Three players set team records last weekend against Western Illinois. Jesse Sawyer hit two home runs in the series finale win over the Leathernecks, the second of which gave him sole possession of first place.

“It’s nice,” said Sawyer, who set the record in only three seasons after transferring to SDSU. “It’s a pat on the back.”

Sawyer never received the career-breaking home run ball. He said that wouldn’t have happened if he hit it at home.

“He’s definitely one of the best hitters in program history,” coach Ritchie Price said. “It’s very deserving.”

Trever Vermeulen, a Mitchell native, set the team career saves record in a 5-2 win over Western Illinois Apr. 8. Vermeulen’s 15 saves topped former Jackrabbit Gary Olechoski’s mark of 14 from 2003-06. The side-arm throwing Vermeulen has allowed only one earned run in his past 11 innings of work, tallying 12 strikeouts and allowing only four hits.

“His game against Western Illinois was the best he’s pitched all year,” Price said. “He was locating, his velocity was back up – we’re pretty confident he’s going to be back to form and have a great rest of the season.”

Senior and four-year player Billy Stitz broke a record in the second game against Western Illinois Apr. 9. Stitz set a new record for career hits and added two more hits in the win over Dakota Wesleyan, moving his record to 269 career hits. The senior, considered to have a shot at playing professionally, started off slowly but has heated up during SDSU’s 12-1 stretch in its last 13 games. Stitz entered Wednesday’s game against North Dakota hitting .268.

A perfect bunt

Stitz temporarily stole the show in the seventh inning in SDSU’s 12-3 win. After going hitless in his first four at-bats, Stitz laid down a bunt down the third-base line for a single off knuckleball pitcher Trevor Salmonson that came to a stop fifteen feet from third base and merely a couple inches from the foul line. According to Stitz, he raked the third base line before the game, maybe leading to a better knowledge of the ball’s tendency to roll a certain way down the line.

“I’ve never bunted off a knuckleballer before,” Stitz said. “I wasn’t having a successful day hitting so far so I thought I’d try that.”

“When I turned around everyone was staring at me so I thought it was foul … The first base umpire goes ‘you should pat the grounds crew on the back for raking that line’ and I go ‘ actually, I did that one.’”

For better or worse, fours were important in Game one of the Jackrabbits 11-3 loss to Southern Utah. Four of the eight SDSU hits were doubles. Freshman centerfielder Emily Weber went 4-for-4 at the plate. The Jacks also had four errors.

“We’ve struggled a little bit with the defensive side but not as much as the pitching side, so that was a little bit of a surprise,” said Jacks head coach Joanna Lane of the her team’s uncharacteristic defense.

Defensive Durazo

Senior Ashley Durazo owned the top of the seventh inning for the Jackrabbit defense in game two. She made a great stop on Darleen Fernandez’s ground ball to start the inning. After the Thunderbirds’ Heather Richardson singled, she was caught stealing on a throw by Sammy Bingham, caught at second base by none other than Durazo.

“Ashley is a defensive shortstop. She would be a Big Ten starter on the defensive end. She’s struggled a little bit this year as a hitter, which is new to her, but she hasn’t seen that wave her on the defensive side” Lane said. “She always makes big plays in the field for us.”

A strange second

The top of the second inning in game two was a little strange. Before the Thunderbirds plated their first run of the game, SDSU recorded two of their outs through the infield fly rule after pop outs to Kelly Kleppin and Ashley Durazo, respectively.

Also during the inning, the home plate umpire, Kevin Killingsworth looked at the ball and said “garbage,” and bringing it over to the SDSU dugout, looking for a replacement. Someone from the Jackrabbits dugout in responded by saying, “It’s brand new.”

On a cold, drizzly, dull April day, the Jackrabbits’ bats mimicked the weather.

Southern Utah’s starting pitcher Heather Black struck out 15 SDSU hitters with no walks as she pitched all seven innings. At one point, Black had eight K’s in a row.

Head coach Joanna Lane said SUU was playing the Jacks to pull the ball, calling the defense a “reverse (Jim) Thome shift”. All game long there was a wide-open gap in right field, but SDSU couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity.

“All we wanted to see was a bloop over the first baseman’s head,” Lane said.

Pitching struggles

Sophomore Kori Seidlitz started the game for the Jacks, but in the 2nd inning, after 4 straight walks and nobody out, junior Pam Nicholson came in for relief with the bases loaded.

Nicholson worked out of the inherited jam, and went on to pitch the rest of the game, but allowed a run in the top of the 7th that doomed the Jacks, while Nicholson took the loss.

SDSU hitters only mustered three hits against SUU’s Black, and the adjustments during the game didn’t come in time.

“You’re sitting on a curveball, and we’re telling our kids to hit an outside pitch, let the ball get deep,” Lane said, “we were spinning off of that pitch. We were throwing hands but we lost our power.”