Complete Week 6 Notes
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 1/2 Delta State University (14-1, 6-0 GSC) hits the road for an important Gulf South Conference series against the University of West Georgia (14-3, 4-2 GSC) this weekend. The series begins with a Friday doubleheader at 12 p.m. (CT) and wrapping up with a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT).
West Georgia rebounded from a 5-2 loss in game one to win 8-4 and 14-4 in last year's regular-season series in Cleveland, Miss., and have won the last two regular-season series.
Last Weekend: Best Start Since: Delta State's 14-1 start is the best start under Head Coach Mike Kinnison and the fastest start since 1996 when the Statesmen started the year 26-1 under the late Coach Bill Marchant. Delta State went to on finish 53-8 overall and 15-1 in the GSC. The Green-and-White had a pair of 13-2 starts in 2005 and 2013.
Last Series: The Green-and-White swept a three-game GSC series from new league member Auburn University at Montgomery by the scores of 16-6 (7) and 5-3 on Saturday before pulling out a 10-4 win on Sunday. Delta held off a late rally in game two on Saturday that saw freshman
Hunter Riggins end a bases loaded threat in the seventh to earn his first career save and help DSU sweep the doubleheader. Zach Shannon hit .545 (5-for-11) with a double, three home runs, five runs scored and nine RBIs in the series. Lane hit .500 with a double and four RBIs followed by Emil Ellis with a .400 average with a double, a home run and four RBIs.
About The Wolves: West Georgia is two games behind the Statesmen in the early GSC standings with a 4-2 record but have won three straight games to stand two games behind the Statesmen in the GSC Standings. The Wolves swept a GSC series from Christian Brothers last weekend by the scores of 17-2, 19-0, and 2-1. Seven players are sporting a .300 average or better for UWG. Cade Marlow leads the team with a .454 average and 26 RBIs while Ben Utley has a .362 average. Chris Michaels is hitting. 344 and with a team-best three home runs and is tied with Price Peters and Logan Taylor with seven doubles. Wes Bucher is 5-0 in six games, two starts, with a .180 ERA and 25 strikeouts to seven walks in 30 innings of work. Ryan Parker is 3-1 in five starts with a 3.16 ERA,17 strikeouts to five walks in 25.2 innings while Andres Fernandez is 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA, 35 strikeouts to five walks in 25.1 innings.
GSC Numbers: Delta State leads the GSC in home runs (21) and slugging percentage (.489) and ranks second at-bats (138), RBIs (122) and total bases (276) along with the second-fewest strikeouts in the league. The Statesmen are third in batting average (.317), hits (179), hit by a pitch (32) and on-base percentage (.410) and fourth in doubles (30).
Individual GSC Numbers: Zack Shannon leads the GSC in home runs (10), runs scored (22), and RBIs (29)and ranks third in hits (28) and triples (1). Shannon also ranks fourth in doubles (6) and batting average (.444). Brian Lane is first in the GSC in hit by a pitch (9), third in hits (25) and sixth in runs scored (17) and RBIs (19). Jason Popovich is tied for fifth with 69 at-bats and Clay Casey is sixth in home runs with three.
76th Season: Delta State is playing its 76th season of baseball and has a 1,984-953-11 all-time record. The Statesmen are ranked seventh in NCAA Division II in wins with a 309-123-2 record since 2000.
GSC Numbers: The Green-and-White enter the series with the Wolves with an all-time 599-217-1 conference record that includes 14 GSCTournament championships, 21 GSC regular season and 11 GSC West Division titles. Delta State has won seven GSC Tournament crowns under Head Coach Mike Kinnison.
Schedule Changes: The Statesmen were scheduled to host Southern Arkansas University on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Due to heavy rains in the Cleveland area, the game will be made up as part of a 2 p.m. doubleheader at SAU in Magnolia, Ark.
SHANNON MOVING UP . Zack Shannon belted three home runs in the series against Auburn-Montgomery to move into a tie for fifth with 29 career home runs. The Cincinnati, Ohio., native is tied with John Edwards (1980-83) and Jason Cochran (1998-99) and needs seven home runs to move into fourth on the all-time list.
BLAZING HOT Delta State is hitting .325 with 25 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs and 95 runs scored over the last 10 games. Zack Shannon and Brian Lane have been the hottest Statesmen over the stretch. Shannon is batting .525 (21-for-40) with 16 runs scored, five doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 22 RBIs. Lane has .459 average with four doubles a home run, 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored and one stolen.
