Second-seeded North Carolina A&T scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and pitcher Esterlin Paulino made them stand up in a 7-2 Aggies' win over third-seeded Norfolk State in the 2010 MEAC Baseball Championship Tournament on Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Aggies (30-24) will play No. 1 Bethune-Cookman in Saturday's 2 p.m. winner's bracket final for a berth in Sunday's championship round. The Spartans (20-28-1) play the winner of Friday's Coppin State-Delaware State game in a 10 a.m. elimination game on Saturday.
NSU wasted little time getting on the board as Brandon Hairston hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the first to score John Rasberry from second base.
But the second-seeded Aggies batted around their order in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five runs on six hits. Xavier Macklin tied the game with an RBI double. Marquis Riley then knocked in a run with a fielder's choice grounder. Kelvin Freeman and Mark Nales each added an RBI single in the frame, and Freeman scored on a double play to make it 5-1 in the Aggies' favor.
North Carolina A&T added single runs in the sixth and eighth, both of which were unearned as a result of NSU errors. The Spartans scored once more in the eighth on a Cameron Parsons groundout, but could not mount a serious threat against Paulino (9-2). The left hander tossed a complete game, allowing nine hits and two runs, one earned. He walked one and struck out four.
Chase Davenport took the loss for NSU, allowing seven hits and five runs, all earned, in 3.2 innings of work.
Macklin and Nales had two hits each for the Aggies, who had just two hits outside of the fourth inning. The Spartans had nine hits, led by Hairston's 3-for-4 day and Rasberry's 2-for-5 effort.
The baseball action continues tonight with Delaware State facing off against Coppin State at 6 p.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.
For more information on MEAC Baseball, visit www.MEACsports.com.