The win snapped a nine-game losing streak in the Summit League and marks the last time that Oral Roberts will make the trip to Brookings for any Summit League competition.

The Jacks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two innings, but that would prove to be the last scoring until a fielders choice brought Jose Trevino across the plate for Oral Roberts, their first and only run of the game. The game started out as an offensive showcase for the Jacks, and Schrage said that was necessary against Oral Roberts’ veteran pitcher Drew Bowen.

“We had talked to our guys about how we got to get to (Bowen) early because once he settles in, he gets tougher. Over half his pitches are sliders. Sometimes early in the game, he doesn’t have command until he settles in,” Schrage said.

Perhaps the biggest key of the Jackrabbit victory was the pitching performance by Layne Somsen. Somsen(1-5, 2.73 ERA) gave up only two hits, three walks, and no runs through 8.0 innings. Somsen carried a no-hitter through three and one third and struck out eight to pick up his first win since 2009.

“It felt pretty good. I thought I had my stuff going early in the count, I was throwing all three of my pitches that I threw for strikes, and I think I kept them off balance for the most part of the game,” Somsen said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy with how I pitched.”

After Somsen’s eight inning performance, Shane Kraemer pitched the ninth inning and was credited with the save and allowed one hit and one run with one strikeout.

With the exception of a misplayed pop fly by Andrew Melton, the Jacks were able to play a clean game defensively, which Somsen said was a big part of the victory.

“They made a lot of plays for me in the field today. I thought I pitched well enough to get the win, and my defense backed me up,” Somsen said.

With each game now that much more important in terms of potential post-season play, Schrage said that a win over the perennial power in the conference will be key for this weeks preparation for their next opponent.

“This was kind of a must win for our guys. We were so close yesterday, and it was good to get this win because we got three more conference series to go and we want to get to the tournament. We needed a victory today to get some momentum for Oakland,” Schrage said.

The Jacks will return to action with a home series at Erv Huether Field against Oakland May 4-May 6.

SDSU lost the first three games of the series by one run with each game coming down to the final at-bat. The series opener began on Friday with a pitching duel between Jacks ace Stephen Bougher and Bison front man John Straka, each entering the game with a record of 5-2.

Bougher hurled seven solid innings giving up two runs but the Jacks came up short after the Bison scored a run in the ninth inning for a walk-off 3-2 win.

“Any game you lose by one run is heartbreaking,” Bougher said.

Saturday’s double-header brought more last inning misfortune when the Bison beat the Jacks, 7-6 in the first game and 3-2 in the second giving SDSU three straight losses in walk-off fashion.

“We were just a couple plays away from winning both those games,” said relief pitcher Shane Kraemer.

The Jacks clung to a 6-5 lead heading into the final inning of Saturday’s first game. SDSU donated a throwing error and a wild pitch to help NDSU score two runs for the victory. The second game brought yet another painful loss when the Bison won in extra innings on a bases loaded walk to end the game.

“Those are tough ones to swallow. We consider NDSU a rival and last weekend solidified that,” Kraemer said.

Like a broken record, the Jacks fell short again in the final game after NDSU scored three late runs to cap off the series with a 4-1 win.  On a bright note, Layne Somsen pitched his best game of the year and carried a perfect game into the fifth inning.

With NDSU atop the Summit league standings, it is likely the Jacks will play them again if they make the playoffs.

“I would like nothing more than to get another shot at them,” said Kraemer of the Bison.

If the Jacks want to turn this season around, they better do it in a hurry. SDSU carries a 2-6 Summit league record and that won’t be enough to get them into conference play.

“We definitely can’t lose another series if we want to make the tournament,” Bougher said.

SDSU has a chance to make up some ground in the conference standings with 13 of the remaining 14 games versus Summit league opponents. The Jacks will also have the advantage of playing 10 home games.

“A lot of the guys feel more comfortable playing at home. The team is rested and ready to go and we have a lot of resiliency on this team,” Kraemer said. “We are confident that we can get it going for conference play.”

