DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Mother Nature delayed a dramatic opening round Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball game between Bethune-Cookman and Norfolk State Wednesday evening at Silwa Stadium on the campus of Embry-Riddle University. With the score knotted at 7 and two runners aboard in the bottom of the ninth, the game was paused due to lightning in the area. After a 5:38-minute delay, the game was postponed until Thursday morning.

Norfolk State loaded the bases against Ivan Countinho (3-4) before Stephen Baughan struck out and Justin Hayes was thrown out from third on an attempted suicide squeeze.
 
Then, with Syeed Mahdi at the plate, an errant pitch was swung on and missed but skipped to the backstop and Alsander Womack scored the winning run as BCU fell, 8-7.

The Wildcat ninth inning rally saw BCU, the three seed out of the South Division, plate three runs in the ninth. Adonis Lao ignited the push with a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, Jordan Stacy singled to put runners on the corners. Michael Deeb continued the hit parade with an Rbi single to centerfield, and Jameel Edney tied the game on a two-run double to the right centerfield gap. 

The Spartans took an early 4-0 lead with a three-run homer from Stephen Baughan and solo shot from Ismael Herrera in the first. 

BCU answered with a two-out RBI single off the bat of Adonis Lao in the next inning, and a dropped fly ball in left field scored Stacy in the third.

Trailing 7-3 in the top of the seventh, Nate Sterijevksi singled and then raced home on a Danny Rodriguez double. 

Tyler Norris allowed seven earned runs off eight hits in three innings with one walk and four strikeouts. 

Until the ninth, the Wildcat bullpen kept the Spartans in check with Brandon Wilkes firing two hitless innings and Jordan Pinto dealing three innings of shutout baseball.

Two weather delays plagued the game, with the first occurring in the top of the sixth and lasting 1:42.