Live Stats (link for each game will appear minutes before first pitch)

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team plays its next-to-last MEAC Northern Division series of the year this weekend as the Spartans travel to Dover, Del. to face first-place Delaware State. The teams play a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday and a single game starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The series could end up deciding the Northern Division's No. 1 seed in next month's MEAC Tournament. DSU (21-13 overall) – which has won the division each of the two years since the MEAC split into a North/South format – leads the standings with a 10-6 mark, just percentage points ahead of second-place NSU (11-7). The Hornets have won four of six from NSU this season by taking two-of-three in both of the first two series, which were both played in Norfolk.

NSU (15-21 overall) has won five of its last seven conference games thanks to weekend series wins over UMES (two-of-three) and Coppin State (three-of-four) the last two weeks. Sophomore outfielder Andre' Moore and senior outfielder Cameron Day have both been hot lately. Moore is batting .341 this month. Overall, he is batting .290 and is tied for the MEAC-lead with three triples. Day is hitting .476 in April.

The trio of starters Matt Outman and Stephen Butt and swingman Devin Hemmerich has also been productive. Outman is tied for second in the conference with five victories this year (5-1), including a 4-0 mark against the MEAC North. Butt (2-2) is the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week who is third in the league in strikeouts (49) and first in strikeouts per nine innings (10.76). Hemmerich (3-2) ranks seventh in the MEAC in earned-run average (2.86) and has four saves, tied for the most in the conference.

The Hornets lead the nation in batting average (.347) and are second in scoring (8.7). Five Hornets rank in the nation's top 50 in batting average, led by Mike Alexander. The senior catcher/utility man has a .427 mark and has hit six homers. Infielder D.J. Miller is right behind, ranking third nationally with a .426 average. Infielder David Kimbrough (24th, 3.96), outfielder Aaron Nardone (45th, .381) and outfielder Ron Farley (46th, .380) also rank in the top 50.

DSU senior right-hander Matt McClain ranks second in the MEAC with a 2.05 ERA and is 5-0 on the year. McClain yielded a season-high 10 runs, six earned, in five innings in his last outing against the Spartans, a game ultimately won by DSU, 14-10, on April 5.

In other MEAC North action, Coppin State (7-11 North) and UMES (6-10) play a three-game series in Glen Burnie, Md., this weekend. The Spartans complete their conference slate with a three-game set at UMES next weekend (May 3-4).