MONTICELLO, Ark. – Cody Kelley struck out a season-high nine batters Sunday to lead the No. 19 ranked Statesmen (29-10-1, 11-3 GSC) of Delta State University to a 16-5 win and a series sweep of the Boll Weevils (19-21, 3-11 GSC) of the University of Arkansas-Monticello at Weevils Field. 

Josh Gordon's RBI single to center scored Matt Discon from second to give the Statesmen a 1-0 lead.
UAM grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring four unearned runs on three Statesmen errors with two outs. 

In the fifth, Michael Niemann jump started a seven run inning with a two-RBI single to right, scoring Chris Escobar and Chase Blanchard to made it a one-run game at 4-3. With the bases loaded, Cade Hoggard surprised everyone with a successful squeeze bunt, allowing Matt Discon, who walked, to score and tie it at 4-4. 

DSU took the lead 5-4 on Josh Gordon's sprint to the plate off Austin Crisp's wild pitch. The Statesmen tacked on three more runs in the fifth to go up 8-4 on an RBI groundout by Rickey Ware and a two-RBI single from Blanchard. 

In the sixth, Niemann scored from third on an sac-fly RBI from Ware, his second RBI of the game.
Niemann drove in his third run of the game in the seventh on a groundout to first to put the Statesmen up by six runs, 10-4. 

UAM scored a run in the bottom of the eighth off Brian Johnson's RBI double, cutting the lead to five, 10-5. 

In the top of the ninth, DSU exploded for six runs to put the game away 16-5. Niemann collected two RBIs on a single to right, Blanchard delivered an RBI single to center and Cade Hoggard connected on a two-run home run to right-center in the inning. 

Kelley (6-0) worked 7.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts. Brent Hallmark, who entered the game with runners on second and third with no outs, coaxed three straight ground balls to Gordon to end the inning. Toby Easterly slammed the door in the ninth. 

UAM used nine pitchers in the loss. Kevin Lienard (1-5) took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. 

Niemann went 2-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs to lead the Statesmen at the plate. Every starter for DSU but one scored on the day, including a game-high three by Blanchard. 

The Statesmen travel to Montevallo, Ala., for a two-game mid-week series with the Falcons of the University of Montevallo. DSU and UM met back in February with the Statesmen taking both games of the series at Ferriss Field. The series will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network starting 15 minutes prior to first pitch with the “SouthGroup Insurance Dugout Report.” Matt Jones and Jimmy Smith will have the call.