Complete Week 10 Notes
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 5/8
Delta State University (25-6, 14-3 GSC) hits the road for a three-game Gulf South Conference series against
Union University (11-23, 6-12 GSC) starting with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Fesmire Field in Jackson, Tenn. The series concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Statesmen enter the series as winners of their last five games.
Nationally Speaking: 8th Runs/GM (9.2);
10th Home Runs (47);
6th Home Runs/GM (1/57),
13th Runs (306);
12th Slugging Percentage (.524);
22nd Hits (324);
Zack Shannon leads all levels of the NCAA and NAIA in home runs (21), home runs per game (.70) RBIs (61), and runs scored (52) and leads Division II in slugging percentage (1.032), RBIs per game (1.98) and home runs per game (0.70). Shannon also ranks third in runs per game (1.60), 16th in average (.421) and 19th in hits (53).
Brian Lane is fifth in the NCAA in hit by a pitch (16) and
Nick Morgan is 25th in the NCAA in sac flies (5).
GSC Team Numbers: Delta State ranks in the GSC's top five in 15 categories, leading in home runs (50), home runs per game (1.57), batting average (.330), hits (324), slugging percentage (.524), RBIs (273), runs scored (306), runs per game (9.2), total bases (594) and fewest strikeouts (153). The Statesmen are second in on base percentage (.422) and sac-flies (21). DSU is third in hit by pitch (60) and at bats 1134, fourth in fielding percentage (.965) and fifth in doubles (58).
Scouting Union: The Bulldogs dropped a conference series at Mississippi College, claiming game one 11-6 before falling 3-2 and 11-5 to close the series. Union fell 6-3 to visiting Henderson State on Wednesday and has lost three straight games coming into this weekend's series. Shortstop
Chase Diggs leads the team with a .339 average and 32 runs scored.
David Robins has a .307 average along with a team-high 13 doubles and 18 RBIs. Robins is tied for second with Hayden Lewis with 18 RBIs while Lewis has five triples.
Nolen Milton leads the team with four home runs and 24 RBIs and is second with 10 doubles and third with a .308 average. Union is hitting .265 with 17 home runs, 53 doubles, 16 triples and has stolen 19-of-21 bases as a team. Probable rotation (based on last series):
JR Miller (4.71 ERA, 36 Ks, 24 BB, 33 R, 26 ER, 49.2, 8 GS);
Marty Coursey (6.23 ERA, 20 Ks, 6 BB, 53 H, 44 R, 29 ER, 34.2, 4 GS, 10 App., 4 GS);
Scott Shearer (6.08 ERA, 27 Ks, 18 BB, 64 H, 44 R, 36 ER, 53.1, 9 GS, 12 app.);
Skylar Harrison has made 11 appearances, eight starts with a 2-5 record, a save, a 6.23 ERA, 27 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Midweek Recap: Nick Morgan,
Emil Ellis and
Justin Nussbaum drove in three runs apiece to lead No. 5/8 Delta State to a 19-9 win over No. 19/17 Arkansas-Monticello (23-9, 17-4 GAC) on Tuesday at Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field. The Statesmen trailed 9-8 before scoring the 11 unanswered to end the game in the seventh inning under the NCAA Mercy Rule.
Hunter Riggins (1-1) picked up the win, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit with a strikeout. Nussbaum went 3-for-5 with three RBs. Morgan, Shannon, Mejeur and Russell each had two hits. Majeur went 2-for-5, recording his first two career RBIs.
Records Watch: Zack Shannon's 21 home runs are tied with
Dee Haynes (1998) for third on the single-season home runs list and is also tied for third with
Craig Newton (2002-04) with 40 career home runs. Shannon is five big flies away from tying Haynes for the single-season home runs record of 26 (1999). Shannon needs three RBIs to tie
Eli Whiteside (152/1999-2001) for 12th on the school's career RBIs list.
Clay Casey's 26 career round-trippers are tied with
Sonny Clay (1973-76) for eighth on the all-time list.
Bash Brothers: Zack Shannon and
Clay Casey have been a feared one-two punch in the middle of the DSU lineup. Shannon has 40 home runs, hitting a round tripper every 8.5 at bats for his career and is homering every 5.8 at bats this season. 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. Shannon and Casey have homered in the same game five times this season the Statesmen are 5-0 in those games. The Statesmen are 14-2 when Shannon clubs a home run. Shannon has five multiple home run games this season and six for his career, yielding a 6-0 mark.
INDIVIDUAL GSC STATS
Zack Shannon leads the GSC in eight offensive categories, including average (.421), home runs (21), RBIs (61), RBIs per game (2.0), home runs per game (0.70), runs scored (52), slugging percentage (1.032), and runs per game (1.60). Shannon is second in hits (53), fourth in on base percentage (.490), tied for fourth in doubles (10), and tied for fifth in triples (5).
Clay Casey and
Brian Lane are tied for fourth in home runs (9). Lane leads the GSC in hit by a pitch (16) while ranking second in runs (4), fourth in RBIs (40) and sixth in hits (47).
