GSC TOURNAMENT NOTES | GSC Tournament Home Page | Choccolocco Park Oxford, Ala. 
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The No. 13/18 Delta State University baseball team (34-11, 20-9 GSC) begins its quest for a 15th Gulf South Conference Championship against No. 6 seed Valdosta State University (27-19, 14-12 GSC) in game one of the double-elimination tournament on Friday at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for the 2019 Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship Tournament will be available at the park ticket booth each. No Advanced sales.  
41st Tournament Appearance: The Statesmen are making a GSC record 41st appearance in the Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship. DSU's 40 Tournament appearances are just the tip of the iceberg. The Statesmen are 97-57 all-time at the tournament and boast GSC Tournament records for wins (97), semifinals appearances (28), finals appearances (17), and championships (14). No other school has more than six titles. The GSC Tournament has been hosted on campus sites 23 times with 10 host schools claiming tournament titles.

THREE STATESMEN EARN ALL-GSC: Jake Barlow and starting pitchers Dalton Minton and Hunter Riggins were named to the All-GSC First Team released by the League office on Tues., April 29. Barlow has started all 45 games at second base, hitting .339 with 12 doubles, five triples, nine home runs and 46 RBIs. Minton is 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA and one save. The Horn Lake, Miss., native has appeared in 12 games, making 11 starts, throwing 68.1 innings while allowing just 23 runs, 19 earned, on 58 hits. He has recorded 56 strikeouts with 27 walks and opponents are batting a mere .225 against him this season. The former Northwest Mississippi CC transfer has allowed only one earned run or fewer in nine of his appearances this year, including his last four starts. Riggins made the successful transition from a reliever in 2018 to starter in 2019. The Hernando, Miss., native has been Delta State's game one starter for most of the campaign, posting an 8-3 record with a 2.57 ERA. In 12 starts, Riggins has thrown 77.0 innings, allowing 39 runs, just 23 earned, on 74 hits. He has struck out a team-leading 66 batters with 28 walks and opposing batters are hitting just .245 against him.

ARMED & DANGEROUS: The DSU pitching staff leads the GSC in ERA (2.60/1st NCAA), shutouts (6 /5th NCAA), fewest hits allowed (293), hits allowed per nine innings (7.13/2nd NCAA), fewest runs (129), fewest earned runs 107), and opponent batting average (.215). The Statesmen are 3rd in saves (10), 4th in fewest walks (163) and 6th in strikeouts (339).  Dalton Minton leads the GSC in wins (9/5th NCAA) and 3rd in ERA (2.50)  Hunter Riggins in 2nd in wins (8/15th NCAA and ranks 3rd in innings pitched (77.0), 5th in ERA (2.57) and 9th in strikeouts (66). Seth Hougesen is 1st in ERA (2.14), T3rd in wins (7), T4th in fewest runs allowed (12) and fewest earned runs allowed (11) and 6th in batting average against (.207). Melvin Frazier is 1st in hits allowed per nine innings (3.95/1st NCAA), T4th in wins (6), 10th in strikeouts (65) and 7th in ERA (2.80).

Against Tournament Field: The Statesmen are 307-141-2 all-time and 177-87 in 23 seasons under head coach Mike  Kinnison against this year's GSC Tournament field. Delta State is 10-7 in 2019 and 29-22 in the GSC Tournament versus the field.  See complete team thumbnails on page six.

vs. RANKED OPPONENTS: Delta State is 9-4 against teams ranked in either the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper or the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Polls this season.  2019 Ranked Opponents: Arkansas Tech (1-1), Mississippi College (2-1), Southern Arkansas (3-0), Arkansas Monticello (2-0), and West Florida (1-2).

STATESMEN REWIND: The Statesmen claimed a 6-4 win over in-state rival and GSC leader Mississippi College to win the series 2-1 at Frierson Field in Clinton, Miss., last weekend.  Delta State rebounded from a 10-8 walk-off loss in game one to take a 9-3 win in the nightcap of the doubleheader on Saturday before rallying from a 4-0 deficit to earn a 6-4 win in game three on Sunday.
  GSC INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS
Jake Barlow name is scattered across the GSC statistical leader board, ranking 1st in triples (5/15th NCAA), 4th in slugging (.631), 8th hits (57), 4th in RBIs (46), and 5th in home runs (9). Darek Sargent is 6th in RBIs (42) and 1st in sac-flies (7 / 9th NCAA).

BARLOW RECORDS WATCH: Sophomore Jake Barlow notched his
fifth triple of the season in game two of the Mississippi College series. The Jonesville, La., native needs one triple to tie for fourth on the Delta State single-season triples list. Brandon Cummins owns the DSU Single-season record with nine.  Additionally, Barlow has belted nine home runs and needs five homers to move into the top 10 on the school's single-season home runs list.

CHILDREE SAVES WATCH: Junior righty TJ Childree is tied for 2nd in the GSC with five saves which are also one shy tying teammate Hunter Riggins for 5th on DSU's single-season list

TEAM RECORDS WATCH: The Statesmen enter the GSC Tournament tied for 1st on the DSU single-season list with a .968 team fielding percentage.  The pitching staff has 10 saves, two away from moving into 3rd on DSU's single season team saves chart.

R-E-L-I-E-F: Through  45 games, the Statesmen bullpen has a 3-1 record and ranks 3rd in the GSC with 10 saves.  Relievers have a combined 2.66 ERA, 115 strikeouts and 57 walks while yielding 44 runs, 37 earned, on 94 hits in 125,1 innings. Tyler Walton has been the most consistent, posting a 2-1 record with a 0.69 ERA while allowing two runs on 15 hits with 18 strikeouts and eight walks in 26.0 innings.  Patrick Hodges has a 0.00 ERA in 11.1 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. Tommy Childree has a 1.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts against one walked in 13.0 innings and is tied for 3rd in the GSC with five saves.

FINDING SOME POP: The Statesmen homered in five of their last six games and in 16 of the last 22 contests entering this week's GSC Tournament. DSU is tied for  3rd in the GSC with 33 round trippers.  Jake Barlow ranks 5th after hitting his 9th home run against MVSU. Matt Majeur is 2nd on the team with six followed by Darek Sargent with five and Hayden White and Weber Herbison with four. The Statesmen belted a season-high four home runs against West Florida (3.24.19).

MINOR REPORT:  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 nine games so far for the Cougars. He has six hits in 33 at bats with one home run. Giambrone has played in 22 games, hitting .241 with eight doubles, six home runs and 13 RBIs.  Moats has made five appearances and one start, posting 12 strikeouts while allowing seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits in 10.0 innings pitched.