dsu still climbing

Delta State coach Mike Kinnison often refers to the season as a mountain. His Statesmen have reached what might be called Level 2 on the annual climb. Qualifying for the Gulf South Conference Tournament would be Level 1. By winning its 13th GSC tournament championship on Tuesday, DSU has clinched a bid to the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. Call that Level 2. “That’s what you play for all year long,” Kinnison said in a taped postgame interview. Now the mountain gets steeper. The South Region, which could well be set at Ferriss Field in Cleveland, will be stacked, as usual. But this Statesmen team (38-15) appears to have the ingredients to climb another level, claim a 12th regional crown and reach the D-II College World Series. It’s a team with three .400 hitters, led by Will Robertson (.433), Erick Santiago (.402) and Trent Giambrone (.401), who batted .650 in the GSC tourney and won MOP honors. DSU also has five players with seven or more home runs. The aces of the staff are lefties Tre Hobbs (12-1, 3.07 ERA) and Dalton Moats (10-3, 2.97), but there is no shortage of quality arms behind them. See, for example, Corey Beard, who threw 5 2/3 shutout innings to beat Alabama-Huntsville in the tournament clincher. “This tournament was good for us,” Kinnison said. “It seasoned our team a little bit.” The previous three years, DSU lost in the championship round and, as Kinnison noted, watched another team celebrate. In 2015, DSU’s season ended there. Today, the Statesmen are packing for another climb. At the summit of this mountain, still out of view, there’s a national championship.