Sport's page of The Delta Statement

1. Sports The Delta Statement Thursday, September 18, 2014B1
Tais Cotta, from Brazil, was the highlight of the weekend scoring twice against Louisiana College. Photo by Elisabetta Zengaro
The Statesmen fell 3-2 against Lyon College. Photo by Elisabetta Zengaro
Statesmen suffer defeat at Lyon
Eric Patten hired as DSU assistant baseball coach
Get involved in Delta State University intramurals
Women’s golf champions: Jennifer Boltinghouse and Morgan Bailey, members of Tri Delta Sorority.
A former shortstop, Patten returns to DSU as an assistant coach.
LaPetra Wilson
Staff Writer
Delta State coordinator
of intramural sports
Kirk Mansell provided
information about
intramurals and encouraged
students to participate.
“Participating in intramural
sports is a great way to meet
new people and stay active and
healthy,” Mansell said.
He also said if students
played a sport in high school,
and they don’t want to continue
to play for the university, they
can continue to play any sport by
participating in intramurals.
To participate in
intramurals, students must be
full-time undergraduates or
graduates, and faculty and staff
members must be working full-time
in the university.
Mansell said there are
several ways for students to get
involved in intramurals.
Intramural fl yers are posted
in dorms, the library, cafeteria,
the Union, etc.
He said the best way to get
students involved is to post fl yers
and pictures on social media
sites like Twitter, Instagram and
Facebook.
Intramurals also have their
own Facebook page, which helps
to get students involved.
“Mostly sororities and
fraternities participate in
intramurals,” said Mansell.
Two-man golf scramble,
ultimate Frisbee, beach
volleyball, fl ag football, soccer,
two-mile fun run, archery,
punt pass kick, disc golf, disc
golf single and double, ping
pong, and super hoops are the
intramural sports offered this
fall.
Students can sign up for
intramurals in Wyatt Gym.
There is a table with
forms of each sport offered.
Participants must complete the
form of the sport they want to
participate in and put it in the
roster case near the intramurals
table in Wyatt Gym.
Eljay Allen and Casey Patterson, men’s golf champions, member of the Pike Fraternity.
Lady Statesmen split road trip
O.B. Taylor
Assistant Sports Editor
The Lady Statesmen defeated
Louisiana College on Sept.
10 in Pineville, La., and lost
against LSU-Alexandria
two days later in Alexandria, La.
The Lady Statesmen
traveled to Pineville to take on
Louisiana College. Before the
match against the Lady Wildcats,
Delta State had been beaten 2-1
by Belhaven in Jackson on Sept.
6.
The fi rst half of the match
was dominated by Delta State.
The Lady Statesmen were trying
to put pressure on the woeful
Lady Wildcats defense.
It paid off in the 21st minute
when Tabitha Hayden scored her
fi rst goal of the season which put
the Lady Statesmen up 1-0.
Five minutes later, Hayden’s
great pass led to a goal by Tais
Cotta which put their side up 2-0.
In the 70th minute,
Louisiana College was
looking for a score to avoid
the clean sheet, and the Lady
Wildcats did with a goal by
Pamela Usry to put her side
down 2-1.
Cotta didn’t let the
Wildcats make an effort to
equalize the match as she
scored an 86th minute goal to
help her side earn their first
win of the season 3-1. It was
her second goal of the match.
Two days later on Sept.
12, the Lady Statesmen
traveled to LSU-Alexandria
to take on the Generals. They
suffered a 1-0 defeat in the
match.
The match was a
defensive encounter, but the
Generals scored a goal right
in the net when their attackers
found a way to beat the stingy
Lady Statesmen defense.
The Lady Statesmen will
travel to Valdosta, Ga. to take
on Valdosta State on Sept. 19,
and they will return to Delta
Field to take on West Georgia
on Sept. 21.
Both matches will be after
a match against Mississippi
College which will be on Sept.
16.
O.B. Taylor
Assistant Sports Editor
The Statesmen suffered
their third straight defeat
of the season when they
were beaten by Lyon
College 3-2 at Batesville, Ark.,
on Sept. 9.
The match did not start off
well for the Statesmen as poor
defending resulted in a header
shot by Lyon’s Abdullah Adams
being saved by Statesmen
goalkeeper Jacob Hauenstein.
The Statesmen came back
with chances to score in the
fi rst half. In the 14th minute,
midfi elder Daniel Deblaere’s
shot went up high. Eight minutes
later, Jaxon Lambert’s shot was
wide as he attempted to put the
Statesmen to a 1-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, Delta
State was awarded a penalty kick
which resulted in a Lambert goal
to put the Statesmen up 1-0 with
a few minutes left in the fi rst half.
Lyon failed to equalize the
score as they were down 1-0 in
the fi rst half.
The second half started off
well for the Statesmen as John
Bradshaw scored the second goal
of the match in the 47th minute,
which put his squad up 2-0.
Sadly, the second half
contained poor defending by the
Statesmen as they gave up three
goals in the span of six minutes.
The Scots scored their fi rst
out of three goals in the match in
the 57th minute when Benjamin
Elton rushed pass through a
dreadful Statesmen defense and
put the ball in the net. He had
help from his teammate Jonathan
Ray.
The Scots equalized the
score in the 62nd minute with a
goal by Adam with Jack Hayes
assisting him.
Adam would score again
for the Scots three minutes later
against the Statesmen’s dreadful
defense with the help of Hayes
again.
The Statesmen never
recovered and failed to get the
match in a draw as defeat was on
their hands for the third straight
match. They were outshot by
Lyon 18-12, and they were
outplayed throughout the second
half.
The Statesmen will try
to get their fi rst victory of the
season beginning with an away
game at Mississippi College on
Sept. 16. The Statesmen return to
home turf to take on Faulkner on
Sept. 20.
O.B. Taylor
Assistant Sports Editor
Eric Patten was named DSU
assistant baseball coach in
early August.
Patten replaced
Rodney Batts who was hired as
a head coach at Mississippi Gulf
Coast Community College back
in June.
Prior to returning to Delta
State, Patten coached at Gulfport
High School from 2007-2010 as
an assistant baseball coach. He
also coached at Jones County
Junior College from 2011-2013
as an assistant coach. During his
stints in both schools, he was a
hitting instructor and coached
infi elders.
“It is great to be back
to Delta State knowing all
the familiar faces,” he said.
“Everything was the same when
I played here.”
Patten is from Cedar Hill,
Texas. He played for DSU from
2002-2005 as shortstop.
He was part of the 2004
Statesmen squad that won the
national title over Grand Valley
State in the Division II World
Series.
Patten is currently ranked
third all-time in career hits and
second in career runs scored. He
had a .333 career batting average
while scoring 15 home runs
during his career.
He was also named All-Gulf
South Conference for three times
and All-South Region two times
during this career as a player.
He earned his undergraduate
degree in general studies with a
minor in business in 2005. He
earned his master’s in secondary
education in 2007.
He was a graduate assistant
coach at Delta State from 2006-
2007. During those years, he
helped the team to two successful
seasons during his tenure before
leaving for Gulfport High School
after the 2007 season.
Patten will coach the
infi elders and become the hitting
coach for the Statesmen.
He will make the Statesmen
a real threat at bat and the infi elder
positions. Pattern will teach his
infi elders tactics he learned during
his playing days at Delta State.