CLEVELAND, Miss. — Darek Sargent belted two home runs and had four RBIs to lead No. 2 seed Delta State University baseball (42-12) to a 9-6 win over No. 6 seed Valdosta State University (32-23) to win the NCAA South 2 Region Tournament on Saturday at Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field.
Sargent went 2-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, four runs scored and two walks on the afternoon.
Delta State went through the tournament undefeated to advance to the NCAA Division II South Super Regional on May 24-25. The Statesmen will face No. 1 seed the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla., with game times to be announced.
THE BASICS
FINAL: #5 Delta State 9 | Valdosta State 6
Date/Time: Sat., May 18, 2019 | Start: 12 p.m.
Location: Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field | Cleveland, Miss.
Records: Statesmen 42-12| Blazers 32-23
Series: Delta State lead the series 29-22
HOW IT HAPPENED
•
Darek Sargent belted a three-run home run with two outs to give the Statesmen a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
• Valdosta State scored four runs in the fifth to erase the deficit and take a 4-3 lead. Logan Stephens reached on an error and scored on an Aaron Haughton two-run home run followed by a solo home run from Mike Christopoulus. Jon Jon Burkett doubled and scored on a Jowenrick Dantji RBI single to cap the scoring in the inning.
• The Statesmen plated three runs on three bases-loaded walks to take a 6-4 lead in the sixth. Herrington was hit by a pitch and Sargent walked to start the inning. Matt Majeur walked to load the bases followed by walks to
Josh Russell,
Weber Herbison and
Hayden White.
• Valdosta State made it a 6-5 game in the sixth. DJ King doubled and scored on Aaron Haughton's RBI single to center.
• The Statesmen pushed the lead to 8-5 in the seventh. Sargent walked and Barlow singled to right with one out. Estave singled home Sargent and Barlow scored on a Matt Majeur sac-fly to left field.
• Valdosta State got a run back in the bottom of the seventh to trim the deficit to 8-6. Burkett doubled and moved to third on a Dantji single, scored on a Broughton sac-fly.
• TJ Childree entered the game in the eighth with two runners on and two outs and coaxed a fly out by Burkett to end a VSU threat.
• Sargent belted a solo home run to start the ninth to give the Green-and-White a 9-6 lead.
• Childree sat the Blazers down in order in the bottom of the ninth close the game.
ON THE MOUND
•
Seth Hougesen (9-0) earned the win, allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings and is now ranks third in the GSC with nine wins.
• Childree notched worked 1.1 innings with a strikeout to notch his eighth save of the season.
• Heston Mosley (0-2) gave up three runs on no hits with a strikeout and five walks to take the loss for the Blazers.
NOTABLES
• The Statesmen finished with 10 hits for their 13th double-digit hit in their last 16 games.
• Childree's eight saves ranks first in the GSC and ties the junior for third on the DSU single-season saves list with
Zach Osbon (2017) and Brandon Hardin (2012).
• Sargent went 2-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs and two home runs and moves into second on the team with seven home runs this season. The two home runs were Sargent's first-career multi-home run game.
• Sargent and Herbison combined to drive in nine of the Statesmen's 20 runs scored in the tournament.
• Barlow finished 2-for-6 with a run scored as the only other Statesmen with multiple hits on the afternoon.
• Russell had a double and Estave and White each had singles to round out the seven-hit attack.
• Estave hit .500 with a home run and three RBIs and
David Herrington hit .333 with three runs scored and three stolen bases for the tournament.
• The win gives Head Coach
Mike Kinnison 981 career wins and needs 19 wins to reach 1,000 wins.
UP NEXT
• The Statesmen advance to the NCAA Division II South Super Regional to take on No. 1 seed the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. The best of three series takes place on May 24-25 with game times to be announced.
