Mississippi Valley State wrapped up its fifth Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division title last weekend by winning its series at Jackson State.
The Delta Devils are 15-3 in league play - five games ahead of second-place JSU at 11-9. MVSU will close out SWAC play this weekend at home with a three-game series against Alcorn, which is in third place at 9-9.
Alabama A&M is next at 10-12, followed by Alabama State in last place at 3-15.
The top four teams from the East and the West advance to the SWAC Tournament, which is set for May 20-24 at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.
This is Valley's fifth Eastern Division championship in the last seven years under ninth-year head coach Doug Shanks. JSU won it the last two years.
"We feel real good about what we've accomplished here. Year in and year out, we've showed a degree of consistency in our program with the smallest budget in the SWAC," Shanks said. "I think we've gotten better each year."
Valley's baseball program has shown great improvement under Shanks, but there is still one goal that has ultimately avoided him so far - a SWAC Tournament title.
The Delta Devils lost 9-7 to Southern in the 2003 SWAC title game and then lost in the finals again the next year.
They have not been back since then, but that's a trend the Delta Devils hope to break this season.
"I have to be honest. I've been real disappointed that a SWAC championship has eluded us with some good teams. I want to get this program into a (NCAA) regional," Shanks said.
Senior shortstop Jeff Squier leads Valley in hitting with a .358 average, triples with five and stolen bases with 38 - which ranks him tied for second nationally.
Sean Bard, a senior first baseman, is second in hitting at .301. He and Willie Mays are tied for first with 28 runs driven in.
Bard ranks second in doubles with eight, two behind Mays, a junior right fielder, who is hitting .295.
Mays leads Valley with six home runs, while Bard and Squier are tied for second with four.
