By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Delta State arrived in the Sunshine State earlier this week to compete in the Division II South Region Baseball Tournament.

And a former prep product from the “Southern Six” has played a solid role for the Statesmen for the third straight season.

Former Harrison Central standout Brendan McCauley, a senior infielder at DSU, has seen action in all 40 games this season as well as almost 150 contests since he arrived on campus in Cleveland three seasons ago. This season, he is hitting .329 which is the third best mark on the team with two doubles, a triple and a homer with 26 RBIs for a DSU team that is 32-18 overall as they open play in Lakeland, Fla., against West Florida Thursday afternoon at 2.p.m.

“Brendan McCauley is a student athlete who exemplifies ‘your favorite’,” Neil Frederic, McCauley’s head coach at HCHS, said. “I have seen him work exceptionally hard for the last eight years. He didn’t listen to the noise that he was too small hence his nickname Baby Bulldog. This kid bought into me from day one and he made coaching fun since he and I were on the same page on the diamond. I have so much love and admiration for what he has accomplished and what he has provided for me and my family. He is a special young man who controls the control-ables daily with championship effort.”

As a junior last season, McCauley started all 52 games for the Statesmen at second and had 58 hits with a .294 batting average with three homers and 32 RBIs and nine doubles.

He started immediately after arriving on campus in 2023 from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and he also started all 52 games for the Statesmen that season registering a .294 batting average with nine doubles and 26 RBI.

Just as importantly, McCauley has been quite efficient up the middle defensively for DSU over the past three seasons.

The Statesmen are led by head coach Rodney Batts, who served in the same capacity at MGCCC from 2015-2019.

Delta State and West Florida are joined in that regional by host Florida Southern and West Alabama.

The winner of the four-team bracket will play in a best-of-three Super Regional Championship series with the Tampa Regional which consists of the University of Tampa, Mississippi College, Lynn University, and Albany State University.

The Statesmen are making their 37th appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament after being named the 2025 regular season Gulf South Conference Champions.

This will be the first trip to Lakeland for Delta State since they went 2-2 in the 2018 regional. The Statesmen are looking to make their second Super Regional Appearance, first since 2019 when they went to Tampa. Delta State is looking to make their 13th appearance in the College World Series with 12 Regional Championships (three south region championships). The Statesmen have a National Championship won in the 2004 season where they had their program best 54 wins.

THE SCHEDULE (All Times ET)

Thursday, May 15, 2024

Game 1 // 2:00 PM – West Florida vs Delta St.

Game 2 // 6:00 PM – Florida Southern vs West Alabama

Friday, May 16, 2024

Game 3 // 2:00 PM – Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2

Game 4 // 6:00 PM – Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2

Saturday, May 17, 2024

Game 5 // 2:00 PM – Loser of Game 4 Vs. Loser of Game 3

Game 6 // 6:00 PM – Winner of Game 4 Vs. Winner of Game 5

Sunday, May 18, 2024

Game 7 // 2:00 PM – If necessary