CLEVELAND, Miss. – No.1 seed and second-ranked Delta State punched its 12^th ticket to the NCAA Division II World Series, edging out West Alabama with a 6-4 decision in 10 innings during the championship round of the South Regional at Ferriss Field on Monday.
 
The Tigers conclude the 2017 season with a 38-21 overall mark after fighting their way through the elimination bracket by defeating Miles College, as well as the No. 4, No. 17 and No. 26^th ranked teams in the nation in Tampa, Nova Southeastern and Florida Southern, respectively.
 
The Statesmen (43-11) will travel to Grand Prairie, Texas, to play for the national championship.
 
"I don't know if there any words to describe the heart and effort these young men displayed this week," UWA head coach Gary Rundles said. "We came in here with high hopes just like every other team, but we got thumped 20-5 in our first game.
 
"We struggled a bit, but we fought back and battled. The leadership of our seniors and the 'no-quit' mentality they showed every time they took the field was tremendous. I'm very proud of this team."
 
With a fly out splitting a pair of singles from Clay Casey and Josh Russell, Nick Morgan wore a pitch to load the bases for Delta shortstop, Justin Nussbaum. Nussbaum singled an 0-2 pitch into right field, scoring the Statesmen's lead runners for a 2-0 lead in the top of the second.
 
Following a single from Jason Popovich on the next at-bat, a Tiger error at the end of the play allowed Morgan to push the DSU lead to 3-0. A one-bagger from Emil Ellis on the next-at bat was good for a run-batted-in, driving in Nussbaum to widen the gap to 4-0.
 
Marcus Morrisette, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, breathed life into the UWA lineup once again, blasting a 1-1 pitch over right field to lead-off the bottom of the inning, cutting the margin to 4-1 on his fifth long ball of the tournament.
 
The Tigers continued to battle back in the bottom of the fifth as Taylor Stafford launched a one-out, solo homer over right field, pulling UWA within two runs.
 
West Alabama cut further into the Delta State lead in the seventh, utilizing a single off the bat of Luke Phillips to score Nick Delgado, who walked with two outs and advanced to third on a single from Stafford.
 
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, a Delgado single followed buy a double in the right centerfield gap from Phillips two batters later preceded a Statesmen error in right field to give Delgado the green light home, tying the game at 4-4.
 
Gulf South Conference Player of the Year Zach Shannon lead off the tenth with a single, while a double to left center off the bat of Jamell Newsom chased Shannon for a 270-foot sprint home  to break the tie and put the Statesmen back in front 5-4. Russell doubled on the next at-bat, driving Newsom in for a 6-4 advantage.
 
Morrisette led off the bottom of the frame with a single up the middle, but a 4-6-3 double play on the next at-bat put two away for the Statesmen. A shallow fly ball to left field on the next at-bat was dropped after a collision of fielders, but a heads-up throw to first caught a Tiger off the bag for the final out.
 
Phillips's three hits led the vanguard of a 15-hit Tiger effort, while Brock Montgomery, Josh Winningham, Delgado, Stafford and Morrisette finished with two hits each.
 
Russell led the DSU lineup with three hits, while Ellis followed with two. Nussbaum's two RBI was a game-high.
 
"Seth (Holbert) showed a gutsy effort on the mound for us," Rundles said. "He showed what he was capable of and put us in a position to win. As a senior, he can be very proud of the way he went out with the way he played today."
 
Seth Holbert (5-3) took the loss, giving up just four hits through seven frames after shaking off a five-hit, four-run second frame in nine and one-thirds innings of work. Zach Osbon (7-1) earned the pitching win in relief, allowing one run on six hits in three innings on the mound.
 
"MJ, Tyler and Nick have picked us up at times and put us on their backs," Rundles said. "I'm very proud of them getting honored at this level with All-South Region Tournament nods. We're going to miss all three of those guys.
 
"It's almost unheard of for the losing team to have the MVP, but MJ had an outstanding tournament."
 
Morrisette batted .370 throughout the tournament, knocking in 16 runs on 10 hits, including five home runs and a double for a .963 slugging percentage. On the mound, the career third baseman notched a save in all three opportunities.
 
Lee led the Tigers with a .400 batting average, rapping out 10 hits with two doubles and two homers. Delgado followed, batting .391 nine hits and a team-high .533 on-base percentage.