Riddle: 'We came, but we failed' Delta eliminates Troy; Gamecocks in driver's seat By REGGIE BENSON Advertiser Sports Writer CLEVELAND, Miss. - Delta State defeated Troy State 9-7 in the losers' bracket Saturday to knock the Trojans out of the South Central Regional tournament and deny them a chance to win their third straight NCAA Division II national championship. In the second game, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks moved closer to securing its fourth World Series' bid with a 13-3 victory over Central Missouri State. CMSU's game with Delta State was rained out, forcing the Gamecocks to wait until today to determine their next opponent. JSU will meet the winner of the Delta StateCentral Missouri game today at 4 p.m. for the region title. Should another game be necessary, it will be played Monday. It was the first time since 1977 a Troy State team had lost its first two games in a regional tournament. In 1977, in the South Regional at Lakeland, Fla., the Trojans lost to Eckerd College and Florida Southern. "WE CAME, but we failed," Troy State Head Coach Chase Riddle said. "Year-in and year-out we've gone to the regional tournament. And we've won it the last four years against four good teams every year. "But when the competition is real keen you have to play well and we didn't play as well as we can play. We're not a great ballclub, but we're not as bad as we showed in the tournament." Second baseman Lou Henry said the Trojans were not supposed to win. "We had a few bad innings," Henry admitted. "We couldn't get a few big hits and we gave up some big innings. It's hard to explain ... it just wasn't meant to be. "You can't blame anybody. But we didn't make the plays and you can't win if you don't make the plays." Delta State touched Troy State starter David Wuthrich for a run in the first, two in the second, one in the third and broke it open with four runs in the fourth. WITH DELTA State leading 4-2 in the fourth, the Statesmen went to work. Brian Cooke walked to open the inning. Mike Patterson sacrificed him to second and Mike Posey walked to put runners on first and second. Mike Kraft then hit a double play ball to shortstop Steve Fanning, but Henry threw the ball away at first, allowing Cooke to score for a 5-2 Delta State lead. Scooter Tucker popped up in the infield, but it dropped in between four Trojans for a single and Kraft scored from second base for a 6-2 DSU advantage. Doug Brown then followed with a two-run homer to left for an 8-2 Delta State lead. Rodney Brooks relieved Wuthrich and got Mark Hayes to ground out to end the inning. "When you get behind, it's tough to play catch up," Riddle said. "We gave them five outs one inning and four another and when you do that, it's tough to win. But our kids have nothing to be ashamed of. I didn't think we were out of it until the last out. If we could have got one in the air, we would have been back in the game." After the Statesmen scored one in the fifth to make it 9-3, Troy State began to rally. Henry walked to open the fifth and Lamar Smallwood doubled to left to put runners on second and third. After Fanning struck out, Brian Dunn doubled to score Henry and Smallwood and trim the score to 9-5. Mark Dempsey reached on an error. Rick Shackle then relieved DSU starter Doug King. Steve Eaton grounded out to third to score Dunn to make it 9-6. That score lasted until the ninth. With one out, Brian Dunn singled to right. John Maxwell, pinch running for Dunn, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Tucker. Please see GAMECOCKS, 2D