For the second week in a row, SDSU rebounded from a less-than-stellar showing on a Tuesday and followed it up with a Wednesday win over North Dakota, 12-6 at Erv Huether Field. The Jackrabbits dropped a 6-1 decision the day before against NDSU in Brookings. Last week, SDSU gritted out a 3-1 win over Mount Marty before following it up with a well-played 3-1 victory over Minnesota.

The Jackrabbits (12-20-1) scored in four of the first five innings, capped with five runs in the fifth frame and building a 12-3 lead. North Dakota (4-25) got on the board in the first inning with a run, only to see SDSU even the game up when Zach Rhodes scored on a Cain fielders’ choice. SDSU tacked on a three in the second inning and never trailed from there.

“Before the game, we talked about two things that we wanted to focus on, one being that we want to be more consistent and, two, we wanted to take out some of our frustrations today,” SDSU head coach Dave Schrage said.

Shortstop Eric Cain led the Jackrabbits with four runs batted in and his middle infield-mate Andrew Phelan added three RBIs of his own. UND walked SDSU 10 times in the game and committed three errors, helping the Jacks to the win.

“We’ve been steady and we just need to be a little bit more consistent,” Cain said. ”We’re right there.”

Kolton Emery started for the Jackrabbits and pitched one inning with SDSU trying to save his arm for the weekend’s series against NDSU. SDSU used six more pitchers with Nick Young pitching innings two, three and four for his first win of the season. Schrage was also impressed with the work of Marcus Heemstra, Shane Kraemer and Deon Entringer out of the pen.

The Jackrabbits open the four-game series against the Bison Friday at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, N.D. Both teams are 2-2 in the Summit League.

“Baseball is a mind game and I don’t think our guys are in a bad spot mentally,” Cain said. “We have a huge series this weekend and it’s a rivalry. Hopefully we will play better than we did Tuesday and can build on that.”

He had his proof. The Gophers throttled SDSU with the bats for a season-high 16 hits in a 9-3 win at the Metrodome 14 days ago.

The coach doesn’t mind being wrong, though.

For the second consecutive day and this time against a considerably better opponent, the Jackrabbits rode stellar defense and a very good pitching performance to beat Minnesota, 3-1, in front of 258 fans at Erv Huether Field Wednesday.

“It was probably overall, the best game we’ve played. I thought we made some great plays defensively and on a Wednesday, to get that kind of pitching performance from five or six guys says a lot about where our staff is at,” Schrage said.

First baseman Aaron Machbitz drilled the eventual game-winning two-run home run to center field in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Machbitz, the big Texan manning the cleanup spot for the Jacks, said he felt like he was due to go deep once again for his second homer of the season.

“Since the very beginning of the season, I’ve felt like I’ve had chances. I haven’t hit many and I guess I just got a pitch to hit,” Machbitz said.

The Jackrabbits didn’t strike the hit column until the fourth inning and the man to do it, Phil Paquette, would come around to score when Zach Rhodes put SDSU out in front, 1-0, with a single to right field. Minnesota would answer in the top of the next frame when David Bettenburg led off the inning with a walk and came around to score two batters later with a groundout from Andy Henkemeyer to even the score at 1-1 at the game’s halfway point.

The Jacks (10-17-1) had six pitchers team up to hold the Golden Gophers (17-17) to five hits. With it being a midweek game and both teams trying to conserve energy for their more importance conference series this weekend, the pitching changes were frequent, with 11 pitchers being used in all.

Shane Kraemer and Nick Young each pitched two innings after Layne Somsen’s scoreless first inning, in which Somesen had three strikeouts. Blake Fiedelman’s spotless sixth inning earned him his first win as a Jackrabbit and after two innings from Marcus Heemstra, Deon Enringer notched his first save of the 2012 campaign with three fly ball outs in the ninth inning, keeping SDSU’s home record against Minnesota perfect since moving to Division I.

