GAME NOTES: Delta State at Mississippi College (4.27-28.19)
CLEVELAND, Miss.-- No. 13/23 Delta State University (32-10, 18-8 GSC) travels to GSC leader Mississippi College (27-13, 19-5 GSC) for a Gulf South Conference series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.     
 

GSC SNAPSHOT: The home-standing Choctaws sit atop the GSC standings at 19-5 followed by West Florida 19-7, Delta State 18-8.  Those three teams along with Alabama Huntsville, Montevallo, West Georgia, and Valdosta State have clinched a spot in the 2019 GSC Baseball Tournament on May 3-7 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. Shorter and Lee University are 11-14 and seeking the final tournament spot. 1. If DSU sweeps MC and UWF goes 1-2 vs. UWA, DSU will be the No. 1 seed. 2. If DSU goes 2-1 and UWF goes 1-2 this weekend, DSU will be the No. 3, because DSU loses the head-to-head with UWF.  3. If DSU goes 2-1 vs. MC and UWA sweeps UWF then DSU is the No. 2 seed.

THE MC SERIES: Delta State and MC met six times in 2018, splitting the season series 3-3.  The Statesmen captured the regular season series 2-1 at Ferriss Field in Cleveland, Miss., before dropping a 9-8 decision in 11 innings in the GSC Tournament. The two clubs split a pair of games in the rain-soaked NCAA South Region Tournament in Lakeland, Fla. DSU claimed a 13-3 win to open the tournament before MC claimed a 7-4 win to end DSU's season. Overall the teams have met 168 times on the diamond with the Green-and-White owning a 122-44-2 record and a 9-6 mark since MC returned to the GSC.

STATESMEN RANKED IN SOUTH REGION: The Statesmen are ranked third in the first NCAA Division II South Region Poll released by the NCAA on Wednesday.  Tampa, West Florida, Delta State, Mississippi College and Eckerd make up the top five. Nova Southeastern, Embry Riddle, Barry, Alabama Huntsville and Rollins round out the top 10.

ARMED & DANGEROUS: The Delta State pitching staff leads the GSC in ERA (2.60), shutouts (6), fewest hits allowed (268), fewest runs (122), fewest earned runs (96), and opponent batting average (.212). The Statesmen are  3rd in fewest walks (147) and rank 4th in strikeouts (327), strikeouts looking (86) and saves (9).  Hunter Riggins is tied for 1st with fellow pitcher Dalton Minton in wins (8) while ranking 3rd in innings pitched (72.1), 4th in ERA (2.36) and 9th in strikeouts (65). Minton is 1st in batting average against (1.33) and 6th in ERA (2.64). Seth Hougesen is 2nd in ERA (1.83), tied for 2nd in fewest runs allowed (9), tied for 3rd in wins (6) and fewest earned runs allowed (8) and 8th in batting average against (.205). Melvin Frazier is tied for 3rd in wins (6), tied for 9th in strikeouts (65) and ranks 9th in ERA (2.80).

SCOUTING MC: The Choctaws swept a doubleheader West Alabama (13-7 | 8-2) in Livingston, Ala., last weekend and did not play a midweek game. Blaine Crim leads the GSC with 18 doubles while ranking second in RBIs (58) and slugging percentage (.696), third in home runs (11) and is ninth with a .366 batting average. Brandon Broussard is second on the team with a .319 and has eight doubles and three home runs. Billy Cameron is 2nd with 36 RBIs and seven home runs along with a .303 average and Chauncey Callier has 34 RBIs, 8 doubles and 34 RBIs. MC's Probable Weekend Rotation: Chris Crosby (7-2 | 3.95 ERA | 79.2 IP | 65 K | 25 BB | 38 R | 35 ER), Garrett Hollinghead (5-1 | 4.25 ERA | 65.2 IP | 51 K, 19 BB | 38 R, 31 ER) and Zack Ingram (6-2 | 3.14 ERA | 38.2 IP | 52 K | 23 BB | 23 K | 17 BB)

RANKED OPPONENTS: Mississippi College enters the weekend ranked No. 13 in this week's NCBWA Division II Top 25. The Statesmen are 6-2 in games against ranked opponents this season.  Southern Arkansas (3-0), Arkansas Monticello (2-0), and West Florida (1-2).

STATESMEN REWIND: Darek Sargent, Jake Barlow, Payton Lane and Josh Russell combined for nine RBIs to lead No. 13 Delta State University baseball team (32-10, 18-8 GSC) to a 12-6 win over Mississippi Valley State (6-22) on Tuesday, April 23 at the MVSU Baseball Field. Barlow went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs to lead Statesmen at the plate. The Statesmen had Easter Weekend off after defeating No. 13 Arkansas-Monticello 8-2 on Tues., April 16.

OH WHAT A RELIEF: Through  42 games, the Statesmen bullpen has a 3-1 record and ranks 4th in the GSC with 9 saves.  Relievers have a combined 2.47 ERA, 114 strikeouts and 54 walks while yielding 40 runs, 33 earned, on 80 hits in 120,0 innings. Tyler Walton has been the most consistent, posting a 0.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts against eight walks in 25.1 scoreless innings.  Patrick Hodges has a 0.00 ERA in 9.1 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. Tommy Childree has a 1.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts against one walked in 13.0 innings, raking 4th in the GSC with five saves.

FINDING SOME POP: The Statesmen have a home run in three straight games and have homered in 14 of the last 17 games. DSU ranks 4th in the GSC with 31 round trippers.  Jake Barlow ranks 5th after hitting his 9th home run against MVSU. Darek Sargent and Matt Majeur are second on the team with five while Hayden White and Weber Herbison have four. The Statesmen belted a season-high four home runs against West Florida (3.24.19).

STATESMEN IN THE MINORS: Zach Shannon (Arizona Diamondbacks), Trent Giambrone (Chicago Cubs) and Dalton Moats (Tampa Bay) spent the 2019 Spring Training with their respective Major League Baseball clubs.  Shannon has been assigned to Class A affiliate Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Ill. Giambrone is with the Triple-A affiliate Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, Iowa. Moats returns for another season with Double-AA Montgomery Biscuits in Montgomery, Ala.  Shannon, who battling through a couple of injuries, has played in five games so far for the cougars. Giambrone has played in 17 games, hitting .265 with seven doubles, six home runs and 13 RBIs.  Moats has made four appearances one start, posting 10 strikeouts while allowing five runs, six earned, on nine hits in seven innings pitched.

GSC INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS: Jake Barlow ranks in the top 10 in the 5 GSC statistical categories. The Jonesville, La., native is tied for 1st in triples (4),  4th in slugging percentage (.647) and RBIs (4), 5th in home runs (9) and 10th in hits (54). Darek Sargent is 5th in RBIs (42) and 1st in sac-flies (7).