Texas Southern faces #7 National Seed LSU in NCAAs

Photo: Texas Southern Tigers will face the LSU Tigers on their home field in the first round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

LSU is the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament field released today, and the Tigers could host a super regional at Alex Box Stadium for the first time since 2004.

LSU would be at home for the super-regional round if it wins this weekend's regional at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers will face Texas Southern (16-32) at 1 p.m. Friday in the regional opener in Baton Rouge. New Orleans (42-19), the No. 3 seed in the regional at LSU, will face No. 2 Southern Miss (40-20) at 6 p.m. Friday in the other first-round matchup.

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Bethune-Cookman Travels to Miami for NCAA Baseball Regional

Wildcats draw top-seeded Hurricanes for opening game

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University Baseball found out Monday afternoon that they will stay in state and travel down I-95 south to the University of Miami for their NCAA Regional in Coral Gables, Fla. The Wildcats will be making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Baseball Regional, as well as their third trip to a Regional hosted by the Miami Hurricanes. B-CU traveled to Coral Gables in 2003 and 1999 as well.

Joining the Wildcats in the Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional will be the University of Mississippi [Ole Miss], Missouri and of course homestanding and host University of Miami. B-CU faced off against the Rebels of Ole Miss two years ago in the Oxford (Miss.) Regional in one of the most exciting Regional games in Bethune-Cookman history. The `Cats fell 3-2 to the Rebels in the opening game in front of a sell-out crowd.

Bethune-Cookman University will make their second trip this season to Coral Gables to tangle with the Hurricanes. B-CU dropped both games of a midweek doubleheader (10-5 & 7-6) to the Canes earlier this season while Miami was ranked #3 nationally. The `Cats and Canes will hook-up on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Mark Light Stadium on the campus of the University of Miami. The entire Coral Gables Regional will be shown live on ESPNU, with games at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If necessary, Monday's contest will also be shown live on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

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Thomas, B-CU win arms race in MEAC finals

Photo: Bethune Cookman Wildcat Justin Hoyte.

Bethune Cookman University wins MEAC Baseball Title by 13-2 score over NSU.

NORFOLK, Va. – After playing five games in the past three days in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, fifth-seeded Norfolk State ran out of arms.

Top-seeded Bethune-Cookman was playing just its third game and had the best arm, claiming a 13-2 victory and its third straight MEAC title and 11th in the past 13 years.

Eric Thomas (9-0) was dominant for the Wildcats (36-20), going seven scoreless innings with six hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts. He threw 85 pitches, 61 for strikes.

The Spartans (25-24) had a 0.61 ERA in the first five games, but could not contain the bats of the Wildcats. Facing three pitchers in the first five innings ...

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Defense, big hits key to Southern U victory

Archive Photo: Jaguars head coach Roger Cador (left).

The Prairie View-Southern University baseball game unfolded as just the kind of go-for-broke donnybrook that was expected, so let’s get right to the crucial sequence where Southern won the game 14-9 Saturday at Lee-Hines Field.

With amazing defense to close the fourth inning. And with two big, first-pitch hits in a four-run fifth. That span of about 20 minutes lifted SU (28-16) into today’s 1 p.m. bracket championship game at the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

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B-CU Advances to MEAC Title Game with 3-2 Win over North Carolina A&T

Bethune Cookman University head coach Mervyl Melendez was in awe of Aggies pitcher Marquise Frink, who struck out a career high 14 Wildcat batters. (Photo by Mark's Digital Sports Photography)

Norfolk, Va. - Joseph Gautier and Phil Enright were all but lights-out on the mound on Saturday as Bethune-Cookman University defeated North Carolina A&T State University, 3-2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament at Marty L. Miller Baseball Field in Norfolk, Va.

B-CU (35-20) used their supreme pitching exploits in the form of Joseph "Gio" Gautier to help the Wildcats in a monster match-up with North Carolina A&T. N.C. A&T (29-29) went with Marquis Frink in return on the hill.

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Norfolk State reaches MEAC Baseball Championship Game

NSU head coach Claudell Clark has an opportunity to meet or exceed his best career record of 25-25 (2007). Win two games over Bethune Cookman--the Spartans will be MEAC Champions. The team is currently 25-23 in Clark's fourth year at the helm. (Photo by Mark's Digital Sports Photography).

Norfolk State beat Florida A&M, 5-2, sending the Rattlers home from the MEAC Tournament.

NORFOLK, Va. – The improbable ride of the Norfolk State baseball team hasn’t stopped yet. Saturday night, it punched its ticket to the next destination: the MEAC championship game.

Four different players drove in two runs, and the Spartans got another gritty pitching performance in routing North Carolina A&T, 10-5, at Marty L. Miller Field. NSU will face top-seeded Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. Sunday with the unenviable task of having to beat the Wildcats not once but twice to earn the conference title and a berth in the NCAA Regionals.

