CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 5/3 Delta State University (35-10, 24-7 GSC) travels to Mississippi College (19-23, 14-15 GSC) for a three-game series starting with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m. and finishing with a doubleheader on Saturday at 3 p.m.
GSC Tournament Outlook: Delta State needs to win one game to clinch the top seed and host for the 2017 GSC Baseball Tournament on May 6-9. North Alabama need to get swep by Valdosta State and the Statesmen would have to be swept by Mississippi College for the tournament to be hosted in Florence, Ala. The Statesmen last hosted the GSC Tournament in 2010.
Region Rankings: The Statesmen are first in the first week of the NCAA South Region rankings released by the NCAA Division II Baseball committee on Wednesday. Tamp is second followed by Florida Southern, Nova Southeastern, North Alabama, West Alabama, Union, Valdosta State and Florida Tech.
Getting Offensive: Delta State leads the GSC in 14 categories, including average (.323), at bats (1,543), runs (362), runs per game (8.2), hits (498), RBIs (325), total bases (736), slugging percentage (.477), hit by pitch (95), fewest strikeouts (208) and on base percentage (.413). The Statesmen are second in doubles (88) and home runs (44). The Statesmen lead the GSC and are sixth nationally in double plays turned (43) and 11th in double plays turned per game (0.98).
Strength of Schedule: Delta State has the eighth ranked strength of schedule in the country and second strongest among South region teams. Tarleton State (Lone Star), St. Mary's (TX) (Heartland), Fresno Pacific (Pacific West), Missouri A&T (GLVC), Seton Hall (PSAC), Flagler (PBC), Nova Southeastern (SSC), Delta State (GSC), LIU Post (ECC) and Missouri Western State (MIAA) make up top 10.
Toughest to K: Delta State has struck out 208 times in 1,543 (7.4) at bats, the fewest in the GSC.
Brian Lane is at the top of the GSC and ranks 12th nationally as the toughest to strikeout with eight strikeouts in 170 at bats (20.6).
Jason Popovich is fourth in the GSC with 15 strikeouts in 195 at bats (13.6) while
Zack Shannon is seventh in the GSC with 18 strikeouts in 167 at bats (10.1).
1-2 Punch: Zack Shannon and
Clay Casey have made things tough for on opposing pitchers in heart of the Statesmen order. Shannon leads NCAA in average (.461) and RBIs (71) and leads the GSC in five other categories including: home runs (13/24th NCAA), hits (77), slugging percentage (.772) total bases (129), and on base percentage (.520). Shannon is hitting .552 (37-for-67) with runners in scoring position and .875 (7-for-8) with the bases loaded. Casey is tied with Shannon for first in GSC with 13 home runs and is tied for fifth in doubles (13), RBIs (50), and slugging percentage (.669). The Melbourne, Fla., native is batting .349 with a .441 (26-of-59) with runners in scoring position.
LACK AND BLUE
The Green-and-White have been hit by pitch 95 times, which leads the GSC and NCAA. The Statesmen were plunked four times in midweek games against Mississippi Valley and Arkansas Monticello this week.
Clay Casey is second in the GSC with 15 HBP while
Brian Lane third with 14.
GOING DEEP
The Statesmen have hit nine home runs in five games last week to and ranks second in the GSC with 44. The Statesmen hit a season-high four home runs against Mississippi Valley State (4.18) and added three more against Arkansas-Monticello (4.19).
Clay Casey, who has three home runs this week, and
Zack Shannon are tied for GSC lead with 13. Shannon has the lone walk off home run this season, belting a two-run blast in a 10-8 win over Union (3.4) in 10 innings. Shorter leads the GSC with 45 while Catawba and Lynn lead nationally with 80.
DOUBLE DIGIT HITS/RUNS
The Statesmen have registered double digit hits 26 times and in five straight games. DSU posted 18 hits against Mississippi Valley State (4.18) and 13 against Arkansas-Monticello (4.19). The 18 hits against MVSU fell one shy of the season-high 19 against Christian Brothers (4.1). The Green-and-White has posted 15-plus hits 10 times. Delta State has tallied double figure runs 14 times and eight-plus runs 22 times. The Statesmen scored a season-high 22 runs vs. CBU (4.1) and lead the GSC with 8.3 runs per game.
TWO OUT LIGHTNING
Delta State has scored 130 of its GSC leading 362 runs with two outs. The Statesmen are hitting .327 with two outs and have 113 two-out RBIs.
Clay Casey leads the Statesmen with 21 two out RBIs followed
Zack Shannon (15) and
Justin Nussbaum (11).
DUCKS ON THE POND
The Statesmen are hitting .364 with runners in scoring position.
Zack Shannon,
Clay Casey,
Emil Ellis,
Juwan Burney,
Jason Popovich and
Nick Morgan and have been the top hitters with runners in scoring position. Shannon is hitting .552 (37-for-67) followed by Casey (.441), Ellis (.372), Popovich (.353), Morgan (.333) and Burney (.350).
Dakota Glore has a .583 (7-for-12) average as a pinch hitter with runners in scoring position.
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 struck out 11 against Florida Southern (2.10) and Union (3.4), and 10 versus Harding (2.5) and Mount Olive (2.11). Delta State hurlers have notched seven-plus strikeouts in 29-of-45 games.
EXTRA BASE KNOCKS
The Green-and-White's 141 extra base hits (81 2B, 9 3B, 44 HR) are tied for second in the GSC with Union (86, 11, 44), trailing West Alabama's 149 (92, 20, 37). North Alabama (113) is third followed by Lee (121), Shorter (106) and Valdsota State (105).
R STATESMEN IN EXTRA INNINGS
The Statesmen are 3-2 in extra inning games following a 6-5 win in nine innings over Shorter University (4.1). Delta State opened the season with a 9-7 win over Harding in 11 innings and beat Union University 10-8 on a
Zack Shannon walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th. The Green-and-White dropped a heart-breaking 3-2 decision in 11 innings at then No. 11 Southern Arkansas (3.28) and a 4-3 loss to Valdosta State (.4.24).
TIGHT ONES
Delta State is a combined 11-1 in games decided by two runs or less. The Statesmen are 6-1 in one-run games and 5-0 in two-run games.
CLOSING TIME
Delta State is 26-1 when leading after six innings, 19-1 leading after seven and 20-1 when leading eight innings.
Zach Osbon is third in the GSC with six saves and is tied for third with six wins out of the Statesmen bullpen. Osbon needs one save to move into the top four on the school's single season saves list.
QUICK STARTS
The Statesmen are 21-3 when scoring first and 19-4 when scoring in the first inning. The Statesmen have outscored opponents 55-28 in the first inning and 60-34 in the second inning. Through the first three innings, the Statesmen have outscored opponents 157-94.
