NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team plays its final home MEAC series of the year this weekend as Delaware State visits Marty L. Miller Field for a three-game series. The teams play a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, and a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Live statistics and live video will be available for all three games at the links to the top right of this page.
 
NSU will honor its four seniors – Chase Anderson, Trey Hanchey, Justin Hayes and Jonathan Mahoney – prior to Sunday's games.

Standings Update
NSU (17-20 overall, 12-6 MEAC North) enters the final two weekends of regular-season MEAC play tied for first in the Northern Division with Coppin State. The teams split their six regular-season games, with NSU winning twice last weekend. The Eagles play Maryland Eastern Shore this weekend and are at DSU next weekend, while the Spartans face the same two opponents in reverse order.

DSU (13-21, 8-10 MEAC) is in third place in the division entering this weekend, while MDES (4-14) is in fourth. Only the top three teams in each division advance to the MEAC Tournament next month in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Scouting the Spartans
NSU has won its last three MEAC series and six of its last eight games overall. After taking two of three from Coppin State last weekend, the Spartans split two non-conference games earlier this week, losing 5-3 to Longwood on Tuesday before beating North Carolina Central 5-0 on Wednesday.

Wednesday's game marked NSU's third shutout of the season and second in the last week. Kevin Alicea got the win with seven shutout innings in a starting role, and Tyler Morgan and Trey Hanchey each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Last weekend, Chase Anderson, Morgan and Seth Hockett combined on a seven-hit shutout of Coppin State.

NSU is the MEAC's top hitting team in conference play, with a .330 mark in its 18 league games. Sophomore Alsander Womack is sixth nationally, and first in the MEAC, with a .425 batting average. Hayes ranks fourth in the MEAC with a .329 overall average, and his .406 mark in MEAC games is second-best.

Scouting the Hornets
DSU won two of three last weekend in a home series with Maryland Eastern Shore, moving the Hornets well in front of MDES for third place in the division. The Hornets boast one of the top pitchers in the MEAC in junior left hander Garrett Lawson, who sports a 7-3 record and 1.68 ERA, which leads the conference. He has struck out 81 hitters in 64.1 innings pitched.

Middle infielders Tommy Jordan and John Weglarz pace the DSU offense. Jordan leads the team with a .308 average, while Weglarz is right behind at .307. Miguel Rivera bats .302 with 10 steals, nine doubles and 19 RBIs. Third baseman Jared Gills has a team-high 10 doubles and 25 RBIs.

Senior Salute
Sunday's Senior Day will be the final MEAC home game for four seniors. While the class is small in size, the contributions of the four players have been immense.

Hanchey has made 26 appearances in two years at NSU. A weekend starter who fanned 44 batters last year, Hanchey now serves as the team's closer and is tied for sixth in the MEAC with three saves.

Mahoney has started 24 games over his two seasons at NSU. He has 11 pitching wins in those two years and has recorded a 3.92 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 151.2 innings pitched.

Anderson enters the weekend second in school history in wins (23), needing two more to overtake record holder Devin Hemmerich. He is third in school history with 264 career strikeouts and is a two-time All-MEAC performer.

Hayes has batted .339 over two seasons at NSU. An All-MEAC first-team and All-East Region second-team member last year, Hayes has led the MEAC in stolen bases in each of the last two years. He is also a finalist for the Division I Senior CLASS Award.