HANOVER, Md. – Coppin State baseball suffered a pair of losses to the visiting Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, April 29
th at Joe Cannon Stadium. MDES won game one 15-12 and game two 5-3.
The Eagles recorded a season-high 41 at bats, with 16 hits and stealing ten bases in game one against the Hawks. Senior
Bryant Miranda had a team season-high six at bats while freshman
Allen Saar tied a team season-high with four runs scored.
Junior
Andres Santana tied a season-high with three hits, knocked in three RBI and stole two bases.
Senior
Clinton Arnold tied a career-high with three hits matched with a pair of runs scored and three stolen bases against the Hawks. Junior
John Bonanca scored a season-high two runs and stole two bases. Freshman
Allen Saar scored a season-high four runs and had his fourth double of the season.
Saar got things going for the Eagles in game one with a double to right field in the first inning and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Arnold RBI singled up the middle scoring Saar and then junior
Brett Helmbrecht grounded out scoring Arnold for CSU's second run of the inning.
Bonanca singled through the right side in the second inning and later scored on a throwing error by the MDES defense.
Sophomore
Nazier McIlwain drew a walk in the leadoff spot of the third inning and moved to third on a double to left center by Miranda. Both McIlwain and Miranda crossed home on a single to right field by Santana.
A huge fourth inning for the Eagles resulted in four runs on four hits and two fielding errors. With the bases loaded, Helmbrecht sacrifice flied out to left field scoring Saar who reached base on a bunt. Miranda brought in Arnold and McIlwain and a fielding error allowed him to score and Santana reaching base for a 9-1 advantage.
With the hot start by Coppin State, Maryland Eastern Shore outscored the Eagles 14-3 in the final five innings.
Starting pitcher sophomore
Krystian Negron went 6.2 innings striking out eight batters and walking two.
Saar scored his third run of the game in the seventh inning stealing second base and then advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher. In the eighth Bonanca drew a walk and later scored on a throwing error. Finally in the ninth inning, Saar scored on a throwing error by the shortstop, but Coppin State fell short 15-12.
In game two sophomore pitcher
Jahmon Taylor took the mound and struck out three batters but gave up 12 hits. The Hawks led 2-1 after the first inning and pushed it to 4-1 after the fourth inning. The Eagles trimmed the deficit with two runs in the fifth inning, but MDES sealed their win with a final run in the sixth inning.
Brett Helmbrecht finished with two hits and a pair of RBI while
Nazier McIlwain also had a pair of hits with one RBI.
Clinton Arnold scored two runs and
Allen Saar had the other run scored for the Eagles.
McIlwain singled through the left side and then Helmbrecht RBI singled scoring Arnold who walked.
Andres Santana singled to right center in the second inning and junior
Caleb Duhay singled to the shortstop for the only hits of the second inning.
In the third Helmbrecht had his second hit with a single up the middle. CSU produced three hits leading to three runs in the fifth. Saar scored the first run on an RBI double to left field by McIlwain. Helmbrecht remained hot with a fielder's choice RBI scoring Arnold.
Miranda was next and singled up the middle for the final hit. CSU trailed 4-3 heading into the sixth inning.
The Hawks scored an insurance run in the sixth stretching their lead to 5-3. CSU had no answer at the plate with only one hit in the final two innings with MDES taking game two.
Coppin State falls to 6-13 in the conference and are sitting in fourth place in the MEAC Northern Division. The teams will play a single game slated for noon on Sunday, April 30
th at Joe Cannon Stadium.