The Jackrabbits saw catcher Zach Briggs throw out a pair of runners on the bases from his perch behind home plate, including one on a throw down to second base to catch Ryan Abrahamson off second base to end the Minnesota fifth. SDSU had exemplary defense from Andrew Phelan — filling in at second base for the injured Andrew Melton — when he started a spectacular double play with only his glove for the flip to Eric Cain at the bag and on to Machbitz at first. The end of eighth and the beginning of the ninth inning for Minnesota were both marked by terrific diving catches by Rhodes and Eric Danforth in right and left field, respectively.

“It was a good team win. We had fantastic defense and good pitching and it’s good for the team to have everyone come together for the win,” Machbitz said.

For a team that has been trying to turn its season around for a few weeks now, a win against a Big Ten team like Minnesota could be the turning point for the Jackrabbits. They sure hope so.

“It’s always fun when we get a chance against a team like Minnesota,” Briggs said. “We’re always going to be a little bit more geared up for a game like this and to get a chance to compete with one of the powerhouses in the Big Ten amps us up and we brought our A-game today.”

“I think this is the kind of game that can catapult you. To know you can play with a team like this and we [the coaches] have been telling them that. Hopefully, this will get us going in the right direction,” Schrage said.

The SDSU baseball team chose the latter of those two options as they a cruised to a 3-1 victory over Mount Marty College in the home opener at Erv Huether Field. The Jacks improve to 9-17-1 on the season, while the Lancers slide to 14-19.

“The freshman arms made the difference for us today,” head coach Dave Schrage said. “Our hitting wasn’t great, and they were able to pitch us out of some tough innings.”

The set of freshman arms Schrage is referring to is a trio of underclassmen including Talon Jumper, Aaron Klatt, and J.D. Moore. Jumper pitched seven shutout innings, giving up five hits. Klatt followed with one inning of two hits, before Moore closed out the game for SDSU, giving up two hits and one run.

“Our pitchers were great,” freshman center fielder Eric Danforth said. “We need to be able to move runs better, and until that comes around for us, our pitchers will keep putting us into position to win games like this one.”

Danforth lead a trio of Jackrabbits that went 2-4 at the plate Tuesday, capped off with a RBI single in the eighth to drive in the third and final run of the afternoon. SDSU built up a 2-0 lead by the bottom of the fourth, after scoring one run in both the third and fourth innings.

Mount Marty’s lone run came in top of the ninth at the head of a potential rally. The Lancers scored once when Justin Kemp hit an RBI single. With two outs left and two runners in scoring position, Derrik Nelson grounded out to second to kill the MMC comeback and seal the win for the Jackrabbits. Freshman Talon Jumper was the winning pitcher for SDSU. Nelson received the loss for Mount Marty, while J.D. Moore was credited with the save for the Jacks.

The Jacks will look to continue their success at home on April 11th against the University of Minnesota. The Golden Gophers come into the match at 17-16 (3-3), off of a three game slide in a Big Ten conference series against Ohio State University. The Jackrabbits lost their previous meeting with Minnesota earlier this season in a 9-3 contest at the Metrodome. The Jacks will have to try to improve on offense in addition to continuing their performance from the mound if they are going to upset the Gophers.

“Our hitting will come around,” Schrage said. “We need to be able to drive in runs better than we are right now. We’re thinking too much.”

In a simple way, it’s the established and the up-and-coming. The veteran who has seen it all and the nervous rookie, who is running a program for the very first time. Both have been asked to take their programs to new heights, and both have accepted. The excitement and enthusiasm, the uncertainty and anxiety, all combine to give two coaches a common experience that has done nothing but strengthen both.

Baseball head coach Dave Schrage came to the SDSU baseball program in August after a year away from collegiate coaching. Softball head coach Kim Aggabao took the helm for the Jackrabbit softball program in July, coming to Brookings from San Diego, Calif. Schrage just posted his 600th career win this past weekend, while the job at SDSU marks the first head coaching opportunity for coach Aggabao. Both will have to overcome the adversity that change can bring along with it.

Having coached at an institution with so much tradition such as the University of Notre Dame, Schrage’s perspective is strikingly down to earth regarding the changes from one institution to another.

