CLEVELAND, Mississippi – Delta State University baseball completed the sweep of No. 20/9 Alabama Huntsville with an 11-4 victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
GAME INFORMATION Score: Statesmen 11, Chargers 4
Records: Delta State (17-9, 10-5 GSC), No. 9 Alabama Huntsville (17-11, 9-6 GSC)
Location/Stadium: Cleveland, Miss. | Harvey Stadium – Ferriss Field
Attendance/Start Time/Time of Game: 656 | 2:01 p.m./2:59
Weather: 48 degrees, cloudy, NW 16 mph wind
HOW IT HAPPENED- The Statesmen rallied with two outs in the bottom of the second when Colton Welch and Dakota Glore connected on back-to-back RBI hits, giving DSU the early 2-0 edge.
- Erick Santiago sent a pitch over the right field fence in the bottom of the fourth with Glore on base for a two-run homer, the first of his career. The long ball extended Delta State's lead to 4-0.
- Delta State added another run in the bottom of the fifth, 5-0, when Jacob Swiney's RBI single to left field scored Will Robertson.
- With one swing of AJ Walden's bat, the Chargers tacked on three runs in the top of the sixth, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
- The Green-and-White combined for five runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth to go up 10-3. Jacob Swiney's bases-clearing triple brought in three of the five runs.
- Trent Giambrone's 11th double of the season scored Santiago in the bottom of the seventh, setting the score at 11-3.
- Alabama Huntsville added a lone run in the top of the eighth to notch the score at 11-4.
- The Chargers threatened in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and one out, but Jake Brumfield closed out the inning without giving up a run.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE- The first five runs scored and three of the five in the sixth inning came with two outs. All but two runs were scored with two outs.
- Dalton Moats (4-2) tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts through seven innings of work. He reached the same feat against Union on March 6.
- DSU's pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts, tying its season-high for the third time this season.
- Giambrone now has 13 multiple-hit games, eight multiple-RBI games and extended his on-base streak to 18 games.
- Ethan Gill, Swiney and Robertson extended their on-base streak to nine. Swiney, who now has seven multiple-RBI games, and Robertson also extended their hitting streak to six.
- Santiago combined to go 8-for-11 in the series against the Chargers, extending his hitting streak to five. He now has nine multiple-hit games.
- Delta State scored 27 combined runs, the second most scored in a three-game series this season. The most was against Lee University when the Statesmen scored 39.
UP NEXT- Delta State travels to Florence, Alabama, for a Gulf South Conference series against the Lions of North Alabama. The doubleheader will be played on Friday, March 25 at 1 p.m. with the single game series finale scheduled for Saturday, March 26 at 1 p.m.