NATIONAL NUMBERS A look into the this week's national numbers has the Statesmen ranked in the top 20 in four team categories. The Statesmen are 13th in scoring (9.2 r/gm),16th in home runs (21), 19th in runs scored (138) and sixth hit by a pitch (32).
- Zack Shannon leads the NCAA in home runs (10), RBIs (29), and total bases (66) while ranking 10th in slugging percentage (1.044), fifth in home runs per game (0.67), 20th in runs (22), 15th in RBI per game (1.93) and 32nd in runs per game (1.47).
- Brian Lane is fifth in the country and second in the GSC in hit by a pitch (9).
- Peyton White is 15th in the NCAA with three saves.
- Hayden Davey and Tyler Walton are tied for 26th with three wins.
- Tyler Walton is fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (14.00).
DOUBLE DIGIT HITS The Statesmen have recorded double-digit hits in 11-of-15 games this season with a season-high 21 against Nova Southeastern (2.3). Delta State had 13 hits in game one and 11 hits in game three of the Auburn-Montgomery series.
DOUBLE FIGURE RUNS The Statesmen are averaging 9.2 runs per game and have plated double-digit runs in eight-of-15 games and eight or more runs in 12-of-15 games. Delta State scored a season-high 21 runs against Nova Southeastern (2.3) and the 16-6 win over Auburn-Montgomery (3.3) was the second most runs scored this season.
K ZONE Statesmen pitchers have recorded eight-plus strikeouts in 10-of-15 games, posting a season-high 15 against Nebraksa-Kearney (2.10.18). DSU Pitchers have combined for double-digit strikeouts four times against Nova Southeastern (13), Nebraska-Kearney (15), Quincy University (11) and Valdosta State (10-GM1). Hayden Davey is tied for 10th in the GSC (74th/NCAA) with 27 strikeouts through five starts with a season-high eight against Quincy University (2.16.18). Seth Birdsong's 22 strikeouts are tied for 14th.
TOUGHEST TO K: The Statesmen are second in the GSC in fewest strikeouts with 83, striking out once every 6.7 at-bats. Brian Lane is third in the GSC in toughest to strikeout (20.3 / 77th NCAA) while Emil Ellis is fifth (18.3) and Zack Shannon is eighth (12.6).
OUT OF THE PEN: Senior Peyton White has registered a win and is tied for second in the GSC with three saves out of the bullpen in five appearances. White closed games against Palm Beach Atlantic (2.4), Ouachita Baptist (2.9) and Quincy University (2.18) and picked up the win in game one of the Valdosta State series.
MISCELLANEOUS NUMBERS
- The Statesmen are hitting .335 with two outs and have 43 two-out RBIs. Brian Lane has a .423 average (11-for-26) and has six two-out RBIs. Jason Popovich is 7-for-16 (.438) with two outs and has four two-out RBIs. Clay Casey has five two-out RBIs and Emil Ellis has four.
- DSU is hitting .394 with the bases loaded (13-for-33) and has two grand slams this season, Justin Nussbuam (vs. Nova Southeastern) and Brian Lane (vs. Palm Beach Atlantic).
- The Statesmen have outscored opponents 70-26 in innings 4-7 and 17-9 in the ninth inning.
- The Statesmen are 5-0 in games decided by two runs or less and 12-0 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
- The Statesmen are 11-0 when leading after six innings.
- Brian Lane and Zack Shannon are tied for the team lead with 10 multi-hit games. Shannon has four three-hit games and one four-hit game. Lane has nine two-hit games and one four-hit game. Emil Ellis follows with eight while Jason Popovich and Justin Nussbaum each have six multi-hit games.
- Zack Shannon has recorded eight multi-RBI games, including three, three RBI games and two five-plus RBIs games. Clay has six multi-RBI games with two three-RBI performances.
- Brian Lane enters the West Georgia series reaching base in 15 straight games while Zack Shannon has reached base safely in 14-straight games.
- The Statesmen have hit a GSC leading 21 home runs. Eight have been solo home runs and three have come with two or more runners aboard. Eight home runs have come with the game tied or the Statesmen trailing.
- The Statesmen belted a season-high four home runs against Nebraska-Kearney (2.10) and Mississippi Valley State (2.20).