“It doesn’t matter where you coach. Every student-athlete has that will to win. It’s what makes coaching enjoyable,” he said.

The will to win amongst student athletes is what makes it possible for two new coaches to come into two established programs and mold championship teams out of them. Without the competitive spirit, trust amongst new coaches and players would never get off the ground.

“The upperclassmen support has been huge,” Aggabao said. “The girls have helped so much. Their cooperation has allowed me to bring my own energy into the team, and it’s made the transition that much easier.”

Coming to a place like Brookings from towns such as South Bend or San Diego poses its own challenges for a new coach. Things like weather, culture, and student support vary widely from one campus to the next. That being said, a common thread amongst the so called “Mid-Majors” of college athletics exists. Having played and or coached years ago at universities such as Creighton (Schrage) and San Diego (Aggabao), an invaluable familiarity with the plight of smaller schools exists for both coaches.

“We know we are probably not going to be landing any of the top 100 players in the nation at schools such as SDSU,” said Schrage. “So we have to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to look at the next echelon of players, the kids that have talent, but also have room to be developed into the players we want for our program. And then it’s our job to mold them into the right type of student athlete for that institution.’”

It’s the players and the chemistry that they have with each other and their coaches that breeds success on and off the field. No matter if you’re a first year coach or if you’ve been at the helm for 24 years, the relationships that are built when you step into a new program can be the difference between a successful tenure and a short stop along the coaching carousel.
“Every year as a coach, you learn,” said Schrage. “Players need their self-esteem built up constantly. That’s our job; to always learn how to motivate players and translate that into winning. The day I stop learning is the day I should stop coaching.”

It’s safe to say that it takes a different kind of person to be a coach. Whether a veteran or a novice, no matter the personality, they come from the same cut of cloth. A love of the game and a sincere love for the lives of the people they teach work to construct an outlook on life that is unique amongst professionals. Dave Schrage and Kim Aggabao are no exceptions.

Head baseball coach Dave Schrage

Editor’s note: Dave Schrage is the new Jackrabbits baseball coach. He takes over for Ritchie Price, who took an assistant coach job at Kansas. Schrage has 23 years of experience as a Division I head coach, most recently at Notre Dame. The Collegian caught up with him to see how things are going.

You went to Creighton and stayed around the midwest throughout your career, is knowing the area a boost to recruiting?

I think it is. This was a really nice fit for me to get the opportunity to come back [to the Midwest] because a lot of the recruiting bases I’ve used are in the past are from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and the Dakotas, so I was thankful for the opportunity and being able to keep those contacts going.

How are you liking SDSU and Brookings so far?

I love it. It’s exactly what I thought it would be: hard working players. Every day they bring their hard hat and lunch pale and [say] ‘let’s get after it’. Great support here, great leadership at our university from the president all the way down to our athletic director. Good vision for what we want to do and the type of school where our kids get a good education. I’ve only been here two months but I feel right at home.

Before you were hired, what were some of the things that excited you about SDSU baseball?

I think it’s one of the best kept secrets in college baseball right now. They’ve put together two quality seasons. Look through the rest of the teams in the country and see how many have won 65 games over the last two years– not many. So it’s a program that’s winning and it’s a great time to be here with only being in division one for six years. The vision of where we’re going and the leadership of how we’re going to get there. That’s what excited me about it because it’s a growing program that’s won already and we’re still in the infant stages. I think the Summit is a good league and we’ve been knocking at the door to win it.

How’d the fall season go?

It’s been great. I think the main thing is that we have a good core group of seniors who have played for three years. I told this team I’m not here to reinvent the game of baseball; they’ve had some success. I think you have to have three things to win: great team unity, great work ethic and you have to believe you’re going to win, and this group has that already. From a coaching perspective, we didn’t have to build those things into this group, so what we had to do was focus on what our weaknesses were last year and why are we just falling short.

You’ve been at some rebuilding programs, you now have a team that’s made three straight conference tournaments, how do you like your team’s chances at a fourth run?

