If you want a simple way to describe how competitive the Gulf South Conference baseball season was throughout the year, here’s a couple: first and eighth place in the league were separated by just seven conference games, and the No. 8 seed won its regular-season series against the No. 1 seed.

So, consider the mantra for the GSC Championship, which gets going this weekend, to be to expect the unexpected.

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Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama, which is also hosting the GSC Softball Championship nearby this week, will be a hot ticket as it acts as this year’s home to one of the most coveted prizes in college baseball — a GSC Championship title and an automatic ticket to the NCAA Division II Regionals.

Former national champions are in the field, as are many upstart programs looking to leave their mark and continue their seasons with some extra hardware in tow. Baseball in the south hits differently, and the top teams of the GSC are ready to show you why.

Here’s a look ahead at the GSC Baseball Championship, with previews of all eight teams beginning their postseason journeys this weekend:

NOTE: All game times are listed in Eastern Time. 

No. 1 Delta State Baseball

Record: 32-16 overall (23-10 GSC)

First game: vs. No. 8 Montevallo, 8 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: It was a cutthroat GSC title race that came down to the wire after Delta State was swept in its final series of the season against Mississippi College, but thanks to the Statesmen getting help from West Florida after its own doubleheader win last Saturday over Valdosta State, DSU was able to breathe a sigh of relief as it snagged its first GSC crown since 2022. The Statesmen had the joint-best team batting average in the conference at .306 and rarely lost in Cleveland, going 19-5 at Harvey Stadium, and while their team ERA was a tad high at 5.08, having the best pitcher in the GSC at their disposal helped their title charge.

Impact player: Drake Fontenot, RHP

Fontenot is the best pitcher in the GSC in question, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. Likely to see some looks at the upcoming MLB Draft for his sheer dominance of the D-II level this season, the towering 6-foot-5 righty was the conference’s ERA champion with a 1.96 mark that also ranks within the top 10 of all of D-II as of this writing. 

The Statesmen trust their ace to go deep into games, where he only seems to get stronger as the innings pass by; Fontenot struck out 11 batters in an eight-inning gem against Christian Brothers on March 7, for instance, then went the distance against West Alabama two weeks later where he gave up just four hits and fanned five Tigers.

No. 2 Valdosta State Baseball

Record: 29-20 (22-10)

First game: vs. No. 7 Lee, 2 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: The No. 1 seed for the GSC Championship may have slipped out of the Blazers’ fingers, but don’t get it twisted: Valdosta State has the tools to roar back and take a conference tournament championship. 

A 2-8 start to the season didn’t dampen VSU’s spirit as it went an impressive 27-12 the rest of the way, going on three different winning streaks of five games or more over the course of the year. In conference play specifically, the Blazers ranked in the top five league-wide in both team batting average (.297) and ERA (4.17) as they found their footing at the right time, and though three defeats in their final four regular-season games sting, they have a major opportunity right away to rebound in a big way.

Impact player: Orlando Pena, INF

Having spent two years at former D-I national champion Coastal Carolina before finding his way to Valdosta, Pena, who sat out the entirety of the 2024 season, waited a long time to make his opportunity with the Blazers count. Now that VSU has its slugger without any more hurdles to go through, the Blazers have discovered why Pena has been well worth the wait. 

The GSC’s home runs (20) and RBIs (78) champion at the end of the regular season, Pena slashed .345/.420/.798 in conference play as his raw power is without equal in the GSC, with his 135 total bases across the season also being joint-tops on the league’s statistical charts. Seven RBIs at the GSC Championship would mean that Pena would break VSU’s single-season RBI record — and the Blazers would likely be in the driver’s seat toward an automatic NCAA tourney bid.

No. 3 West Florida Baseball

Record: 31-17 (22-11)

First game: vs. No. 6 Trevecca Nazarene, 11 a.m. Friday

The lowdown: The burning question for the Argonauts this season would be how they would handle being without last year’s GSC Player of the Year and D-II home run king Darrien McDowell, a sixth-round MLB Draft pick of the San Diego Padres who became the highest draft choice in UWF history. 

