and two from Alberta. By class, seven are seniors, eight are juniors, eight are sophomores and 10 are incoming freshmen.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to play a mid-week game at Minnesota, traveling to the Metrodome in Minneapolis for a 6:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday (March 28).
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