GAME NOTES: Delta State vs. Auburn-Montgomery (2.6-7.2020)
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Delta State University (10-8, 4-5 GSC) baseball team plays host to Auburn University at Montgomery (6-10, 5-4 GSC) for a three-game Gulf South Conference series at Harvey Stadium-Ferriss Field this weekend. The series begins on Friday with a single game at 5 p.m. and concludes with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
SPRING BREAK WEEK: The weekend kicks off Spring Break for the Statesmen, who will battle Great American Conference members Ouachita Baptist on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Arkansas Monticello on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Monticello, Ark. Delta State returns to GSC action against the University of West Alabama on March 14-15 in Livingston, Ala. The series is slated for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
ABOUT THE STATESMEN: Delta State is looking to snap a five game losing skid entering the AUM series. The five-game losing streak is the first for DSU since 1979 which was part of a seven-game losing streak. If history repeats itself, the Statesmen followed the steak by winning 13 of their next 15 games and ended the year by winning the GSC Tournament and finishing runner-up in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.
Chad Ragland has been solid at the leadoff spot, batting a team-best .471 with four doubles, 16 runs scored, seven RBI and a .560 on base percentage.
Jake Barlow leads the team with 16 RBI and is tied with
Jared Cramer and
Darek Sargent with two home runs.
Hayden White and
Blake Wolferding have five doubles apiece while driving in 13 and 10 runs, respectively. On the mound,
Hunter Riggins,
Cooper Brune and
Jackson Rutledge make up the probable weekend rotation. Riggins is 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA and has 28 strikeouts against nine walks. The Hernando, Miss., native has allowed 14 runs, 12 earned, on 25 hits in 29.2 innings pitched. Brune is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA and has allowed nine runs on 17 hits with 28 strikeouts against nine walks over 22.1 innings. Rutledge is 2-3 with a 4.43 ERA, 22 strikeouts and nine walks while yielding 14 runs, 10 earned, on 14 hits in 20.1 innings of work.
SCOUTING AUM: The Warhawks are 6-10 overall and 5-4 in the GSC. AUM dropped the series opener at Montevallo but rebounded to win 6-5 and 7-3 to take the series. Quinterrious Arrington is batting a team-high .408 with 19 RBI and five doubles followed by Zach Foster with a .366 average and Dalton Cobb with a .362 norm. Cobb leads the team with five home runs and 18 RBI. Matthew Zeilonko has five doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI. AUM has a .296 team batting average with 10 home runs, 24 doubles, and four triples and has 16 steals in 21 attempts.
AUM PROBABLE ROTATION: #32 Micah Henderson (RHP) (6 GS | 2-1 | 1 CG | 5.42 ERA | 12 K |10 BB | 23 R | 18 ER | 29.1 IP); #31 Troy Jones (RHP) (5 GS | 7.47 ERA | 2-2 |28 K | 10 BB | 28 R | 26 ER |38 H | 31.1 IP); #18 Tyler Britton (LHP) (4 GS | 0-4 | 10.80 ERA | 7 K | 6 BB | 23 R |14 ER |26 H | 11.2 IP). AUM has a 6.84 team ERA with 84 strikeouts against 63 walks while yielding 117 runs, 99 earned, on 170 hits in 16 games.
GOING WITH TWO: The Statesmen have scored 49 of their 117 runs this season with two outs and have 38 two-out RBI.
Hayden White has 10 followed by
Wyatt Pratt with six two-out RBI.
Jake Barlow has four and
Chad Ragland and
Blake Wolferding have tallied three two-out RBI. The Statesmen are hitting .309 (46-for-149) as a team with two outs.
INSIDE SERIES: Delta State and Auburn Montgomery have met four times on the diamond coming into this weekend's set. All four meetings have been played at Harvey Stadium Ferriss Field with the Statesmen winning all four meetings. The Statesmen swept the first and only GSC series to date between the schools on March 3-4, 2018 in Cleveland.
