NORFOLK, Va., May 16, 2012 -   Norfolk State defeated  North Carolina A&T, 4-3, in the opening game of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Championship tournament at the Marty L. Miller field on Wednesday morning.

The Spartans (22-26) advance to a 12:30 p.m. Thursday matchup against the winner of Wednesday's Bethune-Cookman/Coppin State game. North Carolina A&T (18-35) faces the loser of the same contest in an elimination game tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Norfolk State opened up the game with three runs in bottom of the first inning.  Jason Taylor walked with bases loaded scoring Mikey Bruno to take the 1-0 lead.  Ross Cardwell and Cameron Day each scored for the Spartans off a North Carolina A&T fielding errors to move ahead 3-0.

Bruno scored Norfolk State's final run off a Cardwell RBI double.

Kelvin Freeman led the Aggie charge with a RBI single and Bo McMillan added a two-run single in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3.

NSU reliever Jordan Egan pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to hold off the Aggies and earn the save.

Chris Horne improved to 7-5 on the season. Horne allowed six hits and three runs in 5.2 innings to earn the victory. 

Estarlin Paulino (7-5) pitched 7.2 innings while allowing six hits and four runs (one earned) with two walks and four strikeouts in the loss.

Bethune-Cookman 8, Coppin State 4

The Coppin State vs. Bethune-Cookman game which was halted in the top of the seventh will resume tomorrow at 8 a.m.