Tournament Bracket  |  Live Statistics

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team (26-14), the No. 1 seed from the MEAC Northern Division, opens play in the 2015 MEAC Baseball Championship at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Salisbury, Md., against the winner of Wednesday's 9 a.m. game between Bethune-Cookman (South No. 2) and Delaware State (North No. 3).

All games will be played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, home of the single-A Delmarva Shorebirds of the Baltimore Orioles organization. The double elimination tournament features six teams this year, the top three seeds from both the MEAC's Northern and Southern divisions. 

Other games on Wednesday including UMES (North No. 2) against Savannah State (South No. 3) at 12:30 p.m. Following the Spartans' game at 4 p.m., the UMES-Savannah State winner will play South No. 1 seed Florida A&M at 7:30 p.m.

This year marks the first time that the Spartans have ever finished first in their division of the MEAC. NSU won a school Division I record 26 games in the regular season, including a 19-5 mark against MEAC North opposition.

Tickets are $8 per day and $25 for a tournament pass. There is no charge to park at the stadium. Live statistics for all tournament games will be available through the MEAC web site, www.meacsports.com and at the top of this page. Individual game links will be available from the live stats home page shortly before first pitch.

Fans can also follow all the action on Twitter (@NSUSpartans) and Instagram (/NSUAthletics).

Below are notes on the Spartans entering the tournament:

MEAC Tournament History: NSU is still seeking its first MEAC baseball championship after having been runner-up on six occasions (1998, '01, '05, '08, '11, '14). This year marks the first time that the Spartans have earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament, which has changed from an eight-team to a six-team format this season.

Outman, Clark Earn Top Honors: Norfolk State junior left hander Matt Outman was voted the 2015 MEAC Baseball Pitcher of the Year, and Spartans' coach Claudell Clark was selected Coach of the Year as the league office announced its postseason awards and all-conference teams on Monday.

Outman was NSU's lone representative on the All-MEAC first team. Right handed pitcher Stephen Butt, first baseman Ryan Kilmon, middle infielder Roger Hall and outfielder Denathan Dukes were named to the second team, giving NSU a MEAC-leading five all-conference selections.

Outman finished the regular season with a MEAC-high eight wins (8-2) and 78 strikeouts in 68.1 innings pitched. Outman has logged a 2.77 earned-run average, third-best in the MEAC. He ranks 29th nationally in wins, 42nd in strikeouts per nine innings (10.27) and 75th in total strikeouts. Outman is now 16-4 in his two seasons at NSU.

Outman is NSU's first MEAC Pitcher of the Year since his head coach, Clark, won the award in 2000.

Clark picked up NSU's first MEAC Baseball Coach of the Year Award since 2000, when current athletics director Marty Miller earned that distinction. Clark was a junior on that year's team. 

A Regular Season to Remember: NSU has achieved a number of high-water marks for the program in its Division I era already this season:
•    The 26 wins are a single-season Division I record, topping the 2007 and 2008 teams which both had 25.
•    The Spartans are assured of having the best win-loss percentage in the school's Division I era. The 2008 team won 51 percent of its game (25-24).
•    The 19 MEAC wins are also a school record, topping the 15-9 record posted by the 2012 team.
•    The 79 percent win percentage is also the best for any NSU season in MEAC play, topping the 2000 team that went 10-6 (62.5 percent).
•    NSU's 15-2 record at home, including 12-0 in MEAC Northern Division play, is the best in Marty L. Miller Field history.
•    NSU had a 13-game winning streak, longest in its D-I history and longest since 1995, from March 28-April 25. The Spartans won 20 of their final 24 regular-season games.
•    NSU posted notable non-conference wins over Richmond (first win over UR in NSU history) and VCU (first over VCU since 1977).

And the Winner Is ...: NSU's players garnered 15 of the weekly MEAC baseball honors this year. Matt Outman (three-time Pitcher of the Week), shortstop Alex Mauricio (three-time Rookie of the Week) and infielder Roger Hall (two-time Rookie, one-time Player of the Week) were the most frequently honored Spartans.

Pitchers on Point: The Spartan pitching staff has been a big reason for the team's success this year. More on NSU's staff:
•    The weekend rotation of Matt Outman, Devin Hemmerich and Stephen Butt is a combined 17-7 with a 2.61 ERA. Outman was a first-team All-MEAC pick, while Butt was a second-team pick.
•    Outman leads the MEAC in wins and strikeouts while ranking third in ERA.
•    Hemmerich is fifth in the MEAC in ERA (2.85), fourth in strikeouts (67) and first in complete games (five).
•    Butt leads the MEAC in ERA (2.14) and is sixth in strikeouts (58).
•    All three weekend starters, plus top relievers Cooper Jones and Josh Vales, all average better than nine strikeouts per nine innings.
•    As a team, NSU ranks seventh nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.0), 25th in shutouts (five), 28th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.09) and 95th in ERA (3.96).
•    NSU leads all conference teams in ERA and has one more strikeout (326) than second-place Bethune-Cookman (325) despite playing 128 fewer innings.

Newcomers Power the Way: NSU lost six starters from last year's everyday starting lineup and suffered another setback in February when senior shortstop Justin Lee was lost for the year due to a shoulder injury after three games. But a number of newcomers, in addition to some little-used reserves from 2014, have bolstered NSU's lineup this year:
•    OF Denathan Dukes, who had just 18 at-bats as a freshman in 2014, has seized the role of lead-off batter and ranks third in the MEAC with a .357 batting average. He earned second-team All-MEAC honors after leading NSU in stolen bases (11) and runs scored (33).
•    JC transfers Angel Rosario (OF) and Robbie Hiser (3B) have nailed down spots in the top half of the order. Rosario enters the tournament third on the team with a .323 average and 23 RBI with a team-high 14 doubles. Hiser is batting .284 with one homer, 19 RBI and has played a strong third base.
•    1B Ryan Kilmon is a graduate transfer from JMU who earned second-team All-MEAC honors after batting .327 with nine doubles, three triples, two homers and 24 RBI. Kilmon last played collegiate baseball at JMU in 2012 before stepping away from baseball due in part to health issues.
•    Infielder Roger Hall led the team and ranked second in the MEAC with 39 RBI during the regular season. He was cut from the squad each of the past two seasons before earning a walk-on spot on this year's team as a redshirt sophomore.
•    Freshman catcher Ismael Herrera has been a steady presence behind the plate and at bat, hitting .293 while splitting time with returning senior backstop Omar Hotusing.

Hemmerich Tosses 1st No-Hitter Since 1996: Sophomore left hander Devin Hemmerich pitched NSU's first no-hitter in the Division I era, and first in school history since 1996, in a 6-1 win over Coppin State on May 10. Hemmerich walked the lead-off batter in the top of the first, who stole second and later scored on a groundout. But CSU never got a hit against Hemmerich, who tied his career high with 10 strikeouts. The Spartans' last no-hitter came on March 12, 1996, when John Coles (five innings) and Matthew Hemmis (one inning) combined to blank St. Paul's in a 39-0, six-inning win. Hemmerich's no-hitter was the fifth in school history.

Scoring, Steals Up: NSU has improved in almost every offensive category since last year, notably in batting average (.286, up from .271) and stolen bases (70 in first 40 games of 2015, compared to 63 in 49 games last year). That has translated to NSU leading the MEAC and ranked 55th nationally in runs scored entering the tournament, at 6.4 runs per game. NSU averaged 5.3 runs per game in 2014. The Spartans rank 19th nationally in stolen bases per game (1.75) and 47th in total stolen bases. Nine different Spartans have at least five steals this year.