Box Score
Box Score (HTML)- 2014 MEAC Baseball Tournament

NORFOLK, Va. –   As the weather cleared and action resumed in the 2014 MEAC(Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Tournament, North Carolina Central University committed four costly errors and allowed Norfolk State to score in all of the first four innings to eliminate the Eagles 10-1 in the loser's bracket on Saturday morning at Marty Miller Field in Norfolk, Va.
 
The second meeting since Wednesday between these two, the maroon and gray seemed to be ready to go in the top of the first frame when both Carlos Ortiz (Cleveland, Ohio) and Tyson Simpson (Burgaw, N.C.) recorded back-to-back hits to put runners in scoring position with one out.  Senior Carter Williamson ripped a hard shot down the rightfield line that was inches foul and then lined the next pitch into the glove of NSU hurler Devin Hemmerich, who turned an inning-ending double play to stop the threat.
 
That was the first of many unlucky bounces for the Eagles.
 
Norfolk State came out swinging as well, but an Eagle error with two outs on the board and two men on allowed the Spartans to draw first blood and take a 2-0 lead.
 
With a lead intact, NSU's Hemmerich put the clamps on NCCU retiring the next 10 batters he faced, while the Spartans added two more runs in the second off an Eagle throwing error, and three more in the third to take a 7-0 lead. 
 
Zack Markel's RBI double and Justin Burrell's sacrifice fly plated two more runs for NSU in the fourth and gave the Spartans a comfortable 9-0 advantage.
 
NCCU tried to breathe some life back into the offense with a leadoff double by Eric Kimber (Greensboro, N.C.), his fourth of the year, followed up a walk issued by James Dey (Charlotte, N.C.), but the next three batters struck out to keep the maroon and gray off-the-board.
 
Ross Cardwell's leadoff double led to making the score 10-0 in the bottom of the six, but the Eagles finally touched home plate on Dey's leadoff triple in the seventh as senior Alex Moore (Greensboro, N.C.) recorded an RBI groundout.
 
NSU held on the for the win to advance to the loser's bracket semifinal against the winner of the Florida A&M/Coppin State matchup.
 
The Spartans' Cody Ellis went 3-for-5 on-the-day, but Burrell drove in a game-high three RBI as Norfolk State stayed alive in the MEAC Tournament.
 
Hemmerich threw a complete game six hitter for NSU allowing only one earned run with eight strikeouts to earn win No. 5 on the year, while freshman Andrew Wilson (Pilot Mountain, N.C.) worked 2.1 innings but allowed just one earned run with two strikeouts.
 
Senior righty Jacob Russell (Winston-Salem, N.C.) threw 4.0 innings with two strikeouts in his final appearance as an Eagle to leave him No. 1 in the modern era of that category with 76.  Russell is also No. 2 in the modern era of the program with 10 career victories.
 
NCCU finishes its third season under head coach Jim Koerner at 19-33-1, but the future is bright for the young program that was in the thick of the Southern Division race for first down-the-stretch.
 
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