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NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team (19-24), the No. 2 seed from the MEAC Northern Division, opens play in the 2014 MEAC Baseball Tournament at 9 a.m. Wednesday against MEAC South No. 3 seed North Carolina Central (18-31-1). All tournament games will be played at NSU's Marty L. Miller Field.

The Spartans enter the tournament as winners of four straight games, including a three-game sweep of North No. 4 seed UMES in the last weekend series of the regular season (May 3-4) and a 4-3 non-conference win over the Apprentice School last Thursday. NSU is seeking its first-ever MEAC baseball title.

NSU'S MEAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• NSU has advanced to the championship round of the tournament five times previously (1998, 2001, '05, '08 and '11) but finished as runner-up each time.
• Overall, NSU is 31-32 all-time in its previous 16 MEAC Baseball Tournament appearance, including an 8-10 mark in the previous five tournaments to be played at Marty L. Miller Field.
• NSU has won at least one game in 14 of its previous 16 tournaments, with the only winless years coming in 2002 and 2006 (0-2 both times).
• NSU is entering the tournament as the MEAC North's No. 2 seed for the third straight year.
• NSU is 1-1 all-time against NCCU in tournament play, with both meetings happening last year. The Spartans beat the Eagles 5-4 in the first round of the tournament, but NCCU eliminated the Spartans two days later with a 12-6 victory in the loser's bracket.

NSU PLAYER/TEAM NOTES
• Several Spartan hitters enter the tournament with a hot bat. The team has hit .300 over its last month of competition, with six individuals averaging .300 since the start of April.
• Cameron Day leads the way with a .489 average (23-of-47) since the start of April, including three doubles, one triple and eight RBI.
• Cody Ellis is hitting .351 in the last month, while Omar Hotusing (.346), Zach Markel (.345), Chase Kyriacou (.328) and Andre' Moore (.324) all averaging at least .300 in the same time span.
• Kyriacou has 15 RBI in his last 17 games, including two homers and five doubles.
• Justin Lee is tied for third in the MEAC with 17 steals this year and has been thrown out just twice.
• Moore is tied for fifth in the MEAC with 16 stolen bases and is second in the conference with four triples.
• Matt Outman, a sophomore transfer from Lynchburg College, is tied for third in the MEAC with six pitching victories (6-2). He was 5-1 against MEAC Northern Division opponents this year.
• NSU's top three pitchers, Outman, Stephen Butt and Devin Hemmerich, were a combined 11-3 against the division this year.
• Hemmerich, a freshman, has four saves this season, tied for second in the conference. Only five other Spartans in program history have posted more saves in a season than Hemmerich has so far in 2014.
• As a team, NSU is 10th in the nation in outfield assists, with 16 (according to research compiled by Georgia Tech SID Mike DeGeorge).

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• NCCU comes in having lost six of its last seven ballgames. The Eagles, who went 12-12 in the MEAC's Southern Division, had a chance to tie for the top spot heading into last weekend. But NCCU dropped two makeup games on the road to fall all the way to third. NCCU last 6-4 at Savannah State last Friday and 9-8 at Florida A&M on Saturday in two games that were postponed from earlier in the year due to rain.
• Four Eagles boast averages of.300 or better, led by catcher/DH Carter Williams (.363). He has a team-high 42 RBI and has hit four home runs. Third baseman Tyson Simpson checks in at .353 with two homers and 35 RBI, outfielder Carlos Ortiz is hitting .318 with six homers and 24 RBI, and infielder Zack Lee is batting .306.
• The Eagles' pitching staff is seventh in the MEAC with a collective 6.27 ERA. The staff is led by right handers Terry McNabb (2-8, 4.52 ERA, 62 K) and Kyle Shields (3-4, 5.47, 26 K).