NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team returns to Marty L. Miller Field for one final home game on Wednesday, when the Spartans host Virginia Commonwealth at 3 p.m.
Live statistics and live video are available at the links to the right of this page.
Wednesday's game is one of three on tap this week for the Spartans, who also play a pair of road games to close out the regular-season at North Carolina Central. Game times are 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Durham Athletic Park.
Scouting the Spartans
NSU (22-21, 17-7 MEAC) concluded MEAC divisional play in style last week, sweeping three games from Maryland Eastern Shore in Salisbury to clinch NSU's fourth Northern Division crown in five years. Thanks to Delaware State's three-game sweep of Coppin State, NSU finished two games ahead of CSU for the regular-season division title and will get a first-round bye in the MEAC tournament next week.
The series win was the fifth in a row for the Spartans, who have also won five straight games in all. The Spartans are now over .500 overall for the first time this season.
NSU got a big lift last weekend from Korey Singh. The sophomore designated hitter went 6-for-14 in the series with one home run, one double and four RBIs. He hit a three-run homer in the series finale, one of a season-high three home runs NSU hit in that game. Alsander Womack and Ty Hanchey also went deep.
Womack ranks second in the league in batting (.399) and on-base percentage (.465) and fourth in slugging (.529). First baseman Stephen Baughan leads the conference in doubles (18), is second in the league in slugging (.556) and tied for third in home runs (five). Outfielder Justin Hayes ranks first in stolen bases (28) and tied for third in runs scored (37), and fellow outfielder Caleb Ward is fourth in RBIs (38).
As a team, NSU ranks fifth nationally in stolen bases per game (2.65) and eighth in total steals (114). Six Spartans have at least 10 steals on the year.
Scouting the Rams
VCU enters this week 32-16 overall and in first place in the Atlantic 10 with a 13-5 league record. The Rams are also ranked 59th in the Division I RPI as of Tuesday.
The Rams are coming off of a non-conference doubleheader split at Duke of the ACC last Sunday in Durham. Duke took game one, 2-1, before VCU bounced back to win game two 5-3.
VCU bats .293 as a team with four regular members of its lineup at .300 or better. Infielders Liam Hibbits (.373, 45 RBI), Paul Witt (.346, 46 RBI) and Zac Ching (.317, 41 RBI) are the top threats at the plate in a balanced lineup. Ching has 20 doubles and six homers to lead the Rams, who have 33 homers as a team.
VCU also has a 3.55 team ERA. Jack Alkire, who is scheduled for start Wednesday for the Rams, is tied for the team-lead with six wins.
What's Next
The Spartans wrap up the regular season with a two-game set at N.C. Central this Friday and Saturday. The teams have split their two regular-season meetings so far, with NSU losing 5-4 on Feb. 19 in Durham before posting a 5-0 win in Norfolk on April 24. The Spartans and Eagles play in separate divisions of the MEAC, so the games do not count toward the conference standings.
NCCU currently holds the No. 3 spot in the MEAC Southern Division with one weekend of conference play left. Only the top three teams from each division advance to the conference tournament.
After this weekend, NSU then heads further south for the 2019 MEAC tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. All games will be played at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The No. 2 and 3 seeds from each division open play on the first day of the tournament on Wednesday, May 15, with NSU and the South No. 1 (TBD) opening their tourney slate on Thursday, May 16 against first-round winners.
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