PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Junior
Alanna Williams had an afternoon to remember to lead Coppin State's offensive barrage in a doubleheader triumph over Maryland Eastern Shore, 7-6 and 16-11, respectively.
During the second game, Williams hit for the cycle for the first time in her career, a tough and rare feat to accomplish.
During the top of the first inning, Williams singled to rightfield, allowing seniors
Samantha Denlinger and
Candice Van Horn to score. In the top of the third, she tripled down the rightfield line then upped the ante with a home run over centerfield fence during the top of the fifth.
To close out her impressive showing, Williams doubled to centerfield at the top of the sixth inning.
Williams ended the series with a total of five hits, four RBIs and three runs.
In their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contests of the season, the Eagles (2-14, 2-0 MEAC) combined for 27 hits and 19 RBIs through two games.
"It feels great," Van Horn said. "We hit much better today but we still need to get better. We're slowly staring to get better as a team."
Down 4-2 at the top of the seventh inning of the opening game, Smith started a scoring spree after crossing home plate on Denlinger's pop up to the shortstop. The Eagles rallied to put up five runs to seal the win.
Coppin State had five players batting .500 or better for the first time this season.
Van Horn led the way hitting .625 on the day. Junior
Danielle Smith along with Williams had a .556 batting average. Freshman
Taylor Haller and junior Michelle Saunders rounded out the top five, each batting .500.
Van Horn tripled twice during the second game. She finished with four runs and five hits on the day.
Smith posted five runs and five hits while Haller added three hits and three runs to the mix.
Junior
Shelby Mendoza padded the stat sheet with four runs, four RBIs and three hits.
Denlinger topped the team with seven RBIs. She had five RBIs in the second game alone, which was highlighted by a three-run homer over leftfield fence.
Coppin State will have the chance to sweep this season's meetings with UMES Wednesday at Hawks Field with a final game at noon.
