HANOVER, Md. – Brody Black hit a three-run home run and the pitching duo of
Marcos Herrand and
Rashad Ruff combined to strikeout 17 batters as Coppin State's baseball team defeated Norfolk State, 5-3 in NEC action on Thursday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. With the win, the Eagles improve to 19-31 overall and 12-16 in league play, staying alive in their chase for a NEC Tournament bid.
Norfolk State took a 1-0 lead with a run in the second inning before Coppin took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third.
Corey Miley tied the score early in the inning as he scored from third when
Josh Hankins reached on an error. Following a foul out, Black hit a towering shot over the left field fence for a home run, giving the Eagles a 4-1 lead.
The Spartans got a run back in the fourth, but Herrand tossed a 1-2-3 fifth inning before striking out the side in the sixth. The first two Spartans reached off Herrand in the seventh to end his day on the mound, but Ruff came in and struck out three batters to end the inning, allowing just a walk.
Coppin got a much-needed insurance run in its half of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from
Jordan Hamberg, driving in Miley who had singled earlier in the inning.
After allowing a leadoff home run, Ruff struck out the next three batters in the eighth and fanned two more batters in the ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season.
Herrand improved to 8-5 on the season, allowing just two runs over 6.0 innings while matching a career-high with nine strikeouts. His eight wins this season are tied for the second-most in CSU single-season history and his 11 career wins are now the seventh-most at Coppin.
Ruff went the final three innings, giving up one run on two hits with eight of his nine outs recorded coming on strikeouts. His five saves this year are tied for the third-most in school history and his seven career saves are also third all-time.
Brett Curran went 3-for-3 with a run and a walk while Miley scored twice while going 2-for-3. Hankins was credited with an RBI, a run scored and a walk with Hamberg and
Liam McCallum adding doubles in the game.
Coppin and Norfolk will go head-to-head on Friday, May 19 at 1:00 pm, followed by the regular season finale at 12:00 pm on Saturday, May 20.
