SALISBURY, Md. – Bethune-Cookman won the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Tournament championship on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over Norfolk State at the Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
The Wildcats (29-25) clinched and posted an undefeated mark throughout the double-elimination tournament.
The championship is the first for Bethune-Cookman since 2014 and 18thoverall.
Wildcats head coach Jason Beverlin was named the tournament’s Outstanding Coach, while Bethune-Cookman first baseman Danny Rodriguez was selected the Outstanding Performer.
“We came into the tournament extremely focused and played every game with a lot of energy,” Beverlin said. “We just didn’t let anything stand in the way of our goal of winning the MEAC championship.”
In a scoreless game in the sixth inning, Bethune-Cookman loaded the bases with one out, but Norfolk State starter Matt Outman got two strikeouts to end the Wildcat threat.
The game remained tied at 0-0 until the bottom of the eighth as Jameel Edney belted his seventh homer of the season over the left field wall to give the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage.
Bethune-Cookman pitchers Tyler Norris and Alex Seibold (6-4) combined for a one-hitter, with nine strikeouts and six walks.
Norfolk State’s Roger Hall broke up the combined no-hit bid with a base hit in the top of the ninth.
Rodriguez and Edney paced the Wildcat offense with two hits each.
Bethune-Cookman, which earned the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Regionals, awaits its opponent that will be announced during the NCAA Baseball Selection Show Monday, May 30 at Noon on ESPNU.
Courtesy MEAC Sports Media