Nick Morgan is tied for third in sac-flies (5) and
Jason Popovich is third with three. Casey is tied for fourth with Shannon in doubles (10) and is eight in RBIs (33). Popovich is fifth in at bats (132) and seventh in runs scored (34).
Seth Birdsong is tied for first in wins (6) and second in games started (9).
Dalton Minton is tied for fourth in wins (4).
SWING AND DRIVE!
The Green-and-White have belted 47 home runs this season which leads the GSC and ranks 10th in the NCAA. The Statesmen have hit 10 home runs with two outs, 10 home runs with a two-strike count and 10 have come when behind in the count.
Zack Shannon leads all division of NCAA and NAIA in home runs (21) and home runs per game (0.70). Shannon has hit six home runs with two outs, five have come with two strikes and seven have come in the sixth inning or later. Shannon has homered in 16-of-31 games in 2018 and 34-of-88 career games, while
Clay Casey has home runs in 23-of-88 career games and 7-of-31 games this season.
- If Shannon hits one more home run, he would break the Ole Miss single-season record of 21 (by Jason Huisman, 1998; Brian Pettway, 2005)
- If Shannon hits three more home runs, he would break the Southern Miss single-season record of 23 (Jeff Cook, 2003; Clint King, 2003, Fred Cooley, 1989; Bill Selby, 1992)
- If Shannon hits nine more home runs, he would break the Mississippi State single-season record of 29 (Rafael Palmeiro, 1984 & Bruce Castoria (1981).
TOUGHEST TO K
Brian Lane,
Emil Ellis,
Jason Popovich and
Josh Russell are among the GSC's top hitters as the toughest to strikeout. Lane is third in the GSC and 24th in the nation striking out one every 16.7 at bats while Ellis is fourth (57th/NCAA) striking out once every 13.3 at bats. Popovich is sixth in the GSC (111/NCAA) striking out one in every 12.7 and Russell is 10th (11.6).
DOUBLE DIGIT HITS & RUNS
The Statesmen have scored double-figure hits21 times and double-figure runs 15 times in 2018. The Statesmen had 21 hits against Nova Southeastern (2.3) and Southern Arkansas (3.27). DSU plated a season-high 26 runs at Southern Arkansas (3.27) and scored 21 runs against Nova Southeastern (2.3). Delta State has tallied double-figure hits and runs the last two games and has double-figure hits in four of its last five contests.
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 to Mississippi Valley State (3.21).
- TWO OUTS: The Statesmen are hitting .323 with two outs and have 94 two-out RBIs and 10 home runs in 362 at bats with two outs. Josh Russell is hitting.455 (15-for-33) with two outs and Zack Shannon sports a .442 (19-for-43) average with 22 RBIs.
- LOAD 'EM UP: DSU is hitting .361 (22-for-51) and 2 for their last four with the bases loaded. T he Statesmen have five grand slams: Justin Nussbuam (vs. Nova Southeastern), Brian Lane (vs. Palm Beach Atlantic), Clay Casey (at West Georgia), Jason Popovich (vs. Harding) and Jamell Newson (at Southern Arkansas).
- RISP: The Green-and-White owns a .356 average with runners in scoring position. Zack Shannon has a .444 average (20-for-45) followed Emil Ellis with a .417 average (15-of-36) and Brian Lane with a .408 average (20-for-49).
- SCORING: The Statesmen have outscored opponents 294-157 this season and 186-92 in innings 3-7. The Statesmen have outscored opponents 32-11 in the fifth inning.
- DSU is 7-2 in games decided by two runs or less and 16-3 in games decided by five-plus runs.
- The Statesmen are 22-2 when leading after six innings and 13-3 when clubbing multiple home runs.
- Zack Shannon leads the team with 18 multi-hit games that include seven three-hit games. Brian Lane has 15 multi-hit games followed by Emil Ellis with 13 and Clay Casey and Jason Popovich with 12.
- Zack Shannon has recorded 16 multi-RBI games, including nine games with three-plus RBIs and a seven-RBI outing against Harding.
- Zack Shannon has reached base safely in 79-of-88 career games.
- OFF THE BENCH: Payton Lane is 3-for-4 for a .750 average while David Herrington has a .429 (3-for-7) with a home run as a pinch hitter. Tyler Brown and Juwan Burney are 1-for-2 off the pine.
- STREAKING STATESMEN: Clay Casey has reached safely in 14 straight games entering the Union series. Brian Lane, Nick Morgan, Clay Casey, Justin Nussbaum, Josh Russell, David Herrington and Juwan Burney have a five-game hitting streak coming into the weekend.
COACH K, BASEBALL STYLE
In his 21 seasons at the helm of the Statesmen,
Mike Kinnison has posted 13 40-plus win seasons, including five 50 win campaigns, and has averaged 42.6 wins per season. Kinnison has guided the Statesmen to one national, seven GSC and five south/south central region titles during his tenure.
