Complete Week 8 Notes
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 1/2
Delta State University (19-4, 10-1 GSC) looks to snap a two-game losing skid when it hosts Shorter University (11-15, 3-9 GSC) for a three-game Gulf South Conference series this weekend at Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field. The series begins with a 2 p.m. doubleheader and concludes with a single game on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Statesmen enter the series ranked first in the latest Collegiate Baseball News Top 30 and second in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25. Delta State is home for the next two GSC series after spending 16 of the first 23 games and seven of the last eight games on the road.
GAME DAY TICKETS: Tickets for doubleheaders are $8 and single games are $5 for all areas of Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field. Admission will be charged for entrance into left field for the remainder of the season.
Another GSC Honor: Zack Shannon was named Gulf South Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week and third overall this season announced by the league office on Tuesday. Shannon led the Statesmen to a 3-0 week, including a doubleheader sweep of West Alabama
and a 15-0 win over Harding University. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native hit .800 going 8-for-10 with four home runs, a triple and 11 RBI while slugging 2.200 with a .568 on-base percentage. This season, Shannon leads all NCAA and NAIA divisions with 18 home runs and 51 RBIs through 23 games while hitting .468 with six doubles and 39 runs scored with a 1.229 slugging percentage and a .566 on-base percentage. The senior enters the weekend having reached base safely in 22 straight games and 74-of-81 career games.
About The Hawks: Shorter enters the weekend coming off a 7-5 win over Emmanuel College and losing 2-of-3 games to state rival West Georgia last weekend.
Smyr Santos leads SU with a .345 average with six doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBIs and Isaiah Meddela has five doubles, five home runs and 21 RBIs. Shorter has a .242 team average with 21 home runs while striking out 197 times in 786 at bats.
Banks Woodley (3-2, 2.22 ERA, 36 Ks, 14 BB, 44.2 IP),
Jacob Ramos (1-6, 7 GS, 32 Ks, 13 BB, 35 IP) and
Victor Santana (2-2, 2 SV, 5.31 ERA, 20 Ks, 12 BB, 10 G, 1 GS) were the starters on the mound for the Hawks' last series against West Georgia.
NCAA Numbers: Delta State is fourth nationally in runs per game (9.6) and fifth in batting average (.322).
Zack Shannon ranks first or second in six offensive categories, leading the country in home runs (18), home runs per game (0.81), RBIs (51), slugging percentage (1.160), and total bases (109) and ranks second in runs scored per game (1.71) and fifth in runs scored (39).
Brian Lane is 12th in hit by pitch.
GSC Numbers: Delta State ranks in the top 5 in 12 GSC categories, leading in home runs (35) and slugging percentage (.502). The Statesmen are second in runs (215) and fewest strikeouts (122) and third in RBIs (194), total bases (422), hit by pitch (43) and hits (270). DSU is fourth in batting average (.321), at bats (841), on-base percentage (.411) and fifth in doubles (41). Statesmen pitchers are sixth with 188 batters.
Individual GSC Numbers: Zack Shannon leads the GSC in six offensive categories, including batting average (.468), home runs (18), RBIs (51), hits (44), runs scored (39), and slugging percentage (1.160) and second in on base percentage (.536).
Emil Ellis is seventh in batting average (.398) while
Brian Lane leads the GSC in hit by a pitch (12) and ranks sixth in hits (34) and RBIs (27).
Clay Casey is tied for seventh in home runs (5) and
Jason Popovich is tied for fifth with 101 at bats.
Statesmen in the GSC: The Green-and-White enter the series with the Hawks with an all-time 603-218-1 conference record that includes 14 GSC Tournament championships, 21 GSC regular season and 11 GSC West Division titles. Delta State has won seven GSC Tournament crowns under Head Coach
Mike Kinnison.
So Far This Week: Delta State dropped a pair of midweek games at No. 30 Arkansas-Monticello, 17-9, on Tuesday and a 6-5 loss in extra innings at Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday. The Statesmen had 26 runners on base by a combination of 13 walks, six hit by a pitch and eight hits going 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and leaving 15 runners on base overall against UAM. The Statesmen let a 5-0 lead slip away against MVSU, giving up an RBI double to Wendell Reives in the 10th inning.
STATESMEN AT FERRISS FIELD: The Statesmen are 5-0 this season and 985-284-4 all-time in the friendly confines of Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field. The Statesmen are hitting .438 with 12 home runs, 11 doubles and have outscored opponents 56-18 at home this year. Four Statesmen are batting .300 or better with Zack Shannon hitting at a. 632 clip with seven home runs and 21 RBIs while slugging 1.842 with a .619 on base percentage. Brian Lane follows with a .600 average, and a .682 on base percentage and seven RBIs. Emil Ellis is hitting .444 with one home run and four RBIs along with a .667 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. Jason Popovich is hitting .353 with a nine RBIs, one double and a home run. On the mound, the Statesmen own a 3.23 ERA and opponents are hitting .218 against.
