Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 17 Delta State baseball team took the field Sunday afternoon looking to complete a sweep of Christian Brothers University. The Statesmen offense came to life, as they cruised past the Buccaneers 18-2 to earn the three game sweep.

The Statesmen (30-11, 14-7 GSC) offense got going in the second inning, as they took a 2-0 lead. Jon Carnahan led off the inning with a double to left center field, and Brent Kakwitch followed with a double of his own off the wall in center field. Brent Langston then brought both Carnahan and Kakwitch home with a base hit into left center field.

Up 2-0, the Statesmen offense went back two work in the third inning. Jordan Chovanec roped a double into right field, and later sole third base. Michael Vinson brought Chovanec home with a base hit. Later in the inning Sam Kidd was able to score on an error by the Buccaneers. The runs gave the Statesmen the 4-0 lead.

Down by four, the Bucs (11-31, 3-18 GSC) got back into the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Jimmy Franklin brought Hunter Frey home with base hit for the first CBU run. Then Josh Hopkins singled up the middle to score Cody Warren, which cut the Statesmen's lead to just two runs.

The Statesmen offense continued to roll, as they added three more runs in the fourth inning. With two men on base, Chovanec blasted his second home run of the weekend, and third of the season over the fence in right field. The runs extended the Statesmen's lead to 7-2.

Up by five, the Statesmen kept plating runs, as they added three more in the fifth. Carnahan and Ben Kingsley led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. A sacrifice fly brought Carnahan home, and a single by Josh Crowdus scored both Kingsley and Kakwitch to once again extend the lead to 10-2.

The game remained 10-2 until the eighth inning when the Statesmen added eight more runs. The eight runs in the innings came on six hits, and were aided by three CBU errors, as the Statesmen took a commanding 18-2 lead. The Bucs could not get within 10 runs in the bottom of the eighth, so the Statesmen came away with the 18-2 victory.

Josh Branstetter (3-3) picked up the victory on the mound for the Statesmen. Branstetter pitched 7 innings, gave up two runs on four hits, walked two, and struck out 10. Brandon Hardin closed out the game by pitching the eighth inning in a non-save situation.

John-Michael Davis (0-3) suffered the loss for the Buccaneers. Davis pitched 4 innings, gave up seven runs with six being earned on eight hits, walked one, and struck out one.

The Statesmen, who now sit in first place in the Gulf South Conference, will hit the road for a pair of midweek games this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday against former conference foe Henderson State. The two games are the final road games of the regular season for the Statesmen. Tuesday's game will began at 3:00 p.m. with airtime on the Statesmen Sports Network set for 2:45 p.m.