HANOVER, Md. - Coppin State's baseball team closed its season with its sixth-straight Northeast Conference victory, completing a sweep of Norfolk State with a 10-1 win on Saturday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles finish with a 21-31 overall record while tying for sixth place in the NEC with a 14-16 mark in league play.
The team's 21 victories are tied for the third-most all-time (2005 & 2018) in program history, just three games behind the record which was set in both 2019 and 2022. Coppin set single-season records for at-bats (1,728), walks (281) and fielding percentage (.969).
Jordan Hamberg improved to 4-4 on the season, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out a season-high 12 batters in 7.0 innings. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing back-to-back singles and the lone run scored on an RBI groundout with one out.
Tim Ruffino retired all four batters he faced which included a strikeout before
Rashad Ruff finished the game off with a strikeout and a groundout.
Brett Curran and
Mike Dorcean both had multi-hit games, scoring two runs apiece while Curran also drove in a run and drew a pair of walks. Dorcean drew one walk and was hit by a pitch, extending his CSU record for times being hit by a pitch.
Hamberg helped his own cause at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a triple, two runs scored, a pair of walks and a hit by a pitch.
Brody Black was the only Eagles player with multiple runs batted in.
Black got the scoring started in the fourth with an RBI single, and senior
Toran Smith followed up with one of his own, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead. After Hamberg struck out two more in the fifth, Coppin scored four more in its half on RBI from
Liam McCallum on a bases-loaded walk, a groundout by Black, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by senior
Brian Nicolas.
Norfolk State finally solved Hamberg in the seventh, but Ruffino got a 1-2-3 eighth before the Eagles scored another four runs in the bottom of the frame. A failed pickoff attempt by the pitcher allowed Dorcean to score from third and the wild throws from the pitcher, and on the way back to the infield saw Nicolas score all the way from first.
After retiring the first batter of the ninth after a 1-2-3 eighth, Ruffino got a senior sendoff before Ruff wrapped up the game.
Prior to the game, CSU honored its seniors:
Mike Dorcean, Corey Miley, Brian Nicolas, Matt Perkins, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch,
Rashad Ruff, Tim Ruffino and
Toran Smith.
