HANOVER, Md. – Justin Banks drove in six runs, including a grand slam, while
Conner Walker came through with a go-ahead three-run double to lead the Coppin State baseball team to a 17-5 victory over MEAC rival Maryland Eastern Shore Saturday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium.
The Basics
- Final Score: Coppin State 17, Maryland Eastern Shore 5
- Records: Coppin State (8-6, 2-0 MEAC), Maryland Eastern Shore (3-16, 0-2 MEAC)
- Location: Hanover, Md. (Joe Cannon Stadium)
- Series History: Coppin State Leads, 103-79
Inside the Numbers
- Justin Banks finished the day 2-for-4 with six RBI, a home run, a sacrifice fly and a RBI groundout. Banks now has a team-high four home runs and 18 RBI.
- Conner Walker went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI.
- Corey Treyes and Marcos Castillo once again had three-hit performances and both scored twice while Castillo also drove in a run to go with a double and a triple.
- Erik Crossman also came through with some big hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Eagles who recorded 13 base knocks on the day.
- Although not recording a hit, Nazier McIlwain drew three walks, drove in a run and scored twice in one official at bat.
- Devin Rivera Ozuna earned his third win of the season, allowing just two earned runs on five hits while fanning three in 5.0 innings. Branden Redfern tossed a scoreless sixth while both of Anthony Martinez' runs went unearned in the seventh.
How It Happened
- Coppin left three runners stranded in the first two innings and Maryland Eastern Shore took advantage, taking a 1-0 lead with a run in the third.
- The Eagles tied it up in their half of the third on an RBI single by Justin Banks, driving in Corey Treyes from second after he singled and stole a base.
- Carson Davis put the Hawks back on top with a leadoff home run in the fourth but CSU put a seven spot on the board to take a 8-2 lead. Marcos Castillo, Ryan McWilliams and Derek Lohr all reached base safely to load the bases and Conner Walker cleared them with a opposite field double down the right field line, giving the Eagles its first lead at 4-2. Matt Day was hit by a pitch and Nazier McIlwain walked to once again load the bases and Erik Crossman hit a single up the middle to score Walker and Day. A throwing error to nail McIlwain at third went wild and allowed him to score on the play as well. Another fielding error on the next play let Crossman score as well.
- UMES got one of those runs back in the fifth, but Coppin once again scored seven runs in the bottom half. McIlwain drew a walk with the bases loaded to score the first run before Banks lined a grand slam over the right field fence for a grand slam. The Navy & Gold were not done yet as Crossman followed up with a single and came home on Castillo's triple to right field. A single by McWilliams then scored Castillo.
- Branden Redfern relieved Devin Rivera Ozuna in the sixth and allowed just a hit before Drew Thomas hit a pinch hit RBI double and Banks recorded a sacrifice fly in the inning.
- Anthony Martinez got a pair of groundouts to start the seventh, but after a walk and an error, the Hawks got a two-run hit. Martinez regrouped, however, and got the final batter looking.
Quotables
Head Coach Sherman Reed on the bats taking a little bit to get going today
"Dwayne Marshall is one of the top pitchers in this conference and we didn't know when he was going to go in the rotation, but we knew eventually we were going to see Marshall. We knew that kid was going to come after us, he's a great arm, and I'm glad that we prevailed. He's won some big games, I think he's got more than half of their wins already. He's a good arm, one of those arms that we're proud that he's in our conference and we have a chance to compete against an arm like Dwayne. The guys stuck with the program. The bottom line is we've got to continue to stick with the program and early in the game some breaks didn't go our way. The guys tend to stick together and continue and let the thing play out. It's such a potent offensive team that you know eventually we're going to get the bats going and it got going a little later than normal, but we'll take it."
Coach Reed on runs coming with two outs
"That's what makes me really proud about this group is that the coaching staff, I'll be the first to say we really put a lot of pressure on these guys to focus and come to play every game, every at bat, every ball thrown from the pitcher, we need a sharp focus from everyone to go to some of the places we want to go in this game this year. With two strikes, with two outs, you can see the additional extra focus that the guys are giving. We have confidence that with two outs we can get a rally going. We've had several rallies this year begin with two outs. The guys really do a good job focusing, try to fight off the tough pitches and giving themselves a chance to get the one pitch that they can drive.
Coach Reed on Justin Banks' performance today
"He's going to be one of the great ones in this conference. Sometimes it looks a little easy the way things come to him. He's still trying to get his timing down but Justin is a big time talent for this conference. We just sit back and marvel and its very enjoyable sitting back and watching this kid because every at bat you know he can do something very special. Justin came up huge for us this year, really this weekend and back-to-back weekends where he's been a hitting machine and we've been riding his back pretty good so far this season.
Coach Reed on Erik Crossman's performance today
"Criss-Cross! Crossman has come up with some big key early season hits for us and today was no different. He came up with a huge two out hit and if you go back the first few weeks in the season, some of those key two-outs hits that put us at ease where we can kind of relax just a tad, it's been big hits coming off the bat of Crossman."
Coach Reed on Conner Walker's three-run double
"
Conner Walker does a real good job of recognizing what the pitcher is trying to do to him. If he sits and gets the pitch that he is looking for, Conner doesn't miss many. That was really the key hit that sparked this whole offensive barrage, was that bases-loaded double down the right field line. That really got us started."
Conner Walker on the offensive output today
"Dwayne Marshall pitched really well but he threw a lot of fastballs and I think it took a little bit to get on his fastball. Once we did, we didn't look back.
Walker on the significance of two-out hitting
"It shows a lot of grit from the team; two-outs, that's how you win ballgames. We just did a real good job of hunting fastballs and hitting them hard
Walker on his three-run double
"When I came up with the bases loaded, I knew I was going to get a fastball. I was just looking to put something the other way hard and it bounced all of way into the corner for a double. Really good hustle from the guys coming around too with the bases loaded."
Walker on what needs to be done to get a sweep tomorrow
We need to keep hunting fastballs. We need to keep battling, having good at bats, fouling stuff off, looking for fast balls and keep pounding the other way."
Justin Banks on his six RBI performance today
"It was definitely good team victory. I wouldn't be able to get the grand slam without my teammates getting on base. Give credit to
Erik Crossman picking me up when I struck out with the bases loaded. He had a good day.
Conner Walker drove in a lot of runs today and Devin Rivera (Ozuna) definitely had a good day on the mound."
Banks on the team's approach with two outs
"It's just listening to Coach (LynDon) Watkins, he's our hitting coach. He knows what he's talking about, we definitely listen to him and it helps us get the job done."
Banks on the importance of winning the series
"It's definitely important for us to win every series, but we're not done yet. We still need to close out and get the sweep. That's what we're expected to do. We've just got to come out tomorrow with the same intensity."
Up Next: Coppin will look to complete a three-game sweep of their MEAC rivals in the series finale at 1 pm on Sunday, March 17 at Joe Cannon Stadium.
