Box Score
CLEVLAND. Miss. - Delta State Baseball jumped out to an early lead and thanks to some defensive plays, the Statesmen were able to defeat Arkansas at Monticello, 7-3.
Casey Greene picked up the start on the mound for the Statesmen and shut the Boll Weevils down scoreless after the first two innings.

In the bottom of the second, Jordan Chovanec drove a pitch into right field that brought Ben Pickard in from third after Pickard delivered a two-out single to centerfield.

Delta State (22-6) added to the lead in the third inning with a Ricky Velez RBI single to left field that plated Dex Herrington that made the score 2-0.

UAM (24-11) scored their first run in the fourth inning as Tyler Caruthers delivered a two-out RBI single to right field bringing in D'Marco Poindexter.  DSU got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Chovanec delivered another RBI single that scored Landon Thibodeaux from second base after a lead-off double.

Nick Goza came on in relief of Greene to start the fifth inning and shut the visitors down, three up three down.

Delta State added a run to the lead as Carlos Leal connected for a two-out triple to right centerfield that Poindexter was unable to making the diving grab on.  With Leal on third, Velez delivered an RBI single into left field to give the Statesmen a 4-1 advantage.

Goza threw another perfect inning out of the bullpen, getting outs via a pair of ground balls and a strike out in the top of the sixth inning.

The bottom of the sixth inning saw the Statesmen score three times.  After Chovanec singled and stole second, he moved to third base on an infield hit by Benji Sullivan.  Kasey Hinton picked up an RBI on an error by the short stop that brought Chovanec in to score.  Herrington brought Sullivan home on a sacrifice fly to center field before Leal connected on a single to right field that brought in Hinton to give Delta State a 7-1 advantage.
The top of the seventh inning ended on a plate at home plate.  UAM had scored twice in the inning, 7-3, and had runners on the corners with one out as Trevor Blocker came in from the bullpen.  Ben Agredano lifted a fly ball into right field in an attempt for a sacrifice fly.  Herrington caught the ball for the second out and delivered a strike to Pickard at the plate to throw out Caruthers to end the inning.  Herrington has twice thrown a runner out at home plate after doing so earlier this season versus Palm Beach Atlantic.

Blocker shut Arkansas at Monticello down the rest of the way, retiring the three batters faced in the eighth inning and facing just four batters in the ninth inning to complete the game.

Greene (1-1) earned his first win of the season, pitching 4.0 innings and striking out one while scattering six hits.  Goza pitched two perfect innings, striking out a pair.  Blocker went the final 2.2 innings after Witt Haggard went 0.1 and allowed two runs to score on three hits.

Chovanec went 4-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored while stealing his 11th base of the season.  Pickard added a 3-for-4 day at the plate with one run scored for his third three-hit performance this season.  Velez and Leal each added two hits, Velez had two RBI while Leal had an RBI and a run scored.  For Velez it was his fourth two RBI day in 2014.

The Statesmen offense delivered 14 hits, the seventh consecutive game with double digit base hits.

Delta State will be in action at Ferris Field this weekend as Gulf South Conference newcomer Lee University (22-13, 9-9 GSC) visits as part of Go Green Weekend.  The Saturday doubleheader begins at 3 pm with the game on Sunday set for 2 pm.