Shorter Series Notes | Live Stats | Statesmen Sports Network 

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Delta State University (24-10,16-5 GSC) travels to Shorter University (12-22, 5-16 GSC) for a three-game GSC series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CDT) at the Ledbetter Baseball Complex in Rome, Ga.  The seires concludes with a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m. (CDT)

Inside the Shorter Series: The Statesmen and the Hawks have met nine times on the diamond with the Statesmen holding an 8-1 lead in the series. Delta State swept last years series 7-5, 6-1 and 8-2 in Cleveland, Miss., and have won the last four meetings in the series. The Statesmen are 2-1 in games played at Ledbetter Baseball Complex in Rome, Ga., and 6-0 in games played in Cleveland, Miss. 
 
Streaking Statesmen: Delta State has won 10 straight GSC games after sweeping their last three series against Alabama-Huntsville, North Alabama and Christian Brothers. Dalton Moats is 5-0 in his last five starts and Tre Hobbs is 3-0 in his last three starts on the mound. Ethan Gill has reached base in 17 straight games and Colton Welch has a 10-game hitting streak entering the series.
 
Robertson Earns GSC Weekly Honor: Senior Left fielder Will Robertson was named the Gulf South Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Tuesday, April 4. Robertson hit .643 (9-for-14) with three doubles, two home runs and 13 RBIs through four games last week. His shining performance of the week came in game two versus Christian Brothers, belting a three-run home run and a grand slam with eight RBIs. In 33 games this season, Robertson is hitting .429 with five home runs, 17 doubles and 45 RBI.
 
Getting Offensive: The Statesmen lead the GSC in nine offensive categories: batting average (.348/10th NCAA), runs (275/29th), hits (390/23rd NCAA), slugging percentage (.537/9th NCAA), doubles (87/7th NCAA), RBIs (265), total bases (percentage (.437/17th NCAA), runs per game (7.8)on base percentage (.435/4th NCAA). The Statesmen are third in the GSC in home runs with 34 (38th NCAA).

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Shorter is under the direction of first-year head coach Wes Timmons, who took over the program after a two-year stint at North Carolina A&T.  Dustin Lawson leads the Hawks with a .404 average and 10 doubles and is second with 21 RBIs. Blaze Vasquez has belted nine home runs with a team-best 28 RBIs. Jacob Ramos is 3-2 with a three saves and has .364 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched.  

FAST STARTS 
The Statesmen have outscored their opponents 44-11 in the first inning. DSU is 11-3 when scoring in the first inning and 17-5 when scoring first.  The Statesmen have outscored opponents 81-30 in the first two innings. 

THE CLOSE ONES 
Delta State is 8-4 in games decided by two runs or less. The Statesmen are 6-3 in one-run games and 2-2 in games decided by two runs. 

HOT, HOT, HOT
Will Robertson has been swinging a hot bat in the last five games, hitting .667 with three doubles, three home runs, 17 RBIs, a 1.333 slugging percentage and a .714 on base percentage. The Falkner, Miss., native hit .636 with three doubles, two home runs and 13 RBIs in the Christian Brothers series. Robertson had a career-high eight RBIs, belting a three-run home run and a grand slam in game two against CBU. The senior had a double and two RBIs in a 10-5 game one win and two doubles and three RBIs in a 10-0 game three win over CBU. Robertson leads the team in doubles (17), RBIs (45) and batting average (.438) through 34 games. 

PLUNKED!
The Statesmen have been hit by a pitch 60 times this season, ranking second in the GSC and sixth nationally. The University of Montevallo leads the NCAA with 67 and West Georgia leads the GSC with 64. Ethan Gill and Will Robertson have been hit 11 and 10 times respectively, ranking fifth and seventh in the GSC. 

