GAME NOTES: Delta State vs. West Georgia (3.9-10.19)
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- No. 10/1 Delta State University (15-2, 7-1 GSC) hosts the University of West Georgia (6-12, 3-5 GSC) for a three-game Gulf South Conference series beginning with a single game on Sat., March 9 at 4 pm CT followed by a doubleheader on Sun., March 10 at 1 pm (CT).
 
RANKINGS: The Statesmen are ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA National and South Region polls for the second straight week. Tampa, West Florida, Nova Southeastern, Barry and Mississippi College make up the region top 6.  Colorado Mesa, Illinois Springfield, Mount Olive and UC San Diego sit behind the Green-and-White in the national poll.

STATESMEN ARMS:  The Statesmen pitching staff leads the GSC in ERA (1.51/3rd NCAA), fewest runs allowed (31), shutouts (2/11th NCAA), fewest hits allowed (91), opponent batting average (.178), fewest earned runs allowed (24), fewest walks (55), and saves (7) while ranking 2nd in strikeouts (170). Dalton Minton (1.00), Hunter Riggins (1.04) and Melvin Frazier (1.30) rank 1-2-3 in ERA. Minton ranks 1st in fewest runs allowed (2) and 3rd in opponent batting average (1.56).  Riggins ranks 1st in fewest walks (5), wins (5/2nd NCAA),  2nd in fewest runs (4), game started (5/4th NCAA) and innings pitched (34.2), 4th in opponent batting average (.158), and 6th in strikeouts (38/15th NCAA).  Frazier is 1st in opponent batting average (.132) and games started (5/4th NCAA), 3rd in ERA (1.30), fewest earned runs (6) and fewest runs allowed (10) and 4th in strikeouts (39/15th NCAA).  Tommy Childree leads the GSC with 4 (9th NCAA) saves.  The Green-and-Whtie ranks 22nd in the country in strikeout to walk ratio (2.96)

GSC STATS:  David Herrington's 26 hits are 5th in GSC while ranking 4th in batting average (.413) and  9th in base percentage (.500). Jake Barlow is 1st in the GSC in triples (4/3rd NCAA) and total bases (49/9th NCAA, 2nd in slugging percentage (.761) and 4th RBIs (21/18th NCAA) and home runs (4).  Darek Sargent ranks 4th in sac flies (4/3rd NCAA) and 6th in RBIs (20/29th NCAA). The Statesmen rank 2nd in batting average (.293),  fewest strikeouts (72) and fielding percentage (.968).  Brett Young is tied for 4th in walks (14) and Josh Russell is 6th in sac flies (3/11th NCAA). The Statesmen are ranked 1st in fielding percentage (.973), 2nd in fewest strikeouts (92) and triples (5), 3rd in runs scored (110) and 4th in hits (156).

ROBERTS MAKES 1ST START: Landon Roberts made the most of his first career start at third base against Southern Arkansas this week. The Arnaudville, La., native went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored in his first career start at third base.

QUEST FOR 1000: Statesmen skipper Mike Kinnison is in his 23rd season at the helm and needs 46 wins to reach 1000 career wins. The Benton, Miss., native has an unbelievable career record of 954-300-2 (.756), averaging 42.4 wins per season as head coach. His all-time career record, including high school, is an astounding 1,244-383-2 (.768).

LAST 10 GAMES: The Statesmen are 8-2 in the last 10 games, posting a .286 team batting average with 14 doubles, three triples and seven home runs and have outscored opponents 71-21. Jake Barlow has a .400 average (16-for-40) with three doubles, two triples, four home runs and 16 RBIs. David Herrington has a .316 average (13-for-36) with six RBIs and seven runs scored and Matt Majeur is batting .353 (12-for-34) with a three doubles, one home run, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.

STATESMEN REWIND: The Statesmen earned a big midweek win over No. 9 Southern Arkansas, 5-2 after splitting two GSC games with Shorter University last weekend in Rome, Ga. Statesmen pitchers combined to post 13 strikeouts that included four strikeouts apiece by starter Dalton Minton and reliever Christian Day. The 13 strikeouts marked the ninth game that DSU pitchers combined for 10-plus strikeouts. Hayden White finished with a single, a double and two runs scored and Weber Herbison had two hits with a run scored. Matt Majeur notched his first home run of the season in the fifth to give the Statesmen a 5-2 lead.

GSC WEEKLY HONORS:  Four Statesmen have earned Gulf South Conference Weekly Baseball awards so far this season. Darek Sargent, David Harrington, and Jake Barlow were named GSC Players of the Week while Hunter Riggins earned Co-GSC Pitcher of the Week laurels in week one.  Herrington and Barlow were also named the NCBWA South Region Player of the Week.

IN RELIEF: The Statesmen bullpen continues to be solid on the back end of games. DSU relievers have a 2.13 ERA with 59 strikeouts against 18 walks while allowing 14 runs, nine earned, on 26 hits in 30 innings. Opponents are batting .196 against DSU relievers. Tommy Childree (RHP) leads the GSC with 4 saves while Christian Day, Tyler Walton and Dalton Minton each have a save.  The Statesmen are 13-0 when leading after six innings and 15-1 overall when leading or tied after six innings.

STATESMEN vs. the GAC: The Statesmen are 8-1 in 2019 and 362-83 all-time record against the Great American Athletic Conference.  East Central (3-0), Arkansas Monticello (1-0), Arkansas Tech (1-1), Ouachita Baptist, Southern Arkansas (1-1) and Henderson State (1-0) are on the 2019 Statesmen Schedule.

IN THE ZONE:  Statesmen hurlers have combined for10 plus strikeouts nine times this season after combining for 13 punch outs against SAU.  DSU's season-high is 17 at Henderson State on (2.9) followed by 16 vs. East Central (2.1).  Individually, Hunter Riggins registered 12 against Montevallo (2.16) and Melvin Frazier had 12 against Henderson State (2.9).

Jake Barlow leads the GSC with four triples and is tied for 3rd with four home runs.

Jake Barlow hit for the cycle in game one of Union series to become the first Statesmen to hit for the cycle since Kellen Bozeman vs. Arkansas Tech (15-11) on April 17, 2011.

BASES LOADED: The Green-and-White are hitting 286 (8-for-28) with the bases loaded. Jake Barlow is hitting .500 (3-for-6) with a pair of grand slams with the bases full of Statesmen. David Herrington is 2-for-4 and Weber Herbison is 1-for-2.

The Green-and-White are hitting 286 (8-for-28) with the bases loaded. Jake Barlow is hitting .500 (3-for-6) with a pair of grand slams with the bases full of Statesmen. David Herrington is 2-for-4 and Weber Herbison is 1-for-2.

TWO OUT RBIs:  The Statesmen have 100 RBIs with 24 RBIs coming with two outs. Matt Majeur has a team-high 5 two-out RBIs followed by Jake Barlow with four.

SUCCESS ADVANCING RUNNERS:  The Statesmen have been successful 52.1 percent of the time advancing the runners 177 times in 340 opportunities.

EARLY & LATE INNINGS:  The Statesmen have outscored team 35-6 through the first three innings and 37-7 in the seventh through ninth innings.

FAST STARTS:  The Statesmen are 12-1 when scoring first and 5-1 when scoring in the first inning.

ONE OR NONE:  The Statesmen are 6-1 when committing no errors and 5-1 when committing one error.

BEST STARTS: Delta State's 13-0 start matched the 1996 club under then Head Coach Bill Marchant for the best start in school history and marked the best start under skipper Mike Kinnison.