NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Jordan Hamberg was named the MEAC Baseball Pitcher of the Year while
Josh Hankins was named the Rookie of the Year, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon. Additionally, nine Eagles were named to the All-MEAC First Team which included Hamberg at two different positions.
Hamberg is the first Eagle to be named the MEAC Pitcher of the Year while Hankins joins
Travis Thornton ('95) and
Derek Lohr ('18) as the only Coppin players to receive the Rookie of the Year award.
Hamberg was also named First Team at both starting pitcher and utility while
Wellington Balsley (OF),
Marcos Castillo (OF),
Mike Dorcean (C),
Justin Johnson (RP),
Corey Miley (2B),
Brian Nicolas (3B) and
Sebastien Sarabia (1B) also received First Team accolades at their respective positions.
A sophomore from South Plainfield, N.J., Hamberg went 5-2 with a 3.67 earned run average while striking out 77 batters in 56.1 innings on the mound. Hamberg posted four games with at least ten strikeouts, fanning a career-high 13 in a five-hit complete game shutout against Norfolk State April 10. He added 12 strikeouts in a win over Maryland Eastern Shore on May 1 and had ten more punchouts against the Hawks on April 3 and against Cornell over just 5.2 innings on March 6. Hamberg's 12.30 strikeouts per nine innings by far lead the conference and rank 36
th in the NCAA.
Hamberg also led Coppin with a .364 average, recording eight doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 30 RBI. He also scored 30 runs, drew 21 walks and stole 11 bases, accumulating a .661 slugging percentage and .473 on-base percentage. Hamberg was named a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week twice this season and most recently was named one of ten semifinalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year.
Hankins has held down the shortstop position since the day he stepped on campus and led all MEAC players in total assists (113) while ranking first among middle infielders with a .964 fielding percentage. A freshman from Boothwyn, Pa., Hankins helped turn a league-high 23 double plays and was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the Nation's top shortstop. Hankins also had a solid season at the plate, hitting .265 with eight double and 18 RBI while scoring 35 runs, drawing 19 walks and stealing 13 bases. In a victory over Albany, Hankins matched a school-record with five base hits in a single game while driving in four runs.
The MEAC stolen base champion with 26 steals on the season, Balsley finished second in the league in both hits (45) and runs scored (55) from the leadoff position in Coppin's lineup. A redshirt junior from Vacaville, Calif., Balsley hit .304 with four doubles and a league-high five triples while driving in 30 runs. Balsley drew 32 walks and led the MEAC with eight sacrifice hits, amounting to a .419 on-base percentage. The outfielder also had 16 multi-hit games, including a school-record five-hit game at George Washington, and a team-high 11 games with multiple RBI.
Castillo ranked among the league leaders in several categories as he hit .314 while setting career-highs in runs (33), hits (55), doubles (11), home runs (5), RBI (35), walks (20) and stolen bases (18). A senior from Round Rock, Texas, Castillo also racked up three triples, upping his CSU career-record to 15. One of the most productive Eagles in school-history, he is a .325 career hitter and ranks among the CSU all-time leaders in runs (93), hits (162), doubles (33), RBI (94), total bases (255), hit by pitch (22) and stolen bases (44).
A repeat First Team selection, Dorcean hit .264 with 23 runs, six doubles, a triple, a home run and 12 RBI. Dorcean also drew 19 walks and was hit by a pitch 14 times which led all MEAC players. A redshirt sophomore from Bellerose, N.Y., Dorcean ranked fourth in the league with a .467 on-base percentage and his .858 OPS was eighth in the conference.
Johnson earned a MEAC Pitcher of the Week and two Rookie of the Week honors before an injury cut his season short. A freshman from Easton, Pa., Johnson went 1-2 with a team-high three saves and held hitters to a miniscule .209 batting average. Johnson finished with 32 strikeouts in 33.1 innings of work while posting a 4.32 earned run average and 1.26 WHIP in 14 appearances.
A redshirt junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, Miley led the MEAC and ranks 10
th nationally with a .513 on-base percentage after hitting .339 and a league-high 36 walks. Miley also slugged .461 for a .974 OPS while recording ten doubles, two triples and driving in 24 runs while scoring another 25 runs. In MEAC play, his on-base percentage ballooned to .553 while hitting .369 with 23 walks.
Nicolas transferred to Coppin prior to this season and was a mainstay at the hot corner, hitting .260 with 30 runs, four doubles, three triples, four home runs and 28 RBI. A redshirt junior from Langhorne, Pa., Nicolas drew 23 walks and was a perfect 16-for-16 on stolen base attempts. Nicolas blasted two of his home runs in a win over Delaware State on March 10 and drove in six runs in a win over Cornell on March 6.
Sarabia is earning All-MEAC honors for the second-straight season after receiving Second Team accolades as a true freshman last year. A sophomore from Simi Valley, Calif., Sarabia hit .293 with 23 runs, seven doubles, two triples, two home runs and 34 runs batted in. Drawing another 21 walks, Sarabia led the Eagles with five sacrifice flies and had ten games with multiple RBI.
The Eagles (21-27, 17-13 MEAC) earned the second seed in the MEAC Tournament and will take on #3 Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday, May 19. First pitch from Norfolk State's Marty Miller Field is set for approximately 3:30 pm.
Fans can listen to the action live on WNST 1570 AM or by logging onto
www.coppinstatesports.com
