GAME NOTES: Alabama Huntsville at Delta State (3.30-31.19)
CLEVELAND, Miss. --  No. 2/6 Delta State University (21-7, 12-5 GSC) hosts the University of Alabama Huntsville (18-11, 8-6 GSC) for a Gulf South Conference series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. and followed by a single game on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Statesmen are scheduled to play two midweek games next week, hosting Henderson State on Tuesday at 5 p.m. before traveling to Arkadelphia, Ark., for a makeup game against Ouachita Baptist.
 

INSIDE THE UAH SERIES: The Statesmen and Chargers meet for the first time since a three-game series on March 18-19, 2017 in Huntsville, Ala.  Delta State is 45-18 overall and 43-17 under Head Coach Mike Kinnison in series. At Ferriss Field, the Green-and-White are 22-5 overall and 22-4 under Kinnison vs. UAH.

STATESMEN REWIND: The Statesmen are 2-0 since after a midweek loss at Miles College and a doubleheader sweep by West Florida to open last weekend's GSC series. Hayden White hit three home runs and Jake Barlow had a home run to lead the Statesmen to a 16-6 run-rule win over UWF in the series finale on Sunday.  Darek Sargent went 2-for-3 with a triple, a home run and four RBIs and Matt Majeur hit a two-run home run to lead the Statesmen to a 10-1 win over Southern Arkansas on Wednesday at Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field. Sargent's three-run home run broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth and Majeur's two-run home run extended the lead to 6-1 in the sixth.

POWER SURGE: The Statesmen have hit a power surge in the last two games,  combining for six round trippers against West Florida and Southern Arkansas. Against UWF, Hayden White became the first Statesmen to hit three home runs in a game since Deven Goodwin's three home run day versus Pace University on March 9, 2009. Jake Barlow had a solo homer against UWF for his team-leading seventh and Darek Sargent hit a big three-run home run to break a 1-1 tie against Southern Arkansas.

BARLOW REMAINS HOT: Jake Barlow leads the team with a .367 average, seven doubles, seven home runs, 22 RBIs and a .697 slugging percentage while his 29 RBIs ranks second behind Darek Sargent's 30.  Over the last 11 games, the redshirt sophomore is hitting. 333 with three home runs, two doubles, eight runs scored and eight RBIs.

MEJEUR ROLE:  Matt Majeur has a .364 average with two home runs and four runs scored and is slugging .909 with a .417 on base percentage.  The Pointe Claire, Canada, native has a .350 average with two home runs two doubles, and nine runs scored in the last 11 games. Defensively, Mejeur robbed UWF of a potential home run in the series finale on Sunday and made an outstanding catch against the wall against SAU on Wednesday.
 
SETTLING IN AT FIRST: Hayden White is starting to find a home as the Statesmen first baseman. White transferred to the Delta from Copiah-Lincoln Community College as a middle infielder but was pressed into his current role out of necessity. The Madison, Miss., has caught fire the last three games,  hitting .545 (6-for 11) with six runs scored, a double, a home run and seven RBIs to raise his season average from .233 to .296.

QUEST FOR 1000: Statesmen skipper Mike Kinnison is in his 23rd season at the helm and needs 40 wins to reach 1000 career wins. The Benton, Miss., native has an unbelievable career record of 960-306-2 (.756), averaging 42.4 wins per season as head coach. His all-time career record, including high school, is an astounding 1,250-387-2 (.768).

OH WHAT A RELIEF
Through  28 games, the Statesmen bullpen has posted a 2-1 record and ranks 3rd in the GSC with seven saves.  Relievers have combined for a .190 ERA, 84 strikeouts and 31 walks while allowing 23 runs, 17 earned, on 62 hits in 80.1 innings. Against SAU on Wednesday, Christian Day, Tyler Walton, Layne Tedder, Bailey Hargrave, Tyler Walton and Tommy Childree combined to scatter three hits with five strikeouts over the final 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

HOT SPOTS
The five spot in the batting order has been the most constant so far this year. Three Statesmen have combined to hit .402 with seven doubles, three triples, five home runs, 29 RBIs and a .676 slugging percentage.  Matthew Majeur  (.471), Jake Barlow (.424) and CJ Estave (.333) are the top producers in the five spot. Ten players have combined for a .307 average in the eight hole and four players have posted a .310 average in the number two spot in the order.

HEATING BACK UP
David Herrington started the season hot as hot could be boasting a .464 average before a 1-for-28 eight-game stretch that included an 0-for-23 slide at one point.  The Senatobia, Miss., native's bat starting to show signs of warming up again, hitting .400 (4-for-10) with five runs scored, including going 4-for-6 in the final two games against West Florida.

SARGENT RISING: Junior shortstop Darek Sargent is hitting .571
with a triple a home run four RBIs and three runs scored over the last three games, raising his average from .255 to .277 on the season.

STATESMEN vs. the GAC
The Statesmen are 9-1 this season and 363-83 all-time record against the Great American Athletic Conference.  Delta State will host Henderson State (1-0) on Tuesday before traveling to Ouachita Baptist on Wednesday this week.