CLEVELAND, Miss. --   No. 18 Delta State University (13-5, 6-3 GSC) hosts the University of West Georgia (8-10, 2-7 GSC) for a three-game Gulf South Conference series, starting with a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Monday at 1 p.m.

The First Pitch: The Statesmen (13-5, 6-3 GSC) host West Georgia (8-10, 2-7 GSC) for a three-game Gulf South Conference series, starting with a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Monday at 1 p.m. The two clubs met six times in 2016, including two times in the GSC Tournament and once in the NCAA South Regional in Tampa, Fla.  West Georgia captured the regular season series 2-1 while the Statesmen won all three post season meetings.

The Statesmen: Zack Shannon leads the Statesmen with a .403 batting average and 20 RBI's and his four doubles are tied for the team-lead with Brian Lane and Josh Russell.  Lane is second with 12 RBI's followed by Clay Casey with 11 along with a team-high four home runs. The Statesmen are hitting .288  as a team and rank third in the GSC with 18 home runs and have struck out a GSC low 98 times. The probable weekend rotation is Corey Beard (2-0, 6.04 ERA, 25 Ks, 9 BBs, 21 R, 17 ER, 25.1 IP), Tre Hobbs (2-3, 4.40 ERA, 29 Ks, 7 BBs, 21 R, 14 ER, 28.2 IP) and Seth Birdsong (2-0, 5.55 ERA, 26 Ks, 13 BBS, 16 R, 15 ER, 24.1 IP). Senior Zach Osbon is 4-0 with two saves out of the Statesmen bullpen.  Statesmen hurlers rank fourth in the GSC with 149 strikeouts and have issued the fourth lowest walks (62) in the league.

Scouting UWG: The Wolves enter the weekend hitting. 283 as team with 26 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 94 RBIs. Ben Utley is hitting .403 with six doubles and 14 RBIs. Cade Marlowe leads the team with 15 RBIs and Price Peters is hitting .308 with three home runs.  Greyson McCleod (1-2, 4.81 ERA, 18 Ks, 8 BBs, 17 R, 13 ER, 19.1 IP), Ryan Sapp (1-1, 2.10 ERA, 22 KS, 2 BBs, 6 R, 6 ER, 25.2 IP) and Ryan Parker (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 18 Ks, 3 BBs, 9 R, 8 ER, 20.0 IP) are UWG's probable starting pitchers for the series.

Last Time Out: The Green-and-White split a midweek doubleheader with former GSC member Arkansas Tech.  Arkansas Tech won game one 10-3 while Brian Lane delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give DSU a walk off 4-3 win in the nightcap. Tyler Brown belted his third home run on the season in the bottom of the first to erase a 3-0 deficit. Jason Popovich finished 2-for-2 as the only Statesmen with multiple hits in game two. Zach Osbon (4-0) earned the win in relief of starter John Wesley Ray. Osbon retired all seven batters he faced and combined with Ray to retire 16 of the last 17 batters to close the game.  Ray allowed three runs on two hits with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings in his first start as a Statesmen. 

SCHEDULE CHANGES
Due to the West Georgia series being shifted, Head Coach Mike Kinnison announced additional schedule changes earlier this week.  The Statesmen will play Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena, Miss., on Wed., March 15 at 2 p.m. and the Tues., March 14 game at Arkansas-Monticello  to Tues., April 11 at 3 p.m. in Monticello, Ark.  The home game on April 11 vs. Arkansas-Monticello is changed to Wed., April 19. 

STATESMEN IN THE GSC STATS
Player Rank Category/Stats
Clay Casey T3rd Home Runs - 4
Zack Shannon 5th RBIs - 20
9th Slug % - .645
T9th Batting Avg. - .403
Jason Popovich 6th Hits - 28
Tre Hobbs T3rd Strikeouts - 29
Zach Osbon 4th Saves - 2

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Jason Popovich enters the series on a six-game hitting streak. Zack Shannon has reached base in 12 straight games while Tyler Brown and David Pimentel have reached base in seven straight. 
• Jason Popovich leads the team with nine multi-hit games, including three three-hit games ans six two hit performances. The junior has a .472 average when leading off an inning. 
• Zack Shannon leads the team with five multi-RBI games with a six RBI outing against West Alabama (Game 3).  The Cincinnati, Ohio, native follows Popovich with seven multi-hit games and has two four-hit games to his credit. 

