NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Norfolk State baseball players who were part of last year's team remember the feeling of losing. This season, they no doubt enjoy taking the field a little bit more than in 2025.
Coming off a 4-38 campaign, first-year head coach M.L. Morgan has put a jolt in the program. The Spartans are out to a 10-16 start, 7-5 in NEC play, and have won six of their last seven games.
"It's great for the guys, just to see the excitement when we win games so they can see all the thing we're asking them to do does really factor in on the win column," Morgan noted. "Being able to have 10 wins already, and already having seven conference wins as well... That's the most we've ever had in-conference, so we're already there. We still have seven series left so we feel really good about it."
"It's been electric," said sophomore outfielder and pitcher Thomas Ealey. "We come out every day fired up. Even at practice right now, we're just bouncing around having fun with it and it's just been paying off."
The green and gold are coming off a series win at Mercyhurst this past weekend. They swept Delaware State the previous weekend and posted a midweek road victory at VCU in between. NSU currently sits in fourth place in the NEC, with the top four squads qualifying for the conference tournament. There's a long way to go, but the squad is putting itself in position for success.
Norfolk State's Justin Journette has checked in with 10 home runs on the season, tying for the conference lead and the Spartans rank fourth in the league in fielding percentage. Morgan preaches defense and pitching and has noticed the defense improving with attention to detail.
"We're starting to play a little bit better defensively, first and foremost, and pitching a little bit better is allowing us to have a chance to win games late," the head coach pointed out.
"We're consistently getting better at defense and continuing to strive for that," junior pitcher Parker Hampton added. "We're closer as a team and that helps. Chemistry is definitely a lot better this year, so I would say all those together are making us so much better."
NSU opens up a series with Coppin State at home Thursday at 3 p.m.
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