devilish start

Mississippi Valley State tuned up for the Southwestern Athletic Conference season by losing its first nine games. Good plan, apparently. Doug Shanks’ Delta Devils have won seven of their eight conference games and are in first place in the SWAC East. The Devils, now 7-14 overall, haven’t hit (.257, eighth in the league) or pitched (6.65 ERA, seventh) particularly well but do lead the league in fielding percentage (.965) and total chances. Defense does count in college baseball, especially now with so much juice taken out of the bats. Two stars have emerged for Valley: right-hander Steven Barnes, who is 2-2 with a save, a 3.50 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 36 innings; and Jerry Hildreth, who is tied for the league lead in steals with 10 and second in runs with 20. Valley hosts preseason SWAC favorite Jackson State for a three-game series April 2-3. That’s one to watch.