LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 3 seed Delta State University (42-11) baseball season came to an end with a 3-2 loss to Mississippi College (36-16) in an elimination game of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament on Tuesday at Tigertown.
Mississippi College scored two runs in the seventh to break a 4-4 tie and added an insurance run in the eighth to build the lead to 7-4.
The Statesmen finished the season with a 42-11 overall and won the 2018 Gulf South Conference regular season title with a 23-5 record.
Score: Mississippi College 7 | #1/10 Delta State 4
Start: 4:30 p.m.|
TOG: 2:36
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Tigertown
Records: Statesmen 42-11 | Choctaws 36-16
Series: The Statesmen lead the series 122-44-2 and are 9-6 under
Mike Kinnison
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Mississippi College took a 3-0 lead in the third. Hunter Sykes singled with one out and Kyle Smith walked before scoring on a two-base throwing error off the bat of Kyle Smith. Smith would score on a Blaine Crim sac-fly to left field.
- The Green-and-White tied the game in the fifth. Justin Nussbaum and Jason Popovich walked and Emil Ellis was hit by a pitch. Nussbaum scored on a double play groundout and Zack Shannon launched a two-run home run to tie the game 3-3.
- MC took a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Billy Cameron was hit by a pitch and Hunter Wilson singled to start the inning. Luke Yancey bunted Cameron and Wilson to second and third before Cameron score don a Brandon Broussard sac-fly.
- The Green-and-White pushed a run across to tie the game 4-4 in the top of the seventh. Popovich doubled and after Ellis moved him to third scored on a Lane single up the middle past the drawn-in MC infield.
- Mississippi College regained a 6-4 lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Billy Cameron singled to left to score Smith and Grant Barber with two outs.
- A Trey Pittman singled to right scored Broussard in the eighth stretch the Choctaws' lead to 7-4 heading into the ninth.
ON THE MOUND
- Statesmen starter Seth Birdsong (9-1) gave up five runs on six hits with strikeouts and a walk to take the loss.
- Shelby Craddock (3-0) was the winning pitcher for MC, yielding one run on three hits over 2.1 innings.
- MC reliever Ryan Lane (7) threw 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and a walk for the save.
NOTABLES
- This was the sixth meeting between the Statesmen and the Choctaws with the season series finishing tied 3-3.
- Shannon had a home run and two RBIs to push his season total to 31 home runs and 93 RBIs both DSU single-season records. Dee Haynes held both records coming with 26 home runs and 92 RBIs in 1999.
- Shannon wraps up his Statesmen career with 50 career home runs which rank second behind Dee Hayne's 69 and his 181 RBIs stand alone in sixth on the career RBIs list.
- Burney finished 2-for-4 to lead the Statesmen at the plate.
- The Statesmen posted 42 wins this season for the 14th 40-plus win season under Head Coach Mike Kinnison.
