Statesmen Baseball Game Notes - NCAA South Regional (PDF)
CLEVELAND - For a second consecutive year, the Delta State University baseball team will be headed to Tampa, Fla., as the Statesmen (42-9-1) received the No. 2 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA South Region Tournament May 16-19 at UT Baseball Field on the campus of top-seed and tournament host University of Tampa. 

Last season, DSU traveled to Tampa, Fla., and marched out of the loser's bracket to defeat Stillman College to advance to the College World Series, where the Statesmen finished as national runner-up to West Chester.

Delta State has eyes on rematch
The Statesmen will face Valdosta State University (33-16) in a rematch of last week's Gulf South Conference title game on Thursday, May 16 at 3 p.m.

The game will mark the sixth meeting this season between the two GSC foes and the first that DSU will serve as the designated home team. Delta State traveled to Valdosta, Ga. in the regular season and played the Blazers twice in the GSC Tournament, both times as the away team.

In the other games, top-seeded Tampa (39-10) will open up with No. 6 seed Stillman College (30-14), the team that forced the Spartans into the loser's bracket after one game last season, in the first round.  The remaining matchup features No. 3 seed Florida Tech (32-17) versus No. 4 seed West Florida (35-12).

All-Tournament Team
Despite a runner-up finish in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, five Statesmen were named to the All-Tournament team. Jordan Chovanec headlined the group by being named the Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Brent Langston and Sam Kidd, both who were left off the All-GSC Team, earned All-Tournament Team recognition, along with Josh Branstetter and Josh Crowdus.

Manley man
Michael Manley has been dominant for the Statesmen in his first year with the Green-and-White. The junior from Raymond, Miss. is 8-0 on the year in 13 appearances and 11 starts. Manley has been named the Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Week on four separate occasions this season. He earned it in back-to-back weeks from 2/18-2/25 and on 04/08. After a one-hitter, he was named to the award again on 4/30. Manley is the only four-time winner of the award this season and no other pitcher won the award more than twice.

Manley missed a couple of starts earlier this season due to an injury, but that hasn't kept the junior from racking up the strikeouts and posting numbers in the top of the Gulf South Conference. He currently leads the GSC in opposing batting average (.181). Manley sits second on the strikeout list with 77, just eight behind the conference lead. Manley is tied for third in the GSC with eight wins and ranks third in hits allowed with 52. He also ranks fifth with a 2.03 ERA.

Statesmen rack up postseason GSC awards
Delta State garnered 12 postseason awards from the Gulf South Conference on Tuesday. Mike Kinnison was named the Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career while eight Statesmen were named to the All-GSC First Team and three more were named to the All-GSC Second Team.

Pitchers Josh Branstetter, Michael Manley, and Taylor Stark earned first team honors. For Manley and Stark, it is their first time on the list. Branstetter was named a second team selection in 2012 and was a first team selection in 2011.

Outfielders Jordan Chovanec and Michael Vinson each earned first team selections. For Chovanec, it is the juniors second straight year as a first team selection. Vinson also garners All-GSC for the second straight season after being named to the second team in 2012.

Infielders Carlos Leal and Tyler Aldridge, as well as designated hitter Ben Kingsley were also named to the first team this season.  All three are first time winners of the award.

Middle infielders Josh Crowdus and Kasey Hinton joined pitcher Colton Mitchell in being named to the All-GSC second team. For Crowdus and Hinton, it is their first selection. Mitchell garners the All-GSC selection for the second straight season after being named to the first team in 2012.

Delta State versus the field
Delta State will be familiar with most of the competition at this week's NCAA South Regional Tournament. The Statesmen have faced four of the five schools in the last two seasons.

NCAA Field	2012	2013	Overall
Tampa (1)	0-1	0-0	5-2
Florida Tech (3)	0-0	0-0	0-0
West Florida (4)	4-0	3-1	25-21
Valdosta State (5)	2-2	1-4	12-15
Stillman College (6)	2-0	0-0	4-0
Total	8-3	4-5	46-38

Josh Branstetter, Michael Vinson and Jordan Chovanec climbing the career charts
All three of the Statesmen are moving up the career lists for the Statesmen all time.  Josh Branstetter is ranked in four pitching categories. The senior is second in innings pitched (325.0) and sixth in the strikeouts (249). He also ranks eighth in victories with 26 and 12th in appearances with 51.

Michael Vinson is fifth on the all-time list in career games played with 211. The senior also ranks ninth in runs batted in with 168, tenth in doubles with 48, tenth in hits with 248 and tenth in base on balls with 93. Jordan Chovanec has cracked the top 10 list in stolen bases as a junior. Chovanec is tied for sixth on the list with 53. Sam Kidd is also on the verge of cracking the 40 stolen base mark, sitting in 13th on the all time list with 39.

Statesmen racking up stolen bases, set record
Delta State set a record this past week at the Gulf South Conference Tournament, passing the all-time record for team stolen bases in a season. The Statesmen swiped their 112th stolen base at the tournament, breaking the record of 106 stolen in 2001. The Statesmen are 112-136 on the year in stolen base attempts. It is the fourth time in history the team has stolen 100+ bags in a season.

Early and often
The Statesmen have scored first in 32 of 52 games this season and are 30-1-1 in those games. Delta State's offense has produced 187 runs in the first four innings, while Statesmen pitching and defense has allowed only 179 total runs in all nine innings this season. Delta State has outscored opponents in every inning this season and have outscored opponents 387-179 on the year.

Aldridge makes history with 28-game streak
In his first at bat of the day on Friday, March 29, Tyler Aldridge hit a two out double against West Alabama to break the Statesmen hit streak record shared with Clay Smith, who hit in 27 consecutive games in 2005.

The record for Aldridge dated back to the first game of the season against Montevallo on February 8. Aldridge was unable to record a hit in game two of the doubleheader, stopping the streak at 28.

The senior has been a dominant force in the batter's box for the Statesmen and used the streak to propel to the top of several categories in the Gulf South Conference. The Steens, Miss., native leads the GSC in hits (67), third in batting average (.383), and fourth in on-base percentage (.468). The former East Mississippi CC transfer leads the Statesmen in multiple hit games with 22 and is second on the team in multiple RBI games with nine. Aldridge also leads the team in stolen bases with 19.

Professional Statesmen
Three former Statesmen, Eli Whiteside (Round Rock, Rangers), Edwin Maysonet (Iowa, Cubs) and Dusty Hughes (Gwinnett, Braves), have all been placed in roles at the AAA level coming out of spring training. 2012 Senior Brandon Hardin has been assigned to Kannapolis, the class-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Aaron Newcomb, another 2012 senior, is with Burlington, the class-A affiliate of the Angels.  The other two draft and signees out of last seasons senior class, James Hudelson and Jon Carnahan, are also in the lower levels of the minor league system.

700-Club, Kinnison Style
Mike Kinnison, a member of the MS Sports Hall of Fame, joined the 700-win club last season with the Statesmen's regional championship victory over Stillman last season.

With the victory, Kinnison became the quickest coach in NCAA Division II history to reach 700 career wins, completing the feat in his 16th season.

Kinnison is 745-225-2 all time and is the active leader in winning percentage (.767) of coaches with at least 10 years in Division II.