CLEVELAND - The No. 12 Statesmen (34-14-1) of Delta State University will open the Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship Tournament this Saturday, May 1 versus the No. 16 Blazers (35-13) of Valdosta State University. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn.
The Statesmen, who enter the weekend at West Division's No. 3 seed, are coming off a great weekend that saw DSU take 2-of-3 from previously No. 1 ranked Southern Arkansas (39-6). Delta State downed the Muleriders 16-6 and 21-8, while droping the middle game 9-6 in extra innings.
Valdosta State, GSC East No. 2 seed, split a weekend series with West Florida, who clinched the GSC East Division title, 18-6 and 5-14.
Delta State and Valdosta State have met on 18 previous occasions, with the series tied at 9-9. The Statesmen last faced the Blazers in the 2008 GSC Tournament, an 11-5 green-and-white victory.
Saturday's game and all the action from the GSC Tournament will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network starting 15 minutes prior to first pitch with the "SouthGroup Insurance Locker Room Report."
Matt Jones and Jimmy Smith will have the call.
A complete breakdown of the games is listed below.
GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
USA Stadium - Millington, Tenn. - May 1-5, 2010
Saturday, May 1
Game 1-(East 3) North Alabama vs. (West 2) Arkansas Tech, 9:30 am
Game 2-(West 4) Henderson State vs. (East 1) West Florida, 1 pm
Game 3-(East 4) Alabama-Huntsville vs. (West 1) Southern Arkansas, 4:15 pm
Game 4-(West 3) Delta State vs. (East 2) Valdosta State, 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 2
Game 5-Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 9:30 am (Loser Eliminated)
Game 7-Loser G3 vs. Loser G4, 11 am (Secondary Field/Loser Eliminated)
Game 6-Winner G1 vs. Winner G2, 1 pm
Game 8-Winner G3 vs. Winner G4, 4:15 pm
Monday, May 3
Game 9-Winner G7 vs. Loser G6, 9:30 am (Loser Eliminated)
Game 10-Winner G5 vs. Loser G8, 11 am (Secondary Field/Loser Eliminated)
Game 11-Winner G6 vs. Winner G8, 4:15 pm
Tuesday, May 4
Game 12-Loser G11 vs. Winner G9 or 10, 9:30 am
Game 13-Winner G11 vs. Winner 9/10, 1 pm
Wednesday, May 5 (If THREE teams remain)
Game 14-Winner G12 vs. Winner G13, 9:30 am
Game 15-Winner G14 vs. Loser G12, 1 pm
If TWO teams remain:
Game 14-Winner G12 vs. Winner G13, 9:30 am
*Game 15-Rematch of Game 14, 1 pm
*If necessary
Determining the pairings for Games 12 and 13. After Game 11, one team is 3-0 and three teams are 2-1. The teams are matched so that the 3-0 team plays the team it has not yet played. If there are two such teams, it is matched up so that the other pair of teams also have not yet played each other in the Tournament. If the undefeated team has played everyone, but two 2-1 teams have not yet played, those two 2-1 teams are matched against each other, which means that the undefeated team faces a team it previously played in the Tournament, regardless of when they played. If the teams have all already played each other once, the 3-0 team re-matches the team it played earliest in the Tournament.
