NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State head baseball coach Claudell Clark announced Thursday that longtime assistant Joey Seal has been promoted to associate head coach.

Seal, who just finished his seventh season on the NSU staff, will continue to serve as the team's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In addition, he will also be responsible for all aspects of advanced scouting, assisting the coaching staff with game preparation, and handling day-to-day administrative tasks for the program.

"Coach Seal has done an outstanding job of overseeing and enhancing our recruiting process. He has also been instrumental in the improvement of our pitching staff which has produced numerous all-conference performers in recent years," Clark said. "We are very grateful to have a coach of Seal's caliber as a member of the staff. We feel that his expertise and baseball-related connections will continue to be key factors in helping to take our program to the next level."

The Spartans have won the last two MEAC Northern Division regular-season titles (2015-16) while twice setting a new school Division I era record for most wins in a season. The 2015 squad went 27-16, while the 2016 team bettered that win total by finishing 29-21 en route to a runner-up finish in the MEAC tournament. NSU has logged a 38-10 MEAC North record the last two seasons. 

The NSU pitching staff has tied or set a number of school records under Seal's tutelage. In 2016, Spartan pitchers set a new school record with 417 strikeouts as a staff. NSU also tied the school single-season record with nine shutouts on the way to a 3.66 team ERA, lowest in the Spartans' Division I history, tops in the MEAC and the state, and among the top 50 Division I marks in the nation. Spartan pitchers have earned six All-MEAC awards the last two years, led by two-time MEAC Pitcher of the Year Matt Outman.
 
A Newport News, Va. native, Seal played at NSU from 2005-08 and is the school's all-time leader in innings pitched and strikeouts. A second-team All-MEAC performer in 2007, he earned his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies.