Box Score
CLEVELAND, Miss. – Tuesday, March 11, still fairly early in the baseball season, brought a battle of two nationally ranked teams to Ferriss Field. No. 20 Delta State University played host to No. 3 Southern Arkansas University in a game that had implications for national and regional rankings – and lasted about five hours.
 
The Statesmen (10-5, 9-3 GSC) grabbed an early lead on the Muleriders (19-4) in the first inning when Brent Langston hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed lead-off batter Jordan Chovanec to score from third base, giving DSU a quick 1-0 advantage.
 
Delta was looking at a runner on second with one out in the top of the second inning when a Mulerider hit a line drive to Benji Sullivan, who turned a double play and got the Statesmen out of the inning safely.
 
The DSU defense struggled in the third inning. With bases loaded and two outs, Statesmen starting pitcher Drew Milligan walked a batter, making it a tie game 1-1. The next batter for SAU singled to right center field and put two RBI in the book, giving the Muleriders the lead 3-1. Delta tried to answer with bases loaded, but the final two batters struck out looking to end the third inning.
 
Southern Arkansas continued to pile on the runs in the top of the fourth inning, beginning when a batter reached base on an error and a runner that had been sitting on second scored an unearned run, extending the Mulriders' lead to 4-1. Five batters later, Delta switched pitchers, bringing Casey Greene to the mound, but the first batter he faced hit a single to center field and another run scored, giving SAU a 5-1 lead. The visitors tacked on one more, two batters later, and when the top of the fourth ended, Southern Arkansas had left three on base and was leading 6-1 after DSU committed two errors.
 
Fans at Ferriss Field scrambled under the overhang behind home plate as a spring shower came across the diamond. Apparently the Statesmen needed the short cool down because the Delta State offense exploded in the bottom of the fourth inning. Will Robertson got things started with a single up the middle of the field. Landon Thibodeaux followed that with a bunt. Sullivan singled to load the bases and the Muleriders' pitcher walked Chovanec, giving DSU a run. Kasey Hinton, the next batter, was also walked and the Statesmen cut the lead to 6-3 as Southern Arkansas made a pitching change. The bases were still loaded when catcher Carlos Leal was hit by a pitch, bringing Chovanec home and making the score 6-4. Langston got the crowd on its feet with a single through the hole between shortstop and third base, which brought Hinton and Dex Herrington across the plate and tied the game at 6-6. A few more Statesmen batters tried to bring in runs but DSU left three on base in the bottom of the fourth.
 
With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Delta State took the lead, 7-6, after Chovanec put in a full effort. The senior struck out swinging but made it to first on a passed ball, advanced to second on another passed ball, then stole third and scored on an error when the SAU catcher tried to throw Chovanec out but threw the ball into the outfield. A few batters later, in a bizarre play, Hinton stole home when Ben Pickard was hit by a pitch. The umpire called Pichard back from first, but Hinton's run counted. DSU then took an 8-6 lead.
 
Delta found itself in another tough situation in the top of the sixth when Southern Arkansas got the bases loaded and William Townsend, batting ninth, hit a triple to right center, bringing in three RBI, giving the Muleriders a 9-8 lead.
 
The scoring continued in the eighth inning. Two on and two out for SAU proved to be a decent situation when a Mulerider single made it a 10-8 game for the visitors. When the Statesmen came to the plate, they evened it up for the second time in the more five-hour game, starting with a single from Hinton that scored Chovanec and made it 10-9 SAU. Two batters later, Leal singled to center field, allowing Hinton to round third and cross home plate and make it a tie game 10-10.
 
Taylor Stark took the mound in the top of the ninth for Delta State and Southern Arkansas went three up, three down with Stark taking down two batters swinging. Unfortunately, the Statesmen were also done after three batters.
 
Heading into extra innings, a sacrifice gave the Muleriders the advantage 11-10 but DSU answered with a double from Herrington that scored pinch runner Austin McClain, and it was once again a tie game, 11-11.
 
The 11^th inning saw Southern Arkansas take a two run lead, starting when a single scored a runner from second. That was followed by an unearned run when DSU pitcher Stark committed an error, handing the Muleriders a 13-11 lead. The bottom of the 11^th for the Statesmen ended the game as the first two batters struck out and the final batter ground out to second base.
 
After about five hours and 11 innings, No. 3 Southern Arkansas defeated No. 20 Delta State 13-11.
 
Hinton led DSU going 4-of-5 at the plate with two RBI. Leal batted three times and smacked two hits along with two RBI. Langston, Herrington and Chovanec also recorded RBI while Robertson, Thibodeaux, Ricky Velez and Sullivan also had hits.
 
Stark takes the loss for the Statesmen on the mound. Milligan had six strikeouts, Witt Haggard recorded four.