HANOVER, Md. – The Coppin State split a MEAC doubleheader with Norfolk State, taking the opener, 7-4, before falling, 5-1 in the nightcap on Saturday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The North leading Eagles now stand at 14-18-1 overall and 13-3 in conference play. The 13 MEAC victories matches a single-season school record as the 1996 squad went 13-5 on the year and won a MEAC North Regular Season Championship. The victory also gives head coach
Sherman Reed 53 conference victories, one off
Jason Booker's school-record.
Nazier McIlwain and
Erik Crossman each had two hits and a pair of RBI in game one as Coppin also took advantage of five Spartans' errors.
Marcos Castillo also had a pair of hits, an RBI and a walk.
Norfolk took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the second inning off starting pitcher
Branden Redfern who earned his third victory of the season. The lead was short lived as the Eagles tied it up in their half of the second as Castillo smacked an RBI triple to center field, scoring
Derek Lohr who reached on an error earlier in the frame.
The Spartans went back on top 2-1 with a run in the third and held on to the advantage until Coppin scored a pair in the fourth.
Caleb Duhay started the rally with a double and scored as McIlwain doubled to left. Crossman then drove in McIlwain with a single to left field to put CSU on top, 3-2.
Redfern used a pick off in the fifth, his second of the game, to escape a jam and retired one more in the sixth before
Devin Rivera Ozuna relieved him with a runner on third. Following a pitch,
Brett Helmbrecht caught the runner drifting down the line and ran him down for the second out before Ozuna struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Coppin took advantage and broke the game open with three runs in the sixth. Following a walk and a single with an error, Crossman reached on a fielding error which allowed both Lohr and Castillo to score. A sac bunt by Helmbrecht advanced Crossman to third and he would score on a sacrifice fly by
Corey Treyes.
McIlwain gave the Eagles some insurance with a solo blast to right field, his second home run of the season.
NSU was able to get two runs in the eighth off Ozuna who allowed one earned run in 2.2 innings of work before Treyes pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his team-leading third save of the season.
Game two was not as friendly to the Eagles as Norfolk jumped ahead early with a run in the first and tacked on another three in the third off starter
Jahmon Taylor. Coppin's lone run came in the fifth as Treyes led off with a triple before scoring on
Andres Santana's RBI groundout.
CSU allowed another run in the seventh for
Jonathan Mahoney who escaped a jam with a double play. Mahoney got the win for the Spartans, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out nine. Taylor struck out ten in just six innings of work for the Navy & Gold but allowed three earned runs, walked six and was called for a pair of balks.
On Deck: The two teams will complete the three-game series with a pivotal 12 pm first pitch on Sunday, April 22 at Joe Cannon Stadium.
