From staff reports

For the second day in a row, Levi Bishop came through in the clutch as Delta State defeated Southern Arkansas 5-3 Sunday night in the 2008 NCAA South Central Regional at Dave “Boo” Ferriss Field.

The win secures the Statesmen’s place in the championship game against Ouachita Baptist today at 1 p.m.

The Tigers are undefeated and would have to lose twice. With the win, Delta State improves to 48-10.

SAU, fresh off a come-from-behind victory over Abilene Christian, scored two runs in the third inning after both teams were scoreless through two complete.

David Aubrey walked on four straight pitches to lead off the inning and scored on the next at-bat with an RBI double by Brandon Graves. A sacrifice bunt by Tyler Maag moved the runner to third, allowing Pat Robey to score the runner with a sacrifice fly.

Delta State cut the deficit in half in the fourth following a leadoff walk by Clay Sartain. Three batters later, J.T. Taylor singled up the middle to cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, DSU scored four runs to take the lead for the first time. With two runners on, the Mulerider pitching staff hit Sartain to load the bases then Noland for the game tying run. Two batters later Anthony Palasini singled to left center scoring two runs to give the Statesmen a 4-2 advantage. Taylor singled in the next at-bat, extending the lead to 5-2.

SAU scored once more, but Bishop shut the door with a perfect ninth inning to secure the win.