WILSON, N.C. – Gavin Stevens threw a complete-game 5-hitter and third-seed Virginia State held off second-seed Mid-Atlantic Christian 5-2 in the NSAC Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon at Historic Fleming Stadium.
The freshman rightie kept the Mustangs (23-21) off the board until the ninth inning.
VSU (15-31) advances to face Lighthouse, which stunned top-seed Apprentice 5-0, in the noon game on Friday. MACU and Apprentice meet in an elimination game tonight at 6:30 pm.
Nick Redman of Apprentice and Jalyn Lee of Mid-Atlantic Christian lead a stellar group of 19 players which have been selected by the league coaches as the 2024 NSAC All-Conference Team.
Redman, the Pitcher of the Year, led the Builder pitching staff with a sparkling 2.39 ERA with eight wins against no losses on the season. In 49 innings pitched, the sophomore lefty from New Kent, Virginia gave up only 36 hits and 13 earned runs.
Lee was named Player of the Year by virtue of a team-leading .391 batting average with 40 RBI. The 6-2 senior from Smithfield, North Carolina finished the regular season with seven homers and a .461 OBP.
Congratulations to Redman, Lee, and all the members of the 2024 NSAC All-Conference Team!
The Apprentice School
Mid-Atlantic Christian University
Virginia State University
Images courtesy Apprentice Athletics and MACU Athletics
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Mid-Atlantic Christian wrapped up its New South Conference schedule on Wednesday with a twin-bill sweep of Virginia State 6-3 and 6-5. With the pair of victories at Knobb’s Creek, the Mustangs (23-18 overall, 9-5 NSAC) lock up the second seed in next week’s conference tournament.
The Trojans (11-30, 2-6) conclude their schedule against conference foe Lighthouse Christian this weekend in a four-game slate. VSU can clinch the third seed with two wins against the Makos.
Apprentice has already clinched the top spot in the tournament, which will begin Thursday, May 2 in Wilson, North Carolina.
Image courtesy MACU Athletics
ETTRICK, Va. – Virginia State dropped a nine-inning affair to Mid Atlantic Christian on Thursday 13-2.
MACU managed to load the bases with back-to-back singles and an error by the third baseman. A fielder’s choice would bring one run across, but the Trojans starter Gavin Stevens managed to get out of the jam. The Trojans would get that run back in the second inning after Jaquan Tucker was hit by the pitch and advanced to second on a sac bunt. Matthew May was hit by the pitch and then Avante Banks hit a two-out double to bring across Tucker.
The Mustangs would add another run in the fourth and then put up five runs in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Banks hit into a fielder’s choice to bring across Thomas Chandler to score VSU’s second run. However, MACU would score seven more runs in the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 13-2.
Jimmyll Williams and TJ McGowan were the only Trojans with multiple hits, and Stevens now drops to 2-5 on the year. As a team, VSU now sits at 11-24 while MACU improved to 21-18.
Story and image courtesy VSU Athletics
The Apprentice School baseball team continues its tear through the season with an impressive 25-5 overall record (.833 winning percentage) and 4-0 in league play. This has not gone unnoticed by the USCAA pollsters who bumped the Builders up another notch to number two in the latest poll.
AS began the campaign as a preseason #5 and picked up two spots in the first regular season poll last week to third.
The red-hot Builders jump back into NSAC competition this Friday by traveling to Virginia State then hosting the Trojans on Friday April 5.
Mid-Atlantic Christian lost three spots this week and slips to number 11.
Both of the NSAC’s USCAA baseball members are ranked in the top 10 in the first poll of the regular season.
After garnering a fifth-place ranking in the preseason poll, Apprentice has earned even more respect by the pollsters and moved up two notches to third in the poll released March 21. The Builders have crafted an enviable 25-4 overall record and stand atop the NSAC at 4-0 in conference play.
Mid-Atlantic Christian has held serve at number 8 in the poll with a record of 12-17 overall and 2-5 in the NSAC.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Salem University |
| 2 | UC Clermont |
| 3 | The Apprentice School |
| 4 | Atlantis University |
| 5 | Penn State Dubois |
| 6 | Wright State Lake |
| 7 | Miami Middletown |
| 8 | Mid Atlantic Christian |
| 9 | Penn State York |
| 10 | Penn State Shenango |
| 11 | Penn State Mont Alto |
| 12 | Miami Hamilton |
| 13 | Florida National University |
| 14 | Penn State Schuylkill |
| 15 | Penn State Fayette |
Ten teams will compete in the USCAA Small College World Series May 13-17 in Dubois, Pennsylvania.
HAMPTON, Va. – Apprentice took down Mid-Atlantic Christian twice Friday to improve to 4-0 in New South Athletic Conference play, winning 2-1 and 7-3 at War Memorial Stadium.
In the first game of the day, the Builders got going in the third inning as Nate Yeary singled to bring home Jett Winslow to take a 1-0 lead. After the Mustangs answered with a run in the fourth, neither team could get much going until Apprentice got the bats hot again in the seventh.
Three straight singles opened the inning for the Builders, setting up Nolan Edwards to hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Winslow to walk the game off and take the win.
Nick Redman (4-0) took the complete game win, fanning four across the seven innings.
In the nightcap, the Builders scored first again, striking in the first on an infield single by Hunter Johnson to take the early advantage. MACU responded with two in the third to take their first lead of the twinbill, but Apprentice retook the lead in the fourth on a Caleb Russell sacrifice fly and Mustang error to score both Johnson and Jeremy Harmon.
Apprentice piled it on in the sixth, scoring four runs off a pair of fielder’s choices and bases loaded walks. The Mustangs scratched a run across in the seventh to get to the final score.
Isaac McCallister (3-0) pitched the complete game, earning the win with five strikeouts.
Story courtesy Walker McCrary/Apprentice Athletics; image courtesy Kaitlyn Olson/Apprentice Athletics
PALM BEACH, Fla. – Lighthouse Christian, in its inaugural year of baseball, picked up its first win over a varsity opponent and its first New South Conference win in downing Mid-Atlantic Christian 8-7 Thursday afternoon.
The Makos’ Ethan Thomas got the win in relief.
MACU unleashed the runs in the first game of the doubleheader 17-4. Both games were part of the Palm Beach Challenge.
MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Baseball team used three home runs and 13 hits to soar past Mid-Atlantic Christian 13-4 in a mid-week contest.
Chowan makes the return trip to take on the Mustangs on Wednesday, February 28 in Elizabeth City, N.C. First pitch is slated for 5pm.
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
The first poll of the baseball season shows the respect the New South has among USCAA coaches with Apprentice and Mid-Atlantic Christian both placing in the top 10.
The Builders start off with a solid 5th-place showing while MACU claims the eighth spot.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Penn State DuBois |
| 2 | Miami Hamilton |
| 3 | UC Clermont |
| 4 | Penn State Mont Alto |
| 5 | The Apprentice School |
| 6 | Atlantis University |
| 7 | Bucks County Community College |
| 8 | Mid Atlantic Christian |
| 9 | Southern Maine Community College |
| 10 | Salem University |
| 11 | Florida National University |
| 12 | Penn State Brandywine |
| 13 | Wright State Lake |
| 14 | Miami Middletown |
| 15 | Central Maine Community College |
Both USCAA schools with be tested throughout the season facing other ranked opponents, some in the USCAA while others are ranked in other polls.
