Box Score  l  Updated Tournament Bracket

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ryan Shook allowed just one unearned run and fanned a career high tying nine batters, Chris Warren had a career-high four hits and James Taylor hit his first career home run to lift No. 4 seed Norfolk State to an 11-1 win over No. 2 Delaware State in the second round of the MEAC Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Warren also drove in three runs for the Spartans (23-27), who advance to Friday's winner's bracket final against top seed Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday's championship round.

Shook (4-3) and DSU starter Matt McClain (4-8) matched each other with scoreless frames through the first three innings before NSU broke on top in the fourth. John Lynch led off with a single to left field and moved to third on a pair of bunts. Chris Joyce then hit a sacrifice fly to center to give the Spartans a 1-0 edge.

NSU padded its lead to 4-0 with three more runs in the top of the fourth. Blaze Zeilman led off by drawing a walk. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a McClain wild pitch. Warren then doubled him in to make it 2-0. Taylor was the next hitter, and he drove an 0-1 McClain pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run home run. Taylor's first career homer made it 4-0.

John Rasberry gave the Spartans some insurance with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh, scoring Taylor and Lynch.

DSU finally got to Shook in the seventh after a two-out NSU error prolonged the inning. Troy Drummond hit an RBI single to score Brandon Crist, but Shook fanned MEAC Player of the Year Scott Davis to end the threat.

NSU put it away with a five-run eighth inning. Warren and Lynch both smacked two-run singles to highlight the scoring. The game was stopped after eight innings due to the 10-run rule.

Shook scattered four hits and allowed just one unearned run in seven innings. He walked a season-high six, but routinely got out of trouble. Shook allowed three hits and walked five in the first four innings, but then settled down to retire 10 straight Hornets before the seventh-inning error that led to DSU's lone run. This also marks the fourth time this season Shook has struck out nine hitters in a game.

Warren finished 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Lynch went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Taylor scored three times.

D.J. Miller was 2-for-4 for DSU. McClain took the loss after allowing nine hits and six runs in 6.2 innings.