The MEAC Baseball Championship begins today at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Game 1: Elliott Leads Delaware State Past Maryland Eastern Shore, 5-0
Delaware State right-hander Jordan Elliott pitched a complete game seven-hitter as the Delaware State Hornets defeated the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, 5-0, in the opening game of the 2011 MEAC Baseball Championship tournament at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Wednesday morning.
Elliott (6-5) stuck out 12 and walked none to help DSU (25-27) advance to tomorrow's 2 p.m. game. The Hornets will meet the winner of tonight's 6 p.m. game between No. 3 North Carolina A&T/ No. 4 Norfolk State.
The second seeded Hornets were lead offensively by Keith Hernandez, Aaron Nardone and D.J. Miller with two hits apiece. Tre-von Johnson batted 3-for-4 with three singles for UMES, which fell to 8-40 and will play the loser of the No. 1Bethune-Cookman/ No. 6 Florida A&M game tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Elliott, a second team All-MEAC selection, was in control from the start. He stuck out the side in the top of the first and did not allow a UMES player to second base until Johnson, another All-MEAC honoree, reached second in the top of the ninth.
Delaware State broke on top with two runs in the bottom of the first off starter Matt Witte. Hernandez and Troy Drummond drew consecutive walks. Scott Davis' sacrifice bunt moved both runners up and Ryan Haas was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Nardone then came through with a two run-single up the middle to give the Hornets the lead.
Delaware State added to the lead in the fifth. Haas and Nardone had back-to-back singles and a Cameron Cecil sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. With one out, Miller lifted a fly ball to right field to bring in Haas to push the lead to 3-0.
Hernandez and Drummond push the lead to 5-0 in the eighth. Hernandez hit a one-out RBI single up the middle to score Miller from second and Drummond had a sacrifice fly to center to score Jose Portela.
Witte (3-7) allowed just three earned runs in 6.2 innings, surrendering six hits and four walks before giving way to Zachary Saca and Bernard Parker.
Game 2: Bethune-Cookman Advances in MEAC Basketball Tournament with 18-5 over Florida A&M
Peter O'Brien and Ryan Durrence each drove in five runs, homered and were a combined 7-10 from the plate as Bethune-Cookman defeated Florida A&M 18-5 in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Championship tournament Wednesday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Wildcats (33-22) extended their MEAC winning streak to 44 straight (conference and tournament) as they advanced to Friday's semifinal at 2 p.m. Florida A&M (17-39) will face Maryland Eastern Shore in a loser's bracket game at 10 a.m.
FAMU jumped on B-CU for two first-inning runs, but the Wildcats responded with a nine-run outburst to take control.
Durrence put the Wildcats ahead 3-2 when he scored on a double steal. Nick Johnson and Matt Wright each had two RBI doubles and O'Brien and Durrence each contributed an RBI single to the rally.
Durrence launched a three-shot in the fourth and O'Brien also a three-run homer in the sixth to continue B-CU's attack.
Alejando Sanchez went 3-4 with four runs scored, while Emmanuel Castro and Wright each drove in two runs.
Gabriel Hernandez improved to 7-0 with the victory, giving up just one additional run after the first. Joey Munoz gave up two runs in relief.
Toby Adeymi drove in three runs, two on a sixth-inning homer, and was 2-4 for the Rattlers. Cory Franklin added two hits.
Game 3: #4 Norfolk State 14, #3 North Carolina A&T 4
Norfolk State outscored North Carolina A&T,14-4, to advance in the opening round of the MEAC Baseball Championship tournament on Wednesday evening at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The fourth-seeded Spartans (22-27) got on the board first when Chris Warren hit a sacrifice fly to score John Rasberry. NSU added to their lead in the top of the third when John Lynch scored off a Brandon Hairston single. Later in the inning, All-MEAC first-team selection Ryan Montgomery and Sammy Serafine each added a run to extend the lead to 4-0.
Norfolk State doubled its lead in the fourth with four runs in the top of the frame. North Carolina A&T, the third seed, challenged with four runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead in half. Kelvin Freeman scored first for the Aggies with a RBI single. Stefan Jordan followed soon after with three-run double to aid the Aggies' comeback.
The Spartans pulled away again in the fifth with five runs and added one additional run in the ninth to advance to tomorrow's 2 p.m. game against #2 Delaware State.
North Carolina A&T (20-33) fell in the double-elimination bracket and will face the winner of the Maryland Eastern Shore/Florida A&M tomorrow at 6 p.m.
VanAssche (7-6)earned the win after allowing nine hits and four runs in five innings. Jordan Egan recorded his second save with four scoreless innings of relief.
Paulino fell to 6-6 after allowing 11 hits and eight earned runs in three innings.