Biography
2014: Earned First Team All-MEAC honors and Second team All-State honors by the NCCSIA (North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association) and nominated for ABCA All-Atlantic Region. Named to All-MEAC Team for the second straight season. Played in 51 games, starting in 51 in his final season at NCCU. Finished second on the team with a career-best .341 batting average and with 36 RBI. Tied a career-high with 10 doubles and racked up a career best .429 slugging percentage along with 19 walks and 19 HBP’s (hit-by-pitch). Recorded the sixth-best on-base percentage in a single season (.446), and tied for the fifth-most doubles (10) in a season. Ended the year tied for the most multi-hit games with 18 with Zack Lee and recorded the only five hit game of the season. Tied for second on the team with seven multi-RBI games. Highlight game of the year came against Virginia State on April 2 by going 5-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored, and four RBI in the 17-15 comeback win. Went 3-for-5 with a walk-off home run, two runs scored, and three RBI to beat Savannah State on March 15. Crushed a game-deciding three-run homer against Florida A&M on April 26. Went 3-for-4 with two doubles a run scored and three RBI against Niagara University on Feb. 22. Finished his career with the most home runs in the modern era (8), second-most starts in the modern era (179), 10th best batting average (.287), third-most (181), second-most runs scored (103), second-most doubles (30), and second-most RBI (104).
2013: Named to All-MEAC Academic team. After suffering an Achilles injury in the fall, recovered in time to play in 42 games, starting in 36, finishing with a .256 batting average. Tied for second on the team with one home run. Over the final 15 games of the season, led the team batting .354 (17-for-48) with four doubles, a home run, and 10 runs scored. Had an On-Base percentage of .429 during that stretch. Finished up his third year with 10 multi-hit games with three three-hit contests including back-to-back efforts on April 27-28. During that series against Florida A&M went 6-for-8 with a home run, five runs scored, and six RBI, aided the Eagles to the series win. Went 3-for-3 in the 10-0 victory over North Carolina A&T with a run scored. Highlight game of the year came in the 15-11 win over FAMU where he went 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored, and four RBI. One of two Eagles to record four RBI in a game. Finished his third season with a seven-game hitting streak.
2012: Nominated for ABCA All-Atlantic Region honors, and showed tremendous poise despite a rough start to the season. Finished his second year at NCCU with a career-highs in batting average (.291-fourth on team), hits (50- fourth on team), doubles (10- tied for first), and RBI (28-fourth on team. Ended the year fifth on the team in slugging percentage (.384), first in sacrifice bunts (8), and tied for second in sacrifice flies (2). 14 multiple hit ballgames (11-two hits), (2-three hits), (1-five hit). Reached base in the final 10 games of the season. After the first 19 contests of the year he was batting 161 (10-for-62). In the last 32 batted .364 (40-for-110) with 20 runs scored, nine doubles, a home run and 21 RBI. In MEAC play, tore through the competition batting .342 (26-for-76) in 23 games played with five doubles, a home run, and 11 RBI. Had a slugging percentage of .447 and an on-base percentage of .414 in conference action.
2011: Showed the Eagle nation how bright his future is playing in all 46 games in his rookie season, and recorded a .243 batting average with 35 hits on the year to finish seventh on the team. Finished second with 3 home runs and was third on the squad with 20 RBIs. Hit his first collegiate home run in his first game at NCCU while he went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Was named National Player of the Week by Black College Baseball with his performances on March 8-9 in the three-game set against Florida A&M where he went 7-for-10 with a home run, a double, five runs scored and five RBIs. Went 6-for-7 in stolen bases in his first season. His five doubles tied for fourth on the squad. His best performance came against Texas Southern in the season finale when he went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, a run scored, and four RBIs.
High School (Trask H.S.): Named All-Conference for three years during his high school career, playing varsity all four years. Batted .500 his sophomore year and led the squad in every offensive category. Against Hobbton on April 26, 2010, went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs with a double and a home run. Also graduated with a 3.3 GPA and made the A-B Honor roll.
Personal: Born April 9, 1992, in Wilmington, N.C. Tyson Leon Simpson, Jr. is the son, Tyson Sr. and Jennifer Simpson. Sister, Joy, is a member of the NCCU Softball team. Major at NCCU is Sports Management with a concentration in Business.
