Upcoming Event: Baseball at Tarleton State on February 20, 2026 at 3 p.m.
/
3 p.m.
Baseball
at Tarleton State
South Dakota State University Athletics
Friday, February 20
Stephenville, Texas
3 p.m.
South Dakota State University
at
Tarleton State
Photo by: SDSU Athletics
JACKS WRAP UP TEXAS SWING AT TARLETON
2/19/2026 11:30:00 PM | Baseball
 South Dakota State (1-4) at Tarleton State (3-1)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The South Dakota State baseball team wraps up a season- opening eight-game road swing through the state of Texas with a three-game weekend series at Tarleton State.
First pitch for Friday's series opener is slated for 3 p.m. at the Tarleton State Baseball Complex in Stephenville, Texas. Saturday's game also is scheduled for 3 p.m., with Sunday's series finale set for a noon start. The first two games of the series will be available for viewing through the WACInternational.tv streaming platform, with coverage of Sunday's finale available through ESPN+.
The visiting Jackrabbits enter the series with a 1-4 overall record and are coming off a split of a wild mid-week doubleheader at Incarnate Word. SDSU recorded a 19-11 victory in the series opener on Feb. 17, followed by a 19-18 setback a day later. To open the season, the Jackrabbits were swept in a three-game series last weekend at 2025 NCAA Super Regional qualifier UTSA.
Tarleton State, meanwhile, holds a 3-1 overall record on the young season. The Texans opened 2026 by sweeping a three-game home series from Division I newcomer Le Moyne in games played Feb. 13-15. TSU suffered its first loss of the season this past Monday, dropping a 3-1 decision to seventh-ranked Arkansas in a game played at Globe Life Field — home of the Texas Rangers — in Arlington, Texas.
Updates of Jackrabbit baseball will be available throughout the weekend via X/Twitter (@GoJacksBaseball) and through GoJacks.com.
THE SERIES: Friday's series opener against Tarleton State will mark the fourth all-time meeting between the Jackrabbits and Texans on the baseball diamond, and the first time the two programs have played each other as Division I programs.
The only other meetings came 34 years ago at the Jody Ramsey Invitational played March 9-11, 1992, in Edinburg, Texas. SDSU won the initial matchup, 7-3, before
Tarleton won each of the next two games by scores of 3-1 and 2-1.
UNPACKING THE UIW SERIES: South Dakota State's two-game series at Incarnate Word earlier this week in San Antonio was one for the record books. The Jackrabbits outscored their opponents, 37-30, as both teams reached double figures for runs in both games.
The Good
- SDSU set a school record by scoring 17 runs in the top of the fourth inning of the Feb. 17 series opener at Incarnate Word. Each of the first 12 batters of the frame reached safely for the Jackrabbits, who sent a total of 21 men to the plate in the inning. SDSU's previous record for runs in an inning against a Division I opponent was 12 in a 2010 game at Fort Wayne.
- The Jackrabbits went on to score six runs in the fourth inning of the Feb. 18 series finale.
- After going 0-for-7 in the season-opening series at UTSA, redshirt freshman Nate Wachter went 6-for-10 at the plate in the two games versus Incarnate Word with five runs scored. He also drove in four runs in each of the games, including hitting a three-run homer in the Feb. 18 finale for his first collegiate round-tripper.
- Freshman Carter Taylor broke into the starting lineup in left field in both games and responded by hitting .636 (7-for-11) with five RBIs and three runs scored in the two-game series. He went 4-for-6 with his first collegiate home run in the opener, followed by a 3-for-5, three-RBI performance in Game 2.
The Bad
- Jackrabbit pitchers allowed eight home runs in the two-game series, including back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning that provided the final margin in UIW's 19-18 victory in Game 2.
- SDSUÂ first baseman/designated hitter Dayton Franke was hit by a pitch three times in the series opener against Incarnate Word. That matched a Jackrabbit single- game record set by Korby Mintken in a 2007 game against New York Tech.
The Ugly
- The two teams' pitching staffs combined to issue 57 free passes in the two-game series — 30 by South Dakota State (28 bases on balls and 2 hit batters) and 27 by UIW (19 walks, 8 hit batters). That included the Jackrabbits setting a single-game record with 17 bases on balls in Game 2 of the series.
SHORT HOPS: Following are some more quick notes regarding the South Dakota State baseball team heading into this week's series at Tarleton State:
- 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, including a current seven-game losing streak.
- 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).
- SDSU has sent 15 different pitchers to the mound through the first five games. Nine of the 15 made their Jackrabbit debuts during the first week of the 2026 season.
- Newcomers Austin Henry and Logan Campbell have each made a team-leading three appearances so far this season. Henry has yet to allow a hit and has notched five strikeouts in only 2 1/3 innings of work.
- SDSU starting pitchers have combined for only 10 innings of work so far this season. Freshman Kaden Rylance has logged the longest start by logging 3 2/3 innings in the Feb. 17 series opener at Incarnate Word.
- Sophomore third baseman Nolan Grawe had his 14-game hitting streak dating back to last season come to an end in the Feb. 18 game at Incarnate Word. Grawe had hit safely in the last 12 games of the 2025 season and added hits in each of his first two starts this season, including a three-hit performance in the Feb. 13 opener at UTSA.
- In 2025, Grawe put together a 19-game hitting streak en route to setting an SDSU freshman record with 69 hits.
- Grawe did draw a walk in the Feb. 18 game at UIW, extending his streak of games in which he has reached base safely to 21 — also dating back to the 2025 campaign.|• 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 later started on the mound for the Jackrabbits in the Feb. 18 series finale at UIW.
- 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 and ninth home run of his collegiate career — in only 80 career at-bats. As a freshman in 2025, Franke hit eight home runs in 65 at-bats, including three in one game against Oral Roberts, and has one home run in 15 trips to the plate so far this season.
- Junior first baseman/designated hitter Luke Luskey is off to another fast start by batting .444 (8-for-18) through the first five games of the season. Luskey connected on his first home run of 2026 in the finale at Incarnate Word on Feb. 18, giving him 23 for his career. He also has 29 multi-hit games in his career after tallying two or more hits in three games this year.
- Luskey enters the weekend with 98 hits and 90 runs batted in for his career in only 90 games played.
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.
SDSU opens the 2026 season Friday at Texas-San Antonio, kicking off a three-game weekend series. 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 seasons with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 175-242 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 724-564-1 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 return home for a few days before going back on the road for a four-game series Feb. 27-March 1 at Central Arkansas. The series is scheduled to consist of single games Feb. 27 (4 p.m.) and March 1 (1 p.m.) around a noon doubleheader on Feb. 28.
Â
-GoJacks.com-
Players Mentioned
UT/P
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
UT/P
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballBaseball Highlights vs Omaha (05.22.2025)
Thursday, May 22
Baseball Highlights vs Oral Roberts (05.21.2025)
Wednesday, May 21
Baseball Weekly Update (05.19.2025)
Monday, May 19
Baseball Highlights vs Oral Roberts (05.17.2025)
Saturday, May 17