GAME NOTES - Delta State vs. Southern Arkansas, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 10 Delta State University (3-0, 0-0 GSC) hits the road for three-games on Saturday and Sunday in Arkadelphia, Ark. The Statesmen play No. 13 Southern Arkansas (2-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Henderson State University (1-1) at 6 p.m. on on Saturday at Clyde Berry Field (HSU) before moving across the road to play Ouachita Baptist University at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Rab Rodgers Field (OBU).
GSC WEEKLY HONORS: Junior shortstop Darek Sargent and sophomore hurler Hunter Riggins were named the Gulf South Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week on Tues., Feb. 5. Sargent hit .500 (5-for-10) with a home run and 7 RBIs to help the Statesmen to a series sweep of East Central (Okla.) on opening weekend. The Smyrna, Tenn., native slugged .800 and had a .500 on base percentage in three starts at shortstop this weekend. Riggins was named the GSC Co-Pitcher of the Week along with Mississippi College's Ryan Lane. The Hernando, Miss., native set the tone in the opening game against ECU, allowing one hit with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 5.2 scoreless innings.
STATESMEN vs. GAC: The Statesmen own a 357-82 all-time record against the Great American Athletic Conference. Arkansas Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State join East Central (Okla.) on the 2019 Statesmen Schedule.
QUEST FOR 1K WINS: Statesmen skipper Mike Kinnison is in his 23rd season at the helm and needs 59 wins to reach 1000 wins. The Benton, Miss., native has an unbelievable career record of 942-299-2 (.756), averaging 42.4 wins per season as head coach. His all-time career record, including high school, is an astounding 1,274-391-2 (.768).
STATESMEN REWIND: The Green-and-White swept a three-game series from visiting East Central (Okla.), taking game one 9-1 on Friday before sweeping Saturday's doubleheader by identical 3-1 scores on opening weekend. Riggins allowed one hit and struck out a career-high 10 Tigers to power the No. 10 Delta State University baseball team to a 9-1 victory on Fri., Feb. 1. Junior shortstop Sargent went 2-for-3 with a game and career-high three RBIs while senior center fielder Brett Young was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. The Statesmen pitching staff combined to strikeout 24 Tigers in the twin bill, including nine by game one starter Seth Hougesen and 39 for the series. David Herrington went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double in game one. Sargent, Russell and Herbison all recorded one RBI apiece in game one. Sargent went 3-for-7 with two runs scored, a home run, and four RBIs and Jake Barlow was 3-for-6 with a run scored in the doubleheader. Melvin Frazier (1-0) started the series finale on the bump, working 4.0 innings allowing a run on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
RANKINGS: The Statesmen are ranked 10th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason National Poll and received votes in the NCBWA Preseason National Poll. The Statesmen will face six teams that are ranked or received votes in the CBN poll, including No. 13 Southern Arkansas and No. 38 West Florida. Defending GSC Tournament Champion Mississippi, Arkansas Monticello, Lee University and Montevallo received votes. The Statesmen are ranked 5th in the NCBWA Preseason South Region Poll. Southern Arkansas is No. 13 while Mississippi College is ranked 18th in the NCBWA National Preseason Poll.
GSC PRESEASON REPORTS: The Statesmen, who tallied 129 points and three first-place votes, are picked second behind preseason favorite and in-state rival Mississippi College. The defending GSC champion tallied 137 points along with nine first-place votes. Young (CF) and Tommy Childree (RHP) represent the 19 Statesmen newcomers on the GSC's Top Newcomers List. Young is a senior transfer from Nebraska-Kearney after the elimination of the program following the 2018 season. Childree comes to the Delta from Carl Albert State Community College.
STRONG ARMS
The Statesmen pitching staff turned in a solid opening weekend against East Central. As a staff, the Statesmen posted a 0.72 ERA while allowing three runs, two earned, with 39 strikeouts against eight walks. ECU hitters batted .115 against and had 10 hits, three doubles, on the weekend.
HOUGESEN IMPRESSIVE ON THE BUMP
Hougesen gave the Statesmen shutout inning with nine strikeouts game one of a doubleheader against East Central on Saturday. The senior from Indianapolis, Ind., struck out a career-high nine strikeouts and no walks. Hougesen came to Delta State from Dyersburg State Community College where he was the NJCAA Pitcher of the Year in 2017.
DIAMOND DEBUTS
In the series against East Central, eight newcomers and three redshirts saw their first action in a Statesmen uniform. NewcomersC.J. Estave (DH), Michael Allen (OF), Patrick Hodges (DH), Hayden White (SS), Childree (P) Christian Day (P), Payton Griffin (P) and Young (CF) along with redshirts Layne Tedder (P), Luke Ketchum (OF) and Landon Roberts (2B) all saw their first action in a Statesmen uniform.
DAY MAKES SOLID DEBUT
Day made the longest relief outing of the series versus East Central (Okla.). Day tossed four innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
STATESMEN vs. the GAC:
The Statesmen are 357-82 all-time record against the Great American Athletic Conference. Arkansas Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State are on the 2019 Statesmen Schedule.
Arkansas-Monticello 81-8
Arkansas Tech 51-10
East Central (Okla.) 4-0
Harding 42-7
Henderson State 59-6
Ouachita Baptist 54-14
Southeast Oklahoma 4-5
Southern Arkansas 62-32
77th SEASON ON THE DIAMOND
Delta State begins its 77th season and has an overall record of 2,017-963-11 all-time record entering 2019.
NEW FACES IN THE DUGOUT
Skipper Mike Kinnison begins his 23rd season as the Statesmen skipper with an overhauled coaching staff. Blake Mathews, whose primary duties will be working with the pitchers, comes to the Delta from Davidson College where he spent one season. During his tenure, Mathews served as pitching coach in addition to managing bullpens while also assisting with the outfielders, camp coordination, recruiting and daily field maintenance. Slater Lott comes to DSU after serving as an assistant coach at Meridian Community College from 2014-18. The Meridian, Miss., native coached the catchers and outfielders and also served as hitting coach. The Eagles led the MACJC and ranked second in the NJCAA with a .368 team batting average, while also ranking 10th in runs scored (490) and 12th in hits (580) in the NJCAA. Graduate assistant coach Luke Stanley (3rd season) is the lone holdover on the staff while former players Seth Birdsong (1st season) and Tyler Brown (1st season) join the staff for their first season as graduate assistants. Birdsong posted a 19-2 record with 166 strikeouts to 58 walks in 202.1 innings over two seasons with the Statesmen. Brown, whose senior year was cut short by a broken arm, played in 32 games with 14 career starts in the outfield for the Statesmen. The Lipscomb University transfers belted four home runs with two doubles and 11 RBIs his senior year.
