 
|
May 12, 2006 Virginia Beach, Va. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) baseball team are going into the 2006 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Championships as the number four seed. The Fighting Hawks will be playing in the 6:00 pm nightcap against the number three seed Coppin State University (12-35, 7-8 MEAC) Eagles on Thursday, May 18, 2006. The Fighting Hawks (14-32-1, 8-10 MEAC) are having their best season since 1995 when they went 25-28 overall and 16-9 in the MEAC. Leading the UMES squad going into the tournament is designated hitter Justin Hoban (Selbyville, Del./Delaware Valley College). Hoban leads the Hawks in almost every major category including average (.348, seventh in the MEAC), slugging percentage (.494), hits (55), doubles (14) and homeruns (1). Shortstop Eric Gaines (Oberlin, OH/Eastern Michigan) registers a .305 batting average and leads the team in stolen bases (12), triples (6, third in the MEAC) and runs scored (30). Senior catcher Morgan Schirmer (Georgetown, Del./Delaware Tech C.C.) holds a .289 average with a .974 fielding percentage, while senior centerfielder Joel Maher (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico H.S.) holds a .249 average with a team leading 23 RBI and 43 hits. Another key to the Hawks postseason success will depend on the strength of their pitching staff. Leading on the mound is junior college transfer and Hawk ace Dustin Longchamps (Lewiston, ME/Central Maine C.C.). Longchamps posts a 6-6 record with a 4.67 ERA (top 10 in the MEAC) in over 79.0 innings pitched and seven complete games. Freshman southpaw Mike Roberts (Belair, Md./ C. Milton Wright H.S.) who posts a 2-2 record while recording five saves this season (second in the MEAC) will also be looked upon to lead the Hawks during the tournament. On the year the Eagles of Coppin State and the Hawks met only three times with Coppin taking two games in a three game series at Joe Cannon Stadium. UMES took game one 10-3 but dropped both games of the doubleheader, 8-4 and 4-1. The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman College (27-23, 15-0 MEAC) grabbed the top spot as they completed conference play with a perfect 15-0 record. The Norfolk State Spartans (23-25, 11-7 MEAC) follow as the second seed. Delaware State University Hornets (15-33, 7-11 MEAC) is the fifth seed and the defending 2005 conference champions North Carolina A&T Aggies (19-30, 6-12 MEAC) enter the tournament as the sixth seed. Florida A & M, the seventh and final team in the MEAC, was eliminated due to the tiebreak procedure. Seedings for the MEAC Baseball Championship are determined by conference winning percentage, with teams playing at least 50% of conference games. Teams tied are separated by overall winning percentage. Norfolk State University will be hosting the tournament at Marty L. Miller field on May 18-21, 2006. The MEAC Baseball Championship is a double-elimination tournament. The top six teams (out of seven) qualify. The winner will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals the first weekend in June.
|
|||||||||
| ||||||||||
