Baseball | 4/9/2015 2:49:00 PM
BALTIMORE – Fans planning to attend this weekend's crucial three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series between Delaware State and Coppin State at Joe Cannon Stadium, better be prepared to stay awhile.
The staff at Joe Cannon also better be ready to flip the light switch as these two teams will test daylight limits.
The first time the Eagles and Hornets met in Dover three weeks ago, they kept the scoreboard operator busy and spooked pitching staffs while combining to score 73 runs and 83 hits in over nine hours of baseball. Think of that weekend series as a version of arena football. The average time of the three games was 3 hours, 22 minutes, not exactly an exhibit for a pace-of-play that Major League Baseball would ever reference.
The Hornets won all three games. In the last two games, Delaware State rallied from five-run deficits to beat the Eagles. However, things have turned for the reigning Northern Division champion Hornets (6-20 overall, 5-7 MEAC) since that weekend.
Delaware State enters this weekend having lost nine of its last 10 games, including eight straight and six conference contests in a row. Delaware State scored 33 runs in its last two games against Coppin State. Since then in 10 games, the Hornets have scored 32 runs.
Coppin State (2-23-1, 1-11) has an opportunity to leap back into the MEAC Northern Division playoff picture as the second half of the season starts. The Eagles trail Delaware State by four games. In a departure from previous years when every Northern Division team made the MEAC Tournament, only three teams make it this year.
The teams play each other six times in the next three weeks. Coppin State still has a pair of series against Norfolk State as well.
The Eagles have been fueled this season by the hot bat of
George Dragon, who is hitting .354. He has reached base in 25 of Coppin State's 26 games. He was one of three Coppin State players that registered a hit, in the Eagles' 4-4 rain-shortened tie against La Salle Wednesday afternoon. He leads Coppin State with 11 multi-hit games. Dragon also had a five-hit performance against the Hornets on March 21.
Jeffrey Fitch has a .288 batting average and
Darien Percell is hitting .268 for the Eagles. Two of Coppin State's pitchers expected to start this weekend Yayha Muhammed and
Anderson Burgess had strong outings last weekend against first-place Maryland Eastern Shore.
Meanwhile, the top thumpers for the Hornets are Chris Gonzalez (.360 average), Charles Dailey (.340) and Justin Allen (.320). In its last outing on Wednesday, Delaware State dropped a 12-7 decision to the University of Delaware despite two hits from Cameron Onderko.
Coppin State hits the road for a pair of mid-week non-conference contests against Towson on Tuesday, April 14 and Lehigh on Wednesday, April 15.