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North Carolina A&T stops FAMU in 9th

NORFOLK, Va. – It was just like the day before -- bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning. This time, FAMU became the victim, losing 6-4 to North Carolina A&T this afternoon in the MEAC baseball tournament.

Nick Rogers delivered the blow that dropped FAMU to 1-1 in the tournament. The Aggies move on to face Bethune-Cookman University on Saturday afternoon.

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North Carolina A&T pulls out win over Norfolk State

Archive Photo: North Carolina A&T Aggies head coach Keith Shumate.

NORFOLK, Va. – In a game that played dead even for seven-plus innings, Thursday’s MEAC first-round game between fifth-seeded Norfolk State and second-seeded North Carolina A&T was probably going to come down to which team caught a break.

A&T caught two of them, and Nick Rogers was in the middle of both.

Rogers’ long fly ball into left-center field bounced off the outstretched glove of NSU center fielder TiQuan Griffin, allowing two runs to score in the bottom of the eighth, and the Aggies escaped with a 4-2 victory.

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FAMU pulls out dramatic win over Delaware State

Photo: FAMU Pitcher Cirilo Manego has ugly game, but goes distance for the victory as FAMU saves their ace pitcher for North Carolina A&T game scheduled on Friday.

NORFOLK, Va. – After hitting a bases-clearing double to send Florida A&M over Delaware State, shortstop Tim Schalch and his teammates sprinted toward the outfield at Marty L. Miller Field. And straight for the tarp.

The victory was dramatic. The celebration was short.

FAMU players began rolling out the tarp in anticipation of heavy overnight rains Thursday. The Rattlers’ 7-6 come-from-nowhere victory was actually interrupted by a brief rain delay in the bottom of the ninth.

After it rained, FAMU poured it on.

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Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: BCU pounds UMES Hawks into losers bracket

Archive Photo: UMES Coach William Garner had no answer for the hard hitting BCU Wildcats. (Photo by Kevin M. Robinson Photography).

B-CU pounds out 14 hits in run-rule contest
Norfolk, Va. - Hiram Burgos proved his worth on the mound and Osvaldo Torres provided the hitting power as Bethune-Cookman University breezed through the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 13-1 on Thursday morning in the first round of the annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament at Marty L. Miller Baseball Field in Norfolk, Va.

B-CU did not take any chances with the opposition on Thursday as the top-seeded Wildcats (34-20) went with the Pitcher of the Year--Hiram Burgos, as the opening starter in back-to-back years. B-CU's Francisco Rodriguez collected the award last year and started against the Hawks as well in 2007.

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Grambling baseball roughed up in first round of SWAC tournament

BATON ROUGE -- The opening game of the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament provided plenty of fireworks as Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils -- the No. 3 Eastern Division seed -- pounded out a 12-2 victory over the second seed from the Western Division – the Grambling State Tigers.

The Tigers broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning when Brandon Williams led off the inning with a single and scored on a triple into right field by Anthony Clifton. The run would be the only run the Tigers would manage until the bottom of the ninth when Williams scored on a Clifton ground out.

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What is causing decline in black baseball players?

Kaylum Graham was like a lot of future E.E. Smith High School athletes.

As a youth, he played many sports — baseball among them. But faced with tough choices entering high school, his passion for baseball waned.

“I felt there was a better chance for me to go to college playing basketball and football, so I stuck with the other two,” he said.

Those are among the common reasons given to explain a national decline in black athletes in baseball.

It’s been documented at the major league level, but it’s also evident in the high school ranks in Cumberland County. A Fayetteville Observer study reveals that only 40 of 152 (26 percent) varsity baseball players in Cumberland County are black. As a whole, 51.4 percent of Cumberland County students are black.

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Bethune-Cookman Corrals USF Bulls, 10-3

Photo: BCU Coach Mervyl Melendez.

Wildcats improve winning streak to five games

Tampa, Fla. - José Lozada was 4-for-5 at the plate including a homerun to push Bethune-Cookman University past the University of South Florida, 10-3 on Wednesday night in a non-conference baseball contest at Red McEwen Field in Tampa, Fla.

After dropping a month's worth of midweek contests, B-CU (30-17) is back in full gear as they were in the beginning of the year ... injury free, and looking to roll into the upcoming Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament as the three-time defending champs. And they look every part the champs of old, if not better.

Junior pitcher Chris Chapman toed the rubber on Wednesday for the Wildcats and he was a stud--as preseason reports predicted, as he limited the Bulls of USF (25-21) to just three runs on seven hits in six frames on the bump. He evened his record at 2-2 on the campaign.