It turns out that while the Argos’ offense did suffer — their 26 home runs as a team to date are less than the 27 McDowell hit alone last season — the pitching staff took its game up a notch. West Florida’s hurlers were absolutely lights-out in conference play, combining for a 3.01 ERA with five shutouts and 245 strikeouts as they played plenty of mistake-free baseball, facing batters, also possessing the third-best fielding percentage (.973) against GSC opponents.

Impact player: Dalton Neuschwander, RHP

Dominance from Neuschwander on the bump is nothing new, but it was a bit delayed from when it first came to light. Arguably the best pitcher in D-II ball as a sophomore in 2023, Neuschwander then went undefeated on the mound with a perfect 10-0 record en route to swallowing up a bevy of major awards, such as GSC Pitcher of the Year and being a D2CCA First Team All-American. 

Still a great pitcher last season who went 8-4 with a 3.70 ERA, the Neuschwander of old has now reappeared during his senior season; the only non-Drake Fontenot GSC pitcher to have an ERA under 2.00 (1.98), Neuschwander had 57 strikeouts in just 62⅔ innings pitched, though his availability could be a concern as he has not suited up in a game since April 11 against West Alabama.

No. 4 Mississippi College Baseball

Record: 31-19 (21-12)

First game: vs. No. 5 West Alabama, 5 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Not bad for a team projected to finish 10th in the conference in the preseason, huh? The Choctaws have already improved by 11 wins from 2024, while having more GSC wins this time around than wins in total from a season ago, and have the opportunity to add to that total this weekend in Oxford in their first postseason appearance in six years. 

The highest-scoring team in the league by a wide margin (394 runs, 36 more than second-placed Valdosta State), MC impressively swept Delta State to close out the regular season, putting up a combined 33 runs on the Statesmen in a final-day doubleheader. Five different qualified hitters bat over .300, and four have at least 10 home runs, making the Choctaws a lineup to be feared.

Impact player: Korey Cooper, INF

Though Cooper had a good year last season in his first at MC after transferring in from the junior college level, his game has evolved this time around to the point where he’s an all-around threat at the plate capable of busting games wide open. A .376 hitter who slashes .462/.646, Cooper beefed up his power with a new career-high 12 home runs, up from four a year ago, to go along with 55 RBIs and 15 doubles. 

He also pounded Delta State for five combined RBIs in the aforementioned doubleheader to close out the regular season, setting him up with a confidence boost heading into what could be a historic postseason stretch for the Choctaws.

No. 5 West Alabama Baseball

Record: 27-22 (18-15)

First game: vs. No. 4 Mississippi College, 5 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: On paper, West Alabama should be nowhere near the GSC Championship’s No. 5 seed based on the lack of production in the order alone. Against conference foes, the Tigers were just plain bad in the batter’s box with a .232 team average — the lowest in the league by a substantial margin — and 135 runs scored, which ranked last in the GSC by 40. 

The good thing for the Tigers is that baseball games aren’t played on paper. Excellent pitching saved the day for UWA time and time again in the regular season, as it had the second-best conference-play team ERA (4.01), and the Tigers were additionally able to rescue their season while on the brink by winning eight straight games to close out the regular-season slate. A lack of offense will be a continuous problem for UWA the longer it lasts this postseason, but if it ain’t broke, the Tigers don’t need to be fixing it.

Impact player: Bryant Quimby, LHP

There’s not technically a “most valuable player” award in the GSC, just a Player of the Year award. But if there were such a thing as an honor to bestow to a player who’s meant the most to his team this season, it might be Quimby, as the Tigers would be long out of the postseason picture without him. 

Considering that teammate and fellow starter Maxwell Schumacher finished ninth in the GSC with a 3.53 ERA yet was still saddled with a 1-6 record, Quimby’s 6-5 mark this season, when taking into account the lack of run support that the Tigers often provide, is a borderline Herculean feat. The 6-3 lefty has been the steady hand UWA has needed this spring, holding a 2.63 ERA (1.79 in conference play) with three complete-game outings on his record as he’s struck out 61 batters in 72 innings.

No. 6 Trevecca Nazarene Baseball

Record: 22-25 (17-16)

First game: vs. No. 3 West Florida, 11 a.m. Friday

The lowdown: Though they finished the regular season under .500, the Trojans have got to be pleased with being the No. 6 seed in their first conference tournament in the GSC after moving over from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in the preseason. Having the tied-best team batting average in the league at .306 certainly helped with the transition, softening the blows when their pitching staff (6.76 team ERA) was lacking. 

