MEAC Baseball Weekly Notes | 2020 MEAC Preseason Baseball Honors
NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 13, 2020--The 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball season will get underway this weekend, with seven of the league's eight baseball-playing institutions throwing their first pitches and taking their first swings of the campaign.
Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State, Delaware State, Maryland Eastern Shore, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina Central will all be in action this weekend, with the Wildcats, Spartans and NCCU Eagles all opening their respective seasons at home.
Defending MEAC champion Florida A&M will open its season on Monday.
North Carolina A&T State is the preseason favorite to win the MEAC, which this season will do away with divisional play in favor of a conference schedule that sees all eight programs face each other in a three-game series, and the top six teams in the standings advancing to the conference tournament.
The Aggies, the 2018 champions, picked up nine first-place votes. FAMU was picked to finish second, followed by Norfolk State, Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central to round out the top five in the preseason predicted order of finish.
Norfolk State's Alsander Womack was named the MEAC's Preseason Player of the Year, and the Aggies' Michael Johnson was voted on as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Those two were also named Preseason First Team All-MEAC, as were Coppin State first baseman Justin Banks, Delaware State outfielder Miguel Rivera, Florida A&M starting pitcher Kyle Coleman, third baseman Octavien Moyer, catcher Tucker Rayburn and utility man Jared Weber, Norfolk State outfielder Caleb Ward, North Carolina A&T State shortstop Dustin Baber and reliever Leon Davidson and North Carolina Central outfielder Carter Williams.
The 2020 MEAC Baseball Championship will be held May 13-16 at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Below is a list of this weekend's games.
Friday, Feb. 14
North Carolina A&T State vs. Butler, 12 p.m.
North Carolina A&T State vs. George Mason, 3 p.m.
Wagner at Norfolk State, 3 p.m.
Radford at North Carolina Central, 4 p.m.
Coppin State at The Citadel, 4 p.m.
Maryland Eastern Shore at Mercer, 6 p.m.
Alabama A&M at Bethune-Cookman, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 15
Coppin State at The Citadel, 2 p.m.
Maryland Eastern Shore at Mercer (DH), 2 p.m.
Wagner at Norfolk State, 2 p.m.
Radford at North Carolina Central, 3 p.m.
North Carolina A&T State vs. Butler, 3:30 p.m.
Alabama A&M at Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 16
Maryland Eastern Shore at Mercer, 12 p.m.
Alabama A&M at Bethune-Cookman, 1 p.m.
Coppin State at The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Wagner at Norfolk State, 1 p.m.
Radford at North Carolina Central, 1 p.m.