SHANNON MOVING ON UP: Zack Shannon 18 home runs tie him for fifth with Mike Plumlee (1992) and Mike Moore (1984) on the single-season home runs list and has also moved into a tie for fourth with Devin Goodwin (2006-09) with 37 career home runs. Shannon has homered in 10 of the last 12 games including a stretch of eight straight games before Tuesday's Mississippi Valley State game. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has hit long balls in 14-of-23 games and has four games with two home runs.
DIGGIN' THE LONG BALL: In 313 career at bats, Zack Shannon has 37 home runs. That's a home run for every 8.45 at bats. DSU's career home run leader, Dee Haynes (1998-2000) had 69 home runs in 636 career at-bats, homering every 9.26 at-bats.
DOUBLE DIGIT STRIKEOUTS: The Statesmen pitchers have combined for double-digit strikeouts in two straight games, recording 11 strikeouts against Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday and 12 against Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday. Seth Hougusen notched a career-high eight strikeouts in five innings of work against MVSU (3.21) and Dalton Minton had a career-high eight strikeouts in game two at West Alabama (3.17). This season, the Green-and-White has tallied double-figure strikeouts six times with a season-high 15 against Nebraska-Kearney and has at least eight strikeouts in 14-of-23 games.
TOUGHEST TO K: Emil Ellis, Brian Lane and Jason Popovich are among the GSC's top 10 as the toughest to strikeout. Ellis is second in the league and 24th in the nation, striking out once in every 19.0 at bats. Lane is fourth in the GSC and 34th in the NCAA at once in every 17.9 at bats and Popovich is ninth (101st NCAA) with a strikeout every 11.9 at bats.
DOUBLE DIGIT HITS & RUNS: The Statesmen have scored double-figure hits and run 15 times in 2018. The Statesmen had a season-high 21 hits and 21 runs against Nova Southeastern (2.3). DSU has scored double-figure runs in six of the last 10 games and has double-digit hits in seven of the last 10 games.
MISCELLANEOUS NUMBERS
- EXTRA INNINGS: The Statesmen are 2-1 in extra innings with wins over Nebraska-Kearny (2.10) and Valdosta State (2.24). DSU dropped a 6-5 decision in 10 innings this week to Mississippi Valley State.
- TWO OUTS: The Statesmen are hitting .324 with two outs and have 69 RBIs and nine home runs in 278 at bats with two outs. Zack Shannon sports a .515 (17-for-33) average with 20 RBIs and Josh Russell is hitting.476 (10-for-21) with two outs.
- LOAD 'EM UP: DSU is hitting .363 (18-for-51) but is 0-for their last 11 with the bases loaded. The Statesmen have four grand slams: Justin Nussbuam (vs. Nova Southeastern), Brian Lane (vs. Palm Beach Atlantic), Clay Casey (at West Georgia) and Jason Popovich (vs. Harding).
- SCORING: The Statesmen have outscored opponents 215-123 this season and 130-71 in innings 3-7. DSU is 6-2 in games decided by two runs or less and 16-2 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
- The Statesmen are 16-2 when leading after six innings and 9-2 when clubbing multiple home runs.
- Zack Shannon leads the team with 15 multi-hit games that include seven three-hit games. Brian Lane has 12 multi-hit games followed by Emil Ellis with 11 and Jason Popovich with 10.
- Zack Shannon has recorded 14 multi-RBI games, including nine games three-plus RBIs along with a seven-RBI outing against Harding.
- Brian Lane enters the West Georgia series reaching base in 23 straight games
- Zack Shannon has a streak of 22 straight games along a 16-game hitting streak. Shannon has reached base safely in 74-of-81 career games to date as a Statesmen.
- OFF THE BENCH: Payton Lane 2-for-3 for a .667 average while David Herrington has a.333 (2-for-6) as a pinch hitter. Tyler Brown and Juwan Burney are 1-for-2 off the pine.
- BROWN GETS FIRST START: Tyler Brown made his first start in left field against Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday. Brown went 1-for-2 and had an RBI on a bases loaded walk in the first inning.
GOOD TO BE HOME: Delta State is finally home for the next two GSC series after spending 16 of the first 23 games and seven of the last eight games on the road. The Green-and-White logged 2,120 miles on the Florida swing to open the season on Feb. 2-4 at Lynn University in Ft. Boca Raton, Fla., Nova Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Palm Beach Atlantic in Jupiter, Fla. Delta State added 410 miles for a trip to Arkadelphia, Ark., for games against Ouachita Baptist, and Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 9-10. Add 1,036.8 miles for an unexpected trip to Quincy University for games against Southern Indiana and Quincy along with a three-game series at Valdosta State on Feb. 24-25 and West Georgia on March 9-10. The Statesmen traveled 3,887 miles over the first 11 games and will log 8,141 round-trip miles on the road in 2018.
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