Still, this is a Trevecca team that holds a top-25 win (against then-No. 16 Carson-Newman on March 26) on its resume and went through a gauntlet of a schedule on top of the normal GSC fare, facing a North Greenville team contending for a national title (twice) along with D-I crosstown rival Belmont. Don’t discount TNU just because of its record, especially if the bats get hot.

Impact player: Joey Parliment, INF

He may only be 5-7, but Parliment has big-time experience and pop at the plate that immediately made him one of the top sluggers in the GSC in his first season in the league. A former All-American when playing for the Trojans in the G-MAC, he has maintained a .374 batting average going into the GSC Championship this year to go along with 14 homers and 40 RBIs, combining with leading hitter Cole McCallum (.380 average) to make up one of the conference’s top hitting tandems. 

The Trojans will need both of them and more to topple the mighty West Florida pitching staff on Friday, but seven wins from eight to close the regular season should have them feeling loose going into a high-pressure environment. 

No. 7 Lee Baseball

Record: 24-24 (16-17)

First game: vs. No. 2 Valdosta State, 2 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Speed can kill, and the Flames have a lot of it. The GSC’s only team to reach triple-digit stolen bases, Lee was by a significant margin the conference’s most dangerous team on the basepaths as it swiped away a league-best 107 bags in the regular season, with four different players taking at least 14 bases. 

But while it did make the Flames an entertaining team to watch that would always be up for some action, it didn’t consistently result in a winning formula as they managed to bring home just 176 runs in 33 GSC games, the third-fewest in the league. Solid pitching has also helped bring Lee to the postseason; however, its 5.18 team ERA across the whole season ranks fifth in the conference.

Impact player: Luke Collier, INF

Sure, Collier doesn’t mind stealing a base here and there (notching eight in 11 attempts in the regular season), but he much prefers to rake instead. His .393 batting average was fourth in the league in a big breakout season for the redshirt sophomore, who improved his average by almost 100 points and also led the GSC in triples with eight in the regular season. 

His 24 extra-base hits in all are a big reason why Collier has been able to slug a career-high .581 going into the GSC Championship despite only hitting two home runs in 2025; he finds gaps and uses his speed (mixed in with the Flames’ aggressive baserunning style) to constantly find ways to make it an extra 90 feet.

No. 8 Montevallo Baseball

Record: 25-23 (16-17)

First game: vs. No. 1 Delta State, 8 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: With a GSC-best 66 home runs and 504 hits, Montevallo is a powerhouse at the plate that brought across at least 10 runs on conference opponents eight times, beat the No. 1 team in the country and reigning national champion (Tampa on Feb. 7) and even won its series against its first-round opponent at the GSC Championship, Delta State. 

It also has one of the best aces in the league who seemingly mows down hitters for fun. So, why exactly are the Falcons the tournament’s No. 8 seed? Inconsistency was at the heart of Montevallo’s issues throughout the regular season; offensive explosions, like when the Falcons put 33 runs on Miles in nonconference play in mid-March, were mixed in with series losses to teams that are no longer playing, like Alabama Huntsville, Auburn Montgomery, and Union. The days that the Falcons are on, however, make them downright dangerous. 

Impact player: Adiel Melendez, LHP

Already a solid pitcher at the D-I level with Alabama State, striking out 27 batters in 22⅓ innings pitched during his only season with the Hornets in 2023, Melendez proved his chops to cut it in the GSC for certain this year. 

Besides fellow preview-makers Fontenot and Neuschwander, Melendez was the conference’s top arm with a 2.22 ERA, though he did better the DSU and UWF aces when it came to strikeouts as he wrapped up the regular season with a conference-tops 85 Ks in the same amount of innings, fanning more players than hits allowed (76). His 6⅔-inning outing back on March 14 against West Alabama was his signature start of the year, fanning nine Tigers while giving up just four hits.

2025 GSC Baseball Championship Teams

1. Delta State
2. Valdosta State
3. West Florida
4. Mississippi College
5. West Alabama 
6. Trevecca  
7. Lee
8. Montevallo

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