Visiting Delta State rode the complete game pitching of Dalton Minton and took advantage of costly Lee errors to win the Gulf South Conference three-game series 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Olympic Field.

Minton scattered six hits in going the distance in the 6-0 shutout victory. He struck out eight, walked two and improved his record to 6-2 overall. The win gave the Statesmen a 26-10 overall mark and improved to 15-8 in GSC play. The Flames dropped to 17-21 and 8-11. They will hit the road for a non-conference game at Trevecca on Wednesday before moving on down to West Florida for three more GSC contests next weekend.

The Flames also got solid pitching but the bats could never come alive. Mitchell Hendricks started and worked 3.2 innings. He allowed two hits, one earned run, walked five and struck out five. Thomas Lazzaro followed for 2.2 innings. He surrendered two hits, no earned runs and walked a pair. Randall Coxwell came on for 2.1 innings. He allowed three hits and one earned run. Lance Hamilton got the final out of the afternoon.

The Statesmen broke open a scoreless battle in the fourth inning when Patrick Hodges homered over the right-field wall. He also added a single to his two-hit total. Delta got on the board again in the seventh. Jake Barlow doubled home David Harrington who had reached on a Lee error. The two-run uprising continued when Matthew Majeur reached on a throwing error that allowed Barlow to score. Delta State tacked on three insurance runs in the ninth, thanks to two more Lee errors. Weber Herbison also had a two-base hit in the win.

The Flames could never put six hits together. Justin Fragale had a pair of hits as did the speedy Parker Stahlman. Miguel Pimentel and Alan Smith had the other safe knocks.