full speed ahead

After missing the NCAAs for three straight years, Delta State got back on the postseason track in 2012 and rode it all the way to the Division II national title game. Along the way, coach Mike Kinnison topped 700 career wins in the green and white. That momentum appears to still be with the Statesmen, who are ranked as high as No. 1 in the various preseason polls. DSU opens its new campaign today against Montevallo at Ferriss Field in Cleveland. The 2004 national champs, who went 49-15 last year, return six starting position players and a couple of big arms, which is always key. Josh Branstetter (7-3, 3.01 ERA) and Colton Mitchell (8-2, 3.50) lead the rotation. Jordan Chovanec (.351, 57 runs) and Michael Vinson (.342, five home runs, 53 RBIs) carry big sticks. Is another D-II World Series trip in the cards for DSU? Don’t bet against the Fighting Okra. P.S. Mississippi College, coming off a tough (21-24) season, also opens today, playing Birmingham-Southern in the Millsaps Invitational. The Choctaws will play BSC again in Clinton on Saturday. … Belhaven, off to a 5-2 start, hosts nationally ranked Missouri Baptist in a three-game set starting today at Smith-Wills Stadium. Bud Britt is hitting a stout .435 with eight RBIs for BU, and newcomer Chris Good is 2-0, 0.00 in two starts.