NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team hosts its fifth straight weekend series and opens MEAC Northern Division play this Saturday, Mar 19, and Sunday, Mar 20, when the Spartans welcome rival Delaware State to Marty L. Miller Field.
The teams will play a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and, weather permitting, a single game starting at 1 p.m. Sunday. Saturday’s start time has been moved up one hour from their earlier listed start time of 1 p.m.
NSU is 6-10 entering this weekend and has won three of its last five games, though the Spartans dropped a 10-6 mid-week game at William & Mary on Tuesday night. Roger Hall and Ismael Herrera had two hits each, while Alex Mauricio and Justin Lee had two RBI apiece against the Tribe.
Four NSU batters are hitting over .300 heading into the weekend, led by senior designated hitter Kyle Vaas at .341. Syeed Mahdi checks in at .333, followed by Hall at .328 and Brian Beard and .317. Mahdi has team highs of four homers and 17 RBI, while Vaas had two homers and 13 RBI.
The pitching staff is led by senior reliever Cooper Jones, who is 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA and one save, and Jonathan Mauricio, who is 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA. Fellow weekend starters Matt Outman (1-1, 4.50 ERA) and Devin Hemmerich (0-2, 4.43) have also been steady.
Delaware State enters the weekend still in search of its first win of the year. The Hornets fell to 0-16 after an 8-3 loss at first state rival Delaware on Tuesday. The Hornets are batting just .183 as a team this year, but are led by infielder Todd Henry’s .295 clip. Returning All-MEAC infielder Cameron Onderko is batting .214.
Left hander Jaylen Zielecki leads DSU’s regular pitchers with a 1.08 ERA in four appearances (two starts). Preseason All-MEAC hurler Lane DeLeon has 15 strikeouts and a 5.60 ERA in 17.2 innings of work.
NSU won four of six regular-season meetings with DSU last year, but the Hornets topped NSU 13-11 in the MEAC tournament. Either NSU (2015) or DSU (2012-14) has won the MEAC North every year since the conference’s divisional split for baseball in 2012.
Originally posted on NSUSpartans.com.
Spartan Echo 