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BCU Tops Norfolk State, 5-2 to Complete Series Sweep

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Eric Thomas struck out seven over seven innings, and Jose Ortiz went 3-for-4 with two RBI as first-place Bethune-Cookman completed a three-game MEAC sweep of Norfolk State with a 5-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Thomas moved to 6-0 on the hill as he allowed just three hits and two runs (one earned) for the Wildcats (22-13, 9-0 MEAC). Phil Enright got the save by pitching the final two innings on the bump. For Enright, a strong right-hander from nearby Deltona, it was his third save in four attempts this year.

NSU starting pitcher and stud ace Leon Schabacker took the loss for NSU (13-13, 3-6 MEAC) to drop to 4-3. He allowed four earned runs in seven innings, striking out three Wildcats in the process.

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DSU baseball splits with Florida A&M

Courtesy: DSU Athletic Media Relations, Release: 04/13/2008

DOVER, DE- The Hornets split the doubeleheader against FAMU today, losing the first game 7-4 and winning the second game 10-4 at Soldier Field. The Hornets improved their record to 11-20 and 6-2 in the MEAC while the Rattlers record is now 10-15 and 3-5 in the MEAC.

The Hornets tied the first game 4-4 in the fourth inning with a solo homeruns by both Jose Sanchez and Jamie Friel while Troy Drummond drove in two runs off a double to right field. However, the Hornets were unable to score the rest of the game off of Rattlers starter Miguel Parga.

The Rattlers came back and scored two more runs in the 7th inning and took the lead for good when Corey McFadden hit a two-run homerun to right field. The Rattlers won the game 7-4.

Leading offensively for the Rattlers were Jared Jeffries, Corey McFadden and Timothy Schalch. Jeffries went 3-for-5 with 1 run and 2 RBI's. McFadden and Schalch also contributed 2 RBI's on the day.

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Grambling splits pair of games against reigning SWAC champ Prairie View

Grambling State began its final conference homestand of the season on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader split against visiting Prairie View A&M University. Holding a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, Grambling’s Brent Smith smacked a three-run homer to propel the Tigers to a 9-5 win in game one.

Prairie View jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the third and led 1-0 but GSU tied the game in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by Manny Kumar. The Tigers moved ahead 3-1 in the fourth after Prairie View starter Charlie Aceto issued a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk.

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BCU Wildcats Take Two from Norfolk State in MEAC Baseball

Ormond Beach, Fla. - Marvelous pitching was the story of the day on Saturday as Bethune-Cookman University took both games of a MEAC baseball doubleheader against Norfolk State University, 10-1 & 3-0 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla.

The first game started early for the Wildcats of B-CU (21-13, 8-0 MEAC) as they plated three runs in the bottom of the second to open the game up.

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Grambling’s Rey reminds: West isn’t quite won

GRAMBLING. LA — Holding a three-game divisional lead means little when the two-time defending league champions are in the other dugout. That’s been second-year Grambling baseball coach Barret Rey’s pulpit-pounding sermon all week.

“The confidence is coming,” Rey said, “but I don’t want them to get overconfident. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.” That may be overstating things a bit.

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Southern takes victory at Nicholls

THIBODAUX, LA — Four Southern University pitchers held Nicholls State to one run on three hits, defeating the Colonels, 6-1, on Wednesday night at Ray E. Didier Field. The Colonels fell to 6-26 on the season, while Southern improved to 15-11.

Belfred Pryer (1-0) threw five innings of one-hit baseball, walking one batter and striking out two. Pryer faced just 17 batters in picking up his first win. Nicholls State starter Nathan Quebedeaux (0-1) allowed four runs (two earned) on two hits while giving up two walks in two innings.

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Alcorn State Braves to play Arkansas Razorbacks, April 16

Photo: #25 Alcorn State head baseball coach Willie “Rat” McGowan, Sr.

Press Release: University of Arkansas Athletic Media Relations

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas has added a game to its 2008 baseball schedule and will host Alcorn State University Braves at Baum Stadium on Wednesday, April 16, at 6:35 p.m.

Alcorn State is 19-6 on the year which included a 14-game winning streak in March. Since that time, the Braves have lost five of their last eight games including two of three from Jackson State two weeks ago.

The Razorbacks added games to the 2008 schedule after missing three dates due to inclement weather. Arkansas’ first weather outage came on Feb. 26 against Southeast Missouri State followed by rainouts on March 28 against Vanderbilt and April 2 against Mississippi Valley State. Unused tickets to any 2008 regular season game will be honored for admission to the April 16 contest. Tickets may also be purchased on game day at Baum Stadium.

For more information regarding Razorback baseball or University of Arkansas athletics please visit http://www.hogwired.com/ and for Alcorn State athletics, visit http://alcornsports.com/.