BALTIMORE- The Coppin State Eagles baseball team will battle the Spartans of Norfolk State in a weekend series against the MEAC foe.Â
The Eagles and Spartans will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 2 with the first game beginning at 1:00 p.m. and a single game on Sunday, April 3 scheduled for a noon start.
The Spartans swept the Eagles in last season series.
Coppin State's (4-18, 2-3 MEAC) comeback effort fell just short in a 5-4, loss to Georgetown on Wednesday, March 30.
Senior outfielder John Kraft and junior infielder Bryant Miranda both crushed solo homers against Georgetown and are tied for the Eagle lead with two home runs on the season.
Miranda leads the team with 30 hits, 21 runs and 14 RBIs. He also leads the Eagles with a .533 slugging percentage.
Kraft is second on Coppin State with 14 runs and nine RBIs. He has a .429 slugging percentage and is tied for second with freshman infielder Jamar Criss with 18 hits.
Criss has seven RBIs and five runs on the season.
Senior outfielder George Dragon and infielders freshman Erik Crossman and senior Colin Dower each have recorded 10 or more hits for the Eagles.
Freshman pitcher Krystian Negron is fresh off earning MEAC Pitcher of the Week honors and leads Coppin State with 36 innings pitched, two wins, two complete games and two saves.
Negron is second on the team with 23 strikeouts.
Freshman pitcher Devin Sutorius leads the Eagles with 24 strikeouts. He has two wins on the year in 28.1 innings tossed.
Freshman pitcher Aaron Rea has gone 28.1 innings and is third on the team with 19 strikeouts, including a career and team season high nine strikeouts against Delaware State on Saturday, March 26.
This will be a huge series as the Spartans (9-13, 3-2 MEAC) are one spot ahead of the Eagles in the MEAC Northern Division standings.
Norfolk State leads the MEAC in team pitching earned run average (4.74) and is second in the conference with 202 strikeouts.
Next, Coppin State will head on the road for a game against the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks on Wednesday, April 6 at Legacy Park in Bethlehem, PA. ?
