ITTA BENA, Miss. – In a midweek shootout, Mississippi Valley State's baseball team fell short to the Delta State Statesmen Tuesday (April 23) at the MVSU Baseball Field. The loss drops Valley's record to 6-22 – its 13^th straight defeat.
 
The Statesmen – ranked 13^th in Division II – found home plate early and often. Both teams registered solo home runs in the first, with Jordan Sawyer (Mobile, Ala.) tying the score for Valley. Delta State would eventually build up a 7-1 advantage before Valley came back in the fifth.
 
Doubles by Billy Leflore (Carthage, Miss.) and Wendell Rieves (Crawford, Miss.) plated four runs to pull the contest back to two at 7-5. Rieves' double brought home Chase Colding (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Antonio Walker (Ypsilanti, Mich.).
 
But the Statesmen continued their onslaught with five more runs over the final frames. The Delta Devils' last RBI came in the ninth with a single by Frederick Spencer II (Indianola, Miss.).
 
Valley's pitching generally struggled on the day, but got a nice effort from Gerald Pinatrich (Clairsville, Ohio). The freshman gave up just one run over four innings of relief with two strikeouts.
 
The Devils will head on the road for another midweek battle with Tougaloo Wednesday (April 24). They'll return home Friday (April 26) with a three game series against Alcorn State.