HANOVER, Md. – Devin Rivera Ozuna threw a complete game and allowed just two earned runs as the Coppin State baseball team won the rubber game of a MEAC series against Norfolk State, 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium.
The Basics
- Final Score: Coppin State 5, Norfolk State 3
- Records: Coppin State (14-10, 7-2 MEAC), Norfolk State (9-15, 5-4 MEAC)
- Location: Hanover, Md. (Joe Cannon Stadium)
Inside the Numbers
- A senior from Washington, D.C., Devin Rivera Ozuna (4-1) allowed just two earned runs on five hits while striking out for his first complete game. It was the first nine inning complete game for an Eagles pitcher since March 25, 2016 when Krystian Negron blanked Delaware State.
- Justin Banks and Drew Thomas both had two hit games and drove in a run apiece. Banks also drew a pair of walks, one of which was intentional.
- Derek Lohr also walked twice while Erik Crossman and Nazier McIlwain reached base safely twice with a hit and a walk.
How It Happened
- Coppin took advantage of two errors in the first inning to score a run on an RBI single by Justin Banks which allowed Matt Day to score. The Eagles were unable to capitalize any further, leaving three runners on base.
- Devin Rivera Ozuna got a 1-2-3 second inning and his teammates gave him an extra insurance run on an RBI double by Erik Crossman to score Conner Walker.
- CSU finally put a crooked number on the board with three runs in the third with RBIs by Drew Thomas, Walker and Day, giving the hosts a 5-0 lead.
- That would be all of the runs that Rivera Ozuna needed as he got a 1-2-3 fourth, eighth and ninth innings. Norfolk got two runs in the sixth despite only one ball reaching the outfield for a sacrifice fly. The Spartans added one more run in the seventh.
Quotables
Devin Rivera Ozuna on his performance today
"Today I just felt really good on the mound, everything felt really comfortable. When I started warming up and toeing the rubber, my foot just felt like it belonged on the mound. Throughout the game, I felt really comfortable and I never got tired. I couldn't have done this without my teammates. My teammates at the end of the day made big plays and had my back. I didn't try to do too much, not trying to do anything extra or striking everybody out, but allowing and trusting my teammates to get the ball around and just get outs. At the end of the day, that's all that we got to do, just get the next out."
Head Coach Sherman Reed on Rivera Ozuna's day
"If there was one guy on the team that had a rubber arm that could throw 121 pitches, it's always been Devin Ozuna. The good news with Devin was, he did what a senior needed to do today because we had a situation where our closer caught a game two days ago. We don't know what we would have gotten from Corey (Treyes) but we needed him (Ozuna) to complete what he started and he did it clearly. That's what seniors do and Devin Ozuna has stepped up as a senior big time for us."
Coach Reed on getting another series win, Coppin's 11th-straight in the MEAC
"We did it the tough way this time. You lose a very tough first game against a very good Norfolk State team and you had to think that they thought the percentages were that they would win 1-of-2 to win it. These guys fought real hard winning the last two games and it was a big swing for us because a win gets you a two-game lead with the tiebreaker and a loss gets you all tied up with them having the tiebreaker. It was a huge win for us from that standpoint."
Up Next: Coppin travels to Navy on Tuesday, April 2 before heading to Maryland Eastern Shore for a three-game MEAC series on April 5-7.