The key to our ball club is the health of [pitcher] Layne Somsen. He was a big help to the team two years ago and we lost [Blake] Treinen from our club last year, one of our top pitchers. If Layne can step in and replace him then we’re not going to miss a beat. Besides Layne, we have Kolton Emery and Steve Bougher back in the rotation. I think we’re going to see some of our freshman pitchers who have had a good fall-JD Moore and Adam Bray- pitch a lot too.

However, the new Jackrabbits baseball coach does know he’s taking over a team that has achieved a level of success most mid-major programs would strive for.

“It’s been a winning program. In college baseball, how many teams have put together back-to-back season like SDSU has? It’s an exciting time to be here and the program has been consistently good and that speaks to the type of people here,” Schrage said last week at SDSU’s fall media day.

Schrage is just settling into his new position after taking over head coaching duties on Aug. 8. He’s aware it will take some time get used to his new surroundings and players.

But that part won’t be new. Schrage’s stop at SDSU is his fifth Division I coaching job during his 23-year career, a mixture spanning work at Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Evansville, and most notably, Notre Dame.

“We’re well ahead of most of the programs I’ve taken over. When I took over at Notre Dame, they had the winning tradition and had been to the NCAAs. [SDSU] has won and they’re looking to take that next step,” Schrage said.

The 50-year-old is four wins away from 600 wins and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament with Evansville in 2006, posting a 43-win season. For comparison, SDSU tied the school record for wins in 2011 with 39 wins before a defeat in the Summit League finals against perennial champion Oral Roberts. Schrage won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award three times — twice with UNI, once with Evansville — and gained accolades as one of the 10 best outfielders in Missouri Valley Conference history while playing for Creighton in the 1980’s.

Schrage and his wife, Kay, jumped at the opportunity to move to Brookings and get closer to her family, located in Fergus Falls, Minn.

“It was a great opportunity to get into a winning program and the other thing was the people here. We had heard so many good things about the people that are here  and the administration and I’m just very grateful.”

SDSU and former coach Ritchie Price – who left SDSU to serve as an assistant for his father at Kansas – sat as Summit League elite in large part to their offense. Last year, the Jacks led the conference in batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage. But SDSU will lose a portion of that offensive firepower that managed 393 runs on the way to a 37-win season. They also lose MLB draft pick Blake Treinen, now pitching in the Oakland Athletics’ farm system.

“On paper, I know we’ve lost a lot. I know that if you’re going to win a championship, you have to be strong on the mound and you have be good defensively,” Schrage said. “We have 17 pitchers coming into camp this fall and so we’ll have some depth and guys competing for spots, which is good. I know I’ll have a better idea of where we’re at in October, that’s for sure.”

A 23-year veteran of coaching college baseball – the last 20 at the Division I level -Schrage, 50, will take over a Jackrabbit baseball program that has set team records for wins but has yet to qualify for a Division I NCAA Tournament.

“I am very humbled and appreciative for this opportunity,” Schrage said in a statement. “I would like to thank the search committee, the staff, the head coaches, and especially (athletic director) Justin Sell for hiring me to lead the baseball program. 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. “

Schrage has a career record of 596-662-1 with coaching stops at Waldorf College, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Evansville and most recently as head at Notre Dame from 2007-10. Schrage has seen 38 of his former players go on to play professional baseball.

Sell said that the interest in the SDSU job was very competitive, with a field of applicants totaling nearly 100, including numerous seekers from power conferences.

“People are excited about what’s happening in our baseball program,” Sell said. “When you get a quality pool of candidates, not only in numbers but in terms of the quality of the applicants, I think that speaks volumes about the where we’re at as a university.”

“I think he brings some experience in building programs in having built several different programs, many of them with a lot less resources than what we have [at SDSU]. Ultimately, we want people who want to be a part of something special and that’s doing things that have never been done before, including making an NCAA Regional,” Sell said.

Schrage will take over the helm from Ritchie Price, who resigned in June and returned to his alma mater, Kansas as an assistant coach. SDSU has averaged 38 wins the past two season, including tying a program-high 39 wins in 2010.