NATIONAL POLLS
Delta State is ranked 18th in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCBWA, and the D2Baseballnews.com NCAA Division II National Polls. The Statesmen jumped to 24th in the NCBWA Media Poll and moved up from 20th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll. Defending champion Nova Southeastern tops all three polls. Tampa is ranked second the CBN poll while Central Missouri is second in the NCBWA poll and Millersville is No. 2 in the D2Baseballnews.com poll.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Statesmen wrap up an eight game home stand against the the Wolves.  Delta State enters the weekend with a 4-2 home record after spending the 12 of its first 13 games on the road. Harvey Stadium-Ferriss field has been a comfort zone through six games as the Statesmen are hitting .341 with five home runs, five doubles and a triple. Zack Shannon (.556) and Jason Popovich (.500) Justin Nussbaum (.353), Brian Lane (.350), Clay Casey (.333) and Nick Morgan (.316)are hitting .300 or better. Seth Birdsong is 1-0 with  a 1.29 ERA and six strikeouts in his lone home start. Zach Osbon is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts (0 walks) in two relief appearances. 

TWO OUT LIGHTNING
Delta State have scored 52-of-115 runs this season with two outs. The Statesmen scored three of its four runs in game two versus Arkasnas Tech on Wednesday with two outs. Nick Morgan has .536 average with two outs and Jason Popovich  is hitting at a .563 (9-of-16) clip with two outs.  The Statesmen are hitting .320 as a team with two outs. Clay Casey and Nussbaum have five two out RBIs followed by Tyler Brown  and Nick Morgan with four.  

DUCKS ON THE POND
The Statesmen are hitting .310 with runners in scoring position. Juwan Burney, Emil Ellis, Zack Shannon and Jason Popovich have been the top hitters with runners in scoring position. Popovich leads with a .444 average (6-for-14) and has six two-out RBIs followed by Burney (.375 / 6-for-16). Shannon has a .391 (9-for-23) average and Ellis is hitting .316 average with RISP. 

QUICK STARTS
The Statesmen are 10-1 when scoring first and 6-2 when scoring in the first inning. The Statesmen have outscored opponents 18-11 in the first inning and 23-14 in the third inning.  Through the first three innings, the Statesmen have outscored opponents 36-18.

THE CLOSE ONES
Delta State is a combined 7-0 in games decided by two runs or less. The Statesmen are 4-0 in one-run games and 3-0 in two-run games.   

K ZONE
The Statesmen pitching staff has registered double digit strikeouts in five games, including a season-high 12 strikeouts versus Lee (2.26). DSU pitchers struck out 11 against Florida Southern (11/2.10) and Union (3.4), and 10 versus Harding (2.5) and Mount Olive (2.11).  Delta State ranks fourth in the GSC with 149 strikeouts and has notched eight-plus strikeouts in 14-of-18  games.  Tre Hobbs leads the team with 29 strikeouts (T3rd GSC) followed by  Seth Birdsong with 26 and Corey Beard with 25.

COACH K, BASEBALL STYLE 
In his 20 seasons at the helm of the Statesmen, Mike Kinnison has posted 12 40-plus wins, including five 50 win seasons, and has averaged 42.6 wins per season. Kinnison has guided the Statesmen to one national, six GSC and five south/south central region titles during his tenure. 

KINNISON 40 PLUS WIN SEASONS
2016 42-17 2004 54-11
2013 44-11-1 2003 52-10
2012 49-15 2002 50-8
2008 48-1 2001 50-11
2007 45-16 2000 48-12
2005 52-10 1999 41-12

INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS
The Statesmen lineup includes many interchangeable parts.  Junior Josh Russell has seen time behind the plate, played third and left field. Sophomore Juwan Burney played third and left field and has been the designated hitter. Brian Lane has starts at catcher and designated hitter and Jamell Newson has played in left field and center field while Zack Shannon has played first base and and relieved on the mound. Nick Morgan, who is a shortstop by trade, has drawn starts at second and third base.  

CLOSING TIMEThe Green-and-White have been solid with the lead beyond the sixth inning. Delta State is 9-0 when leading after six innings, 7-0 when leading after seven and 6-0 when leading after the eighth innings.  Senior Zach Osbon is tied for second in GSC with two saves and ranks in the top 10 with a 2-0 record. The Monroe, La., native has a 0.82 ERA with 12 strikeouts to six walks in six relief outings.  Junior Zach Shannon has emerged out of the bullpen with four strikeouts in two innings in two appearances. Shannon has allowed one unearned run on two hits and opponents are hitting .200 against. 

ACADEMIC  PROPS: Working hard in the classroom is a staple of Delta State Baseball and Athletics and the 2016 fall semester was no exception. Twenty-nine-of-36 Statesmen on the 2017 roster achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher during the semester. Overall, 216 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 GPA or better during the 2016 fall semester.