Freshman second baseman Sammy Serafine went 2-for-4 and hit the game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth as No. 3 seeded Norfolk State edged No. 4 Delaware State 5-4 in the first round of the 2010 MEAC Baseball Tournament on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Serafine drove in two runs for the Spartans (20-27-1), who advance to play No. 2 North Carolina A&T in a winner's bracket game at 2 p.m. Friday. The Hornets (12-35) await the winner of Friday morning's Coppin State-Maryland Eastern Shore game and will play in the double-elimination bracket at 6 p.m. Friday.
DSU scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to knot the game at 4-all, but NSU won it in the bottom of the ninth. Chris Joyce was hit by a Ryan Haas (0-7) pitch to start the ninth. John Lynch followed by laying down a beautiful bunt which he beat out for an infield hit. Brandon Hairston sacrificed pinch runner Juan Herrera and Lynch up one base each, and Haas walked Chris Warren intentionally to load the bases.
Serafine followed by lining a hard shot to right field, which Mike Rizzuto caught. Herrera tagged up, and slid home avoiding a swipe tag to score the winning run.
The game was tight throughout. The Spartans broke through first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Hairston led off with a walk and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and Serafine's single. Cameron Parsons followed with a run-scoring single to plate Hairston.
DSU answered back in the third as Scott Davis reached on an error to lead off the frame and later scored on a groundout by Abe Eubank.
But the Spartans responded with two runs in the fourth with just one infield hit to show for it. Hairston again walked to start things. DSU catcher Tony Gatto then misplayed Warren's sacrifice bunt attempt, allowing Hairston to go to third. Serafine followed with an RBI groundout to break the tie. Parsons kept the rally going with a bunt single to third, then stole second. But Gatto's throw to second attempting to cut down Parsons bounced into center field, allowing Warren to score from third to make it 3-1.
Both teams scored once in the seventh. Davis' fielder's choice grounder scored Joey Babuca in the top of the inning to bring DSU within 3-2, but Hairston's RBI single in the bottom of the frame made it 4-2.
The Hornets tied the game in the top of the eighth. Gatto and Mike Rizzuto both walked and moved up on a balk by NSU reliever Ryan Shook . Brandon Crist delivered a single to right-center to score Gatto, and Rizzuto scored the tying run on a Spartan overthrow to knot the score at 4-all.
Shook (4-3) got the win for NSU, allowing two hits in pitching the final 1.2 innings. Haas took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs in 2.2 innings pitched.
Joyce, Hairston, Serafine and Parsons had two hits each for NSU. Crist, Babuca and Warren Stimpson had two hits apiece for the Hornets.
The baseball action continues on Friday and Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. A complete bracket is available on www.MEACsports.com
The championship finale is set for Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. and will air on ESPNU in a tape-delayed format on May 24 at 5 p.m. The broadcast will be the MEAC's first televised baseball championship.
Admission for the 2010 MEAC Baseball Championship is $4 for children (13 and under), students and seniors and $8 for adults. Discounted ticket packages are available for all three days at a cost of $12 for children, students and seniors and $20 for adults. Tickets can be purchased at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark, 105 E. Orange Ave., Daytona Beach, Florida beginning on May 20.