HANOVER, Md. - Jordan Hamberg tossed a five-hit shutout while striking out 13 to lead Coppin State's baseball team to a 2-0 victory over Norfolk State in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. After falling in game one, the Eagles now stand at 13-20 overall and atop the MEAC standings with a 9-7 record in conference play.
A sophomore from South Plainfield, N.J., Hamberg's 13 strikeouts are the most by a CSU pitcher since Aaron Rea fanned 13 against Norfolk State on April 22, 2018. The shutout was the team's first since Devin Rivera Ozuna, Branden Redfern and Corey Treyes combined for a shutout at NSU on April 21, 2019.
Hamberg retired ten-straight at one point during the game and 13 of the last 14 batters that he faced. The Spartans reached on an error to start the seventh inning, but Hamberg struck out two of the next three batters to earn the complete game victory. Hamberg struck out two batters in each of the first three innings, one in the fourth, and two in each of the final three innings.
Sebastien Sarabia and Brian Nicolas both went 2-for-3 in the game while Marcos Castillo put the Eagles ahead with an RBI double in the first inning, scoring Josh Hankins all the way from first. Nicolas, who singled earlier in the frame, scored from third on a wild pitch in the fourth to bring the score to 2-0.
Norfolk State won the opener, 19-4, scoring in every inning and taking a 6-0 lead after its half of the third before Hamberg got the Eagles on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning.
In the sixth, Coppin got an RBI single from Castillo before Sarabia scored on a groundout.
Rashad Ruff got the loss as he allowed nine runs in 3.1 innings while striking out four. Nico Felber, Luke Baker and Matt Perkins combined to toss the final 3.2 innings.
The Eagles will travel to Maryland Eastern Shore for a four-game MEAC series on April 14-16. Thursday's game will start at 3 pm, followed by a 12 pm doubleheader on Friday and a 12 pm single game on Saturday.
