NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team will be the No. 4 seed in this week's MEAC Baseball Championship, which will be played at the Spartans' own Marty L. Miller Field Thursday through Saturday.

The MEAC's four baseball programs will compete in a double-elimination format to decide the league's automatic qualifying bid to the 2022 NCAA Baseball Championship. Delaware State (22-21, 19-14 MEAC) earned the top seed, followed by Coppin State (21-27, 17-13) second, Maryland Eastern Shore (16-33, 15-18) third and Norfolk State (15-30, 12-18) fourth. Thursday's first-round matchups feature NSU vs. Delaware State at noon followed by CSU and UMES at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per day or $25 for a three-day tournament pass. Ticket must be purchased online at NSUSpartansTickets.com.

This year marks the eighth time NSU has hosted the MEAC Baseball Championship and second year in a row. The Spartans won the title last year on their home field, their first-ever MEAC title.

Friday's games will be broadcast on HBCUGo.TV and Saturday's games will be available both on HBCUGo.TV and the MEAC Digital Network YouTube page. Live stats will be available through Stat Broadcast.

Tournament Short-Hops

• NSU enters the tournament not having a played a game since May 6 when the Spartans split a doubleheader with Maryland Eastern Shore. That series was shortened to two games due to inclement weather, and the final regular-season series with Coppin State last weekend was also canceled due to rain.
• NSU won four games against each of the other teams in the field. The Spartans went 4-4 against Coppin State, 4-6 against UMES and 4-8 against Delaware State.
• Three Spartans ended the season ranked among the MEAC's top five in batting. Jacob Council ranked second (.342), Raphy Rodriguez (.318) fourth and Dionte Brown fifth (.317).
• Among other statistical leaders: Brown and Council are tied for fourth in the MEAC in hits with 51 each; Brown is also second in RBIs (39), third in steals (17) and fourth in total bases (74); and Brandon is tied for third in doubles (11) and tied for seventh in homers (four).
• Among pitching leaders, Dalton Barham is fourth (4.93) and James Deloatch seventh (5.52) in ERA; Deloatch is tied for fifth in wins (four); while Deloatch is third (56) and Barham is tied for seventh in strikeouts (48).
• The Spartans have reached the tournament's championship round 10 times previously, including in four of the last five tournaments that have been played (2016, '17, '19, '21).
• The Spartans are hosting the MEAC Tournament for the eighth time, following stints from 2006-08, 2012-14 and 2021 to the present. NSU advanced to the tournament final out of the losers' bracket in both 2008 and 2014 before winning it with a 3-0 week last year.
• Delaware State won the MEAC regular-season title with a 19-14 conference mark thanks to winning its final five regular-season league games. The Hornets boast the MEAC's top hitter in Trey Paige, who has a conference-leading .412 batting average and 13 home runs. As a team, DSU led the MEAC with 31 homers. Peter Carreca topped the MEAC in ERA during the regular season with a 3.65 mark. DSU is seeking their first MEAC baseball title since 1989.
• Coppin State was in first place in the conference standings for much of the season before DSU overtook them in the final weekend. The Eagles led the conference with a .278 team batting average during the season with four hitters over the .300 mark. They were led by two-way standout Jordan Hamberg, who batted .367 with eight homers and also paced the conference with 77 strikeouts on the mound in just 56.1 innings pitched. He is a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.
• Maryland Eastern Shore, which did not compete during the 2020-21 season, is seeking its first-ever MEAC baseball title. The Hawks finished 15-18 in conference play. Designated hitter Ryan Howe has paced the Hawks with a .304 average, five homers and 33 RBIs thus far. UMES has a 6.16 ERA this year, tops in the MEAC. Right hander Noah Covington boasts a MEAC-leading six wins and six complete games. Evan Nibblett gives UMES a strong 1-2 pitch with Covington. Nibblett is 2-2 with a 3.17 ERA in eight starts.
• NSU had 11 players named to the MEAC Baseball All-Academic Team. MEAC sophomore, junior and senior student-athletes with a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average (GPA), as well as transfer student-athletes who have been in residence at the institution for at least one year, are eligible for All-Academic accolades. The honorees were: Dalton Barham, Dionte Brown, James Deloatch, Cody Donnell, Dylan Flint, Minjae Hong, Mike Pyers, Korey Singh, Rhay Street, Justin Walton, Noah Wiggins.