Box Score SALISBURY, Md. – Jameel Edney's solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth provided the only scoring as Bethune-Cookman captured the 2016 MEAC Baseball Championship with a 1-0 victory over Norfolk State on Tuesday afternoon at Perdue Stadium.

The Spartans (29-21) saw their two-day fight through the loser's bracket of the tournament come to an end following a classic pitcher's duel between NSU lefty Matt Outman, the two-time MEAC Pitcher of the Year, and the Bethune-Cookman duo of Tyler Norris and Alex Seibold. The teams matched zeroes until two outs in the bottom of the eighth, when Edney lofted an offering from Outman over the left-field wall for his second homer of the tournament against the Spartans.

Norris pitched the first six innings without allowing a hit, but walked five batters and gave way to Siebold in the seventh. Seibold did not allow a hit until Spartan first baseman Roger Hall led off the ninth with a single up the middle. But Seibold got designated hitter Robbie Depp to fly out for the first out in the inning. Bethune-Cookman then got a strike-out, throw-out double play to end the game, with Seibold fanning Alex Mauricio and BCU catcher Clay Middleton cutting down Spartan pinch runner Kevin Granger at second for the final out of the game.

Seibold (6-4) got the win with three scoreless innings of relief, striking out three.

Outman turned in a typical gutsy performance, his last in a Spartan uniform. Pitching on three days rest following a loss against the same BCU club on Friday, Outman kept the dangerous Wildcats (29-25) off-balanced much of the game, and worked out of trouble the few times he found himself in a rough spot. He stranded five runners through the first three frames, then had a signature moment in the sixth. Danny Rodriguez led off with a single off the glove of Justin Lee at shortstop. After a flyout by Middleton, Nathan Bond followed with a double to right-center to put two runners in scoring position.

With the infield drawn in, Edney reached base on a Spartan error to load the bases, with Rodriguez holding at third base. Outman then fanned Josten Heron and Nate Sterijevski to keep the game scoreless.

Outman then pitched a scoreless seventh and retired the first two batters he faced in the eighth before Edney's homer to left, his seventh homer of the year.

Rodriguez and Edney both had two hits for BCU, which outhit the Spartans 7-1. BCU earns the MEAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Baseball Championship. The Spartans were making their seventh all-time appearance in the MEAC Baseball championship round and first since 2014 – when NSU also fell to the Wildcats. 

Outman pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out four in eight innings. He finishes his NSU career with a record of 23-8, and tied J.R. Wilkerson (1987-90) for the most pitching victories in NSU history in his three seasons. 

Hall, Brian Beard, Devin Hemmerich and Michael Parmentier were named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team.

Outman was one of five Spartans to wrap up their collegiate careers Tuesday, along with Lee, Cooper Jones, Kyle Vaas and Angel Rosario. The quintet of seniors contributed to 98 wins over the last four years. NSU broke the program's single-season Division I wins record for the second straight year, finishing 29-21 in 2016.

Lee played in 184 career games, fifth-most in NSU baseball history. Jones made 79 career pitching appearances, the most-ever by a Spartan pitcher. Vaas appeared in 139 games in his career, driving in 73 runs. Rosario batted .281 in his two years at NSU with 27 doubles and 57 RBI.