CLEVELAND — After claiming the Gulf South Conference championship this past Wednesday, the second-ranked Delta State University Baseball team believed they had done enough to host the NCAA South Central Region Tournament May 15-18.

The NCAA confirmed that feeling on Sunday, as they announced Dave “Boo” Ferriss Field would host the regional for an 11th time this coming week.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to host another regional at Ferriss Field,” said Mike Kinnison, Statesmen head coach. “Our guys have played one of the toughest schedules in the country and I am very pleased with where we are at right now. With that said, we have a huge mountain to climb. This will be one of the toughest regionals in the country and we’ll have to play at our very best to win it.”

The (No.1) Statesmen (45-9), winners of 27 of their last 28 games, will host (No. 2) Southern Arkansas University (44-10), (No.3) University of West Alabama (45-11), (No.4) Abilene Christian University (43-15), (No.5) Ouachita Baptist University (43-14), and (No. 6) Texas A&M-Kingsville (31-29).

Southern Arkansas will face Ouachita Baptist in the first game of the regional on Thursday.

Game two will feature West Alabama versus Abilene Christian with Delta State and Texas A&M-Kingsville closing day one’s action in game three. The regional will continue with three games on Friday, Saturday and potentially two on Sunday.

Game times have not been assigned at this time. A complete bracket and game times will be available on Monday.

The winner of the NCAA South Central Region Tournament will advance to the NCAA Division II College World Series May 24-31 at GCS Park in Sauget, Ill. GCS Park is home to the Frontier League’s Gateway Grizzlies. The park is located just outside the St. Louis, Mo., metropolitan area.

The Statesmen have enjoyed great success when hosting NCAA regionals at Ferriss Field. Under current head coach Mike Kinnison, the Statesmen have claimed the regional title in three out of the four DSU has hosted since 1997. From 2002-2005, Delta State hosted four-straight NCAA South Central Region Tournaments with the Statesmen winning the title in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Delta State also claimed three regional championships at home under legendary head coach Dave “Boo” Ferriss in 1977, 1978, and 1982.

In 2004, coach Mike Kinnison directed the Statesmen to the program’s first NCAA Division II National Championship with a 12-8 victory over Grand Valley State at Patterson Field in Montgomery, Ala. Two weeks earlier, the Statesmen had defeated Southern Arkansas 24-2 to advance to the College World Series at Ferriss Field.