DOVER, Del. --- The Delaware State baseball team will face tournament host Norfolk State to open the 2022 Mid-Eastern Atheltic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Championship on Thursday.
 
The Hornets enter the tournament as the number one seed after winning five straight games over Coppin State and University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) which allowed Delaware State to claim the league's regular season title.
 
Delaware State owned an 8-4 record over Norfolk State during the regular season games played between the two teams. The Hornets were led in large part by the 2022 MEAC Player of the Year Trey Paige. Paige recorded 20 hits in 41 at bats in those 12 games for an average of .488. Of his 20 hits, nine went for extra bases including three which went for home runs allowing Paige to collect 37 total bases and a slugging percentage of .902. He drew a team-high 15 walks giving him an on-base percentage of .632. He scored 16 runs while driving in 15 and was a perfect 3-for-3 in his stolen base attempts.
 
"This is the most confident I've ever been for us in a weekend. The championship weekend is the most important part of the season for us. DSU has never been to a regional championship ever, so while we're happy that we won the regular season, that doesn't matter anymore. We're focused on winning this weekend and getting that chance to play in a regional championship." -Paige on how the team feels heading into this weekend.
 
Delaware State is not limited to just Paige as the source of offense as anyone in the lineup is capable of producing. In the 12 games between the two programs, Krew Bouldin drew 13 walks and tallied nine hits. He was able to drive in eight runs while scoring six. Recently, Bouldin has been enjoying some success both at the plate and on the mound as the normal everyday first baseman will serve the Hornets a part-time pitcher. In the three-game series with UMES, Bouldin was the winning pitcher and hit the walk-off home run to seal a 4-3 come from behind win over the Hawks. In the Hornets' 21-1 win in the regular season finale, Bouldin had five RBIs off two hits, one of which was a grand slam.
 
The Hornets will also look to All-MEAC Second Team second baseman Miguel Rivera who has 15 hits in 47 at bats in the 12 contests with the Spartans. Four of his hits have gone for extra bases which gives him a slugging percentage of .426 and with seven walks and one hit by pitch he has notched an on-base percentage of .411. Rivera has driven in 14 runs while scoring 13 and he has also stolen three bases from the Spartans.   
 
When asked about the team's offensive production heading into the tournament, Paige stated "We have depth, but our depth has experience and I think that's going to be super important in calming the nerves as we head into this weekend. We knew that us three (Rivera, Paige, Bouldin) had a lot of experience and a lot of at bats going into this season and we knew that we kind of had to put it on ourselves in those pressure at bats if we were going to have success this year."
 
Paige was also asked about being in the mix of the batting order with Bouldin and Rivera and said "Those guys are very mature hitters and very unselfish hitters when they're at the plate. I think the scariest part about them is that they know when a job needs to be done and it's exciting watching them do it."
 
On the mound, Peter Carreca, Jordan Haddaway and Evan Harris all have two wins when asked to take on the starting pitcher role against Norfolk State. Of those three, Carreca has seen the most work as he has pitched 19 innings. In his 19 innings, Carreca has struck out 14, only allowed 11 runs and batters have averaged only .236 when the ball is in his hand. He's only given up a team-low three walks and his 4.26 ERA is the lowest of the three winningest pitchers over the Spartans.
 
Harris has sat down the most batters having recorded 22 strike outs in his 16 innings on the mound. While he has given up 13 free bases, he has only suffered nine earned runs and only allowed six hits. Norfolk State batters struggle against Harris averaging .106 at the plate when he's on the mound.

Haddaway, who also has a double-digit workload against Norfolk State, has gotten 13 batters out on strikes in 13.2 innings on the mound. Like Carreca and Harris, Spartan batters struggle against the right-hander from Salisbury. Norfolk State has an average of .283 in the three games that Haddaway has pitched. 
 
"If my number is called this weekend, right out of the gate I need to be effective, I've said before that I have to stay focused during every at bat to give the guys a chance to compete and that certainly doesn't change now. We believe in each other out there, nothing needs to be said in the dugout, we know what to do" – Carreca on the possibility of being on the mound in the championship tournament
 
Coach Blandin who was named the MEAC Baseball Coach of the Year for the 2022, had this to say about the Hornets heading into the tournament weekend, "to be the head coach of this team, to take a team in my third decade of being here into the tournament as the overall number one seed is just such an honor. We want to play baseball as long as we can, and we want to make everyone proud of this team. We're on a mission, we've got a bunch of talented guys who believe they're champions as well as believe in each other. We're ready for the next game."
 
First pitch from Marty L. Miller Field is scheduled for 12 p.m. For any and all updates regarding the MEAC Baseball Championship, please refer to the Championship Central page.