NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk Tides defeated Norfolk State in the teams' annual exhibition game by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday night before 6,766 fans at Harbor Park.
 
The Tides scored one run in the bottom of the first and made that lead stand up, adding two more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning.
 
Chris Parmelee hit a one-out double in the bottom of the first and scored on Dariel Alvarez's RBI single for the first run of the ballgame.
 
NSU recorded its first hit on a sharp single up the middle by second baseman Syeed Mahdi in the top of the second, but Mahdi was stranded at the end of the frame. NSU's best threat came in the top of the fourth, when Angel Rosario and Roger Hall led off with consecutive singles off Tides pitcher Michael Bowden. But Bowden struck out Kyle Vaas and induced an inning-ending double play to end the threat.
 
The Tides added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI groundout by Michael Almanzar and a wild pitch that allowed Audry Perez to score from third.
 
Chris Jones earned the win for the Tides after pitching a scoreless first inning. Josh Vales took the loss for the Spartans. Despite giving up a run on two hits, Vales also struck out the side in the bottom of the first. NSU relievers Alex Mauricio, Michael Parmentier, Robbie Hiser, Jonathan Mauricio, Corey Haynes and Cooper Jones combined to keep the Tides off the board in the second through sixth innings.
 
Alvarez had two of the Tides' six hits. NSU ended with four – singles by Mahdi, Rosario and Hall, and a double by Andre' Moore.
 
"I'm proud of how our guys competed in a professional setting," NSU head coach Claudell Clark said. "We had a couple solid hits and our pitchers, for the most part, made competitive pitches. This kind of game can't help but make us better."
 
The game, now in its fifth year, also serves as a fundraiser for the Spartan baseball program. The five meetings have drawn more than 38,000 fans to Harbor Park in what has become a popular event for NSU supporters and baseball fans in the surrounding community.
 
Tides 3, Norfolk State 0
NSU       000 000 0 - 0 4 1
Tides     100  000 2 - 3 6 0
    WP – Chris Jones. LP – Josh Vales.
 
-NSU-