NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk State University earned the No. 2 seed in the 2006 MEAC Baseball Championship, which runs May 18-21 at NSU's Marty L. Miller Field.
NSU opens play at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 18 against No. 5 Delaware State.
Led by interim head coach Claudell Clark, the Spartans (23-26 overall, 11-7 MEAC) earned their highest-ever MEAC seed after winning a school-record 11 MEAC games this season. NSU's 23 wins have already tied the school single-season Division I mark, set by the 2000 team which finished 23-22.
Tickets for the tournament are $5 per day for adults and $3 per day for students, children under 12 and senior citizens.
The Spartans, who were MEAC Tournament runners-up last season to champion North Carolina A&T, have received a balanced team effort this season. NSU leads the MEAC with a .304 team batting average and ranks second with a 4.69 team earned run average.
NSU has five hitters who rank among the MEAC top 15 in batting, led by senior utility player T.J. Starkey (Virginia Beach, Va.). He ranks second in the conference with a .379 mark, followed by sophomore first baseman Ernie Banks (Chesapeake, Va.), who is fifth in the MEAC at .370, and sophomore catcher/DH John Boyd (Hempstead, N.Y.), who is sixth at .361.
Moriba George (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.), a junior infielder/outfielder, ranks 11th in the MEAC with a .343 average and also leads the team in runs batted in (38) and stolen bases (18). Boyd leads the team and is tied for fourth in the MEAC with seven home runs.
The pitching staff has been led by three solid starters. Junior lefty De'Mece Williams (Newberry, S.C.) is 6-3 with a 3.83 ERA, and is 4-0 in six starts against conference opponents. Junior right hander Mark Young (Norfolk, Va.) is 4-5 and leads the squad with a 3.39 ERA, and sophomore righty Joey Seal (Newport News, Va.) is 3-5 with a 4.69 ERA and leads the staff with 64 strikeouts.
Bethune-Cookman (27-25, 15-0) is the top seed in the six-team, double-elimination tournament, followed in order by NSU, Coppin State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Delaware State and North Carolina A&T. Florida A&M finished seventh in the MEAC and did not qualify for the tournament.
Click here for the tournament bracket.
For more information on the tournament, visit www.meacsports.com.