K FACTOR
Delta State's pitching staff ranks sixth in the GSC with 245 strikeouts. Dalton Moats struck out six batters over six innings against Christian Brothers to bring his GSC leading total to 67 which ranks 11 nationally. Moats ranks fourth in the GSC and 64 with 10.34 strikeouts per nine innings. Moats has been named the GSC Pitcher of the Week twice (3.28.16/3.7.16) and NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Week once (3.8.16)

HOBBS IN CONTROL
Tre Hobbs leads the GSC in pitching wins (8-1) and complete games (6). Hobbs tossed a three-hit shutout with two strikeouts and no walks in a 26-0 game two win over Christian Brothers. The Greenville, Miss., native ranks 12th in the GSC with 48 strikeouts

EXTRA, EXTRA
The Statesmen rank third in the GSC with 132 extra base hits behind Lee University (138) and West Alabama (116).  Valdosta State (104) is fourth followed by Alabama Huntsville (101), West Georgia (95), North Alabama (82), West Florida (80), Shorter (71),  Union (64) and Christian Brothers (45). Trent Giambrone leads the Statesmen with 27 extra base hits (15 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR) while senior Will Robertson follows with 22 extra base hits (17 2B, five HR).

DOUBLE THE FUN
Delta State 87 doubles and 2.55 doubles per game leads the GSC and ranks seven nationally, respectively. Will Robertson's leads the Statesmen with 17 doubles (3rd GSC/5th NCAA) and needs three doubles to move into the top 10 on the DSU doubles list. Trent Giambrone has15 doubles (4th GSC/21st NCAA) and Ethan Gill has 13 doubles (5th GSC/35th NCAA).

DIGGIN' FOR THREE
Senior center fielder Brandon Cummins' six triples leads the GSC and ranks 22nd nationally. Cummins had two triples in the Christian Brothers series to move into a tie for third on the DSU single season triples list. Cummins is tied with Steve Adams (1970), Ricky Hearn (1979), Heath Bailey (1995), Rodney Batts (1996) and Eli Whiteside (2001).  The Drew, Miss., native pushed his career total to 11 and is tied for second with Jordan Chovanec (2011-14), Eric Patten (2002-2005), and Heath Bailey (1994-96). Cummins needs two triples to move into a tie for first in career triples and one triple to take over second on the single season list.

THE LONG BALL
The Statesmen are fourth in the GSC and 45th in the NCAA with 34 home runs. DSU hit a season-high seven home runs in game one against Lee University (2.27.16).  Eight of the total are lead off home runs, six have come with two outs and nine have happened in the sixth inning or later.  Trent Giambrone (7), Ben Pickard (7), Will Roberston (5) and Colton Welch (5) lead the Statesmen.  Four of Giambrone's seven home runs have led off an inning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Redshirt freshman Juwan Burney belted his first career home as a Statesmen in game two against Christian Brothers on Saturday, April 2. Burney also delivered on a promise to hit a home run for his mother, Nancy, for her birthday. The homer was a two-run home run in the fourth inning to cap a 26-run output for the Statesmen. 

BETTER AT THE END
Jake Brumfield's move to the bullpen has paid dividends so far. Brumfield recorded his first career save against North Alabama (2.25) and is 1-0 in his first four relief appearances.  The senior has a 0.00 ERA with six strikeouts, one walk and has not allowed a run in 4.2 innings since moving to the bullpen. In his last 5.2 innings, Brumfield has a 0.00 ERA with 10 strikeouts, no runs on two hits that includes one start and four relief appearances.

STATESMEN IN NCBWA REGION POLL
Delta State is ranked second in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll (NCBWA) and is ranked 11th in the NCBWA National Poll.  

1. Tampa
2. Delta State
3. West Florida
4. Florida Southern
5. West Alabama
6. Nova Southeastern 
7. Valdosta State
8. Alabama Huntsville
9. Lynn
10 . West Georgia

FIVE STATESMEN TO OPEN SPRING WITH MLB CLUBS
Delta State Baseball will have five active players and one coach open Spring Training this February with MLB clubs. Witt Haggard (Mets) and Drew Milligan (Royals), a pair of 2015 draftees, and Garrett Pickens (Blue Jays) and Carlos Leal (Brewers) have reported to Minor League training, while Brent Leach (Dodgers), who recently signed a contract with L.A., is awaiting assignment.