The head coach announced Thursday that he is moving on to his alma mater — the University of Kansas — to become an assistant to his father and head coach, Ritch.

“It is a difficult time for me having to leave the players I have grown to have so much respect for,” the 26 year-old Price said in a release. “They gave me a chance at a young age and listened and bought into what our staff was trying to do. Along the way, we accomplished some great things and there is no doubt South Dakota State Baseball is in as high a place as it has ever been.”

Price totaled a 102-71 record for the Jackrabbits, going 56-27 in the Summit League and reaching the conference championship each year after taking over in the summer of 2008.

While Price has decided to move on from SDSU and the athletic program wishes that weren’t the case, there is a mutual understanding that this is a unique opportunity.

“I honestly believe it was one of very few, if not, only opportunities Ritchie would have taken to leave South Dakota State,” SDSU athletic director Justin Sell said on Friday.

Price will coordinate recruiting and become the Jayhawks’ third base coach in his new role. Sell said that a preliminary search for a replacement has already begun.

SDSU Director of Athletics Justin Sell

“We do a lot of work ahead of time, just in case something like this takes place and we’re pretty well prepared in all of our sports. We’ve got a list of people that we’re interested in and hopefully they’ll apply.”

Sell Speaks

With the news of Price leaving, Sell said that he’s not worried about having SDSU’s coaches cherry-picked from them, calling it “the nature of being a Division I, FCS school.”

“For a school our size, we have some real longevity among our coaches. Hopefully, you can hire some folks who really appreciate South Dakota State and the career opportunity,” Sell said. “At our level of Division I, we tend to get a lot of coaches who are in the upswing of their career and are a little bit younger. We hope [SDSU] can be known for hiring and developing young talent.”
Of the 21 sports in 2010-11, six will have new coaches in 2011-12 (baseball, equestrian, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball) but Price is the only one who left SDSU with the intent of moving up the coaching ranks.

“I hope people want to stay for a while but when you get guys like Ritchie Price, who win on a consistent basis, if they leave after four or five years and our program is in a better place and the coach knows they left a winning program,” Sell said.

Upgrades Ahead?

With this week’s approval of the preliminary facility upgrade plan by the Board of Regents, SDSU can finally make that long awaited “next step” on how to fund an indoor practice facility and human performance facility, along with a new 22,000-seat football stadium.

The Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2011 at Youngstown State

Part of the work is learning just how much the project will cost and how will the university be able to afford the improvements. Along with the cost estimate, SDSU will conduct market research and look at potential revenue streams for the school, including premium seating, suite sales, and naming rights opportunities for the new stadium. The professional planning will cost between $250,000 to $350,000 for the indoor facility and $400,000 to $600,000 for the new football stadium.

“It’s really exciting to be able to go and put something together and have the potential to go out and put it in front of some people who might want to help us fund it,” Sell said.
News of potential facility upgrades adds SDSU to the list of conference opponents working on improvements, too. Fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference member Youngstown State is the midst of working on a $12.3 million indoor facility that would be similar to what SDSU is planning. Both plans include a 300-meter track, an indoor football field, athletic training and sports medicine areas and room for other outdoor sports to practice inside during the winter.
MVFC member

A look at the Indoor Practice Facility and New Football Stadium, as shown in the 2025 Athletic Master Plan

Southern Illinois completed a 15,000-seat stadium in 2010 that cost $29.9 million dollars and was funded by a half-cent sales tax in Carbondale, Ill., along with the increase of student fees. Private donations are expected to be a main part of SDSU’s plan.

Forget the Fatigue

Sell is confident that donors will be ready to contribute to the projects, even though SDSU alumni foundation raised over $200 million last year for the university.

“We’re fortunate that a lot of our alumni are season-ticket holders and they know the importance of providing a quality experience to our students. [The new facilities] are symbols of a Division I institution and I think they can help have an overall impact on not just the university, but the state of South Dakota, as well.”