SALISBURY, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team came out from Friday's (March 22) suspension with an offensive charge Saturday (March 23). They came back to win the suspended game, 3-2, before blasting a season high in runs while fighting off Norfolk State, 18-14.
The Shore improves to 5-19 (2-3 MEAC) while the Spartans fall to 7-11 (3-2 MEAC). The 18 runs scored in the second game were the most by a Hawk squad since they defeated Coppin State 18-1 on March 31, 2012.
"It was nice to see our guys fired up." Hawks Coach Brian Hollamon said. "In baseball you can either play scared and reluctant or fight like lions. Our guys played like lions. When they got punched, they punched back."
Norfolk State led 2-0 coming out of the suspension. In the seventh, the Hawks got two on and moved them into scoring position with two outs. Blake Coleman (Woodbridge, Virginia) tied it with a two run single and Avery Tunnell (Dover, Delaware) brought him home with the go ahead RBI single.
Caleb Walston (Princess Anne, Maryland) entered in relief and shut down the Spartans with four scoreless innings. The junior struck out four on the way to his first win of the season.
The Hawks busted out to a big lead in the regularly scheduled contest. Two runs came across in the first, capped off by a Marcus Brown single to score Dillon Oxyer. That was followed by six runs in the second for an 8-1 lead. The frame was bookended by a Devynn Hancock (Salisbury, Maryland) triple and an RBI double from Nick Roets (Charlotte, North Carolina).
Extending the lead to 12-3 after four innings, the game looked like a sure thing for The Shore. But the Spartans roared back in the fifth and sixth. Highlighted by a three run Brandon Crosby blast, the visitors plated nine runs. D.J. Doherty (Harbeson, Delaware) scored on a wild pitch to keep the Hawks ahead, but Norfolk State turned a nine run rout into a one run affair.
Gradually, Maryland Eastern Shore kept one step ahead. Hancock doubled home Oxyer in the sixth, Roets added RBI's in the seventh and eighth and Brantley Cutler (Washington, North Carolina) added an RBI single to complete the 18 run effort.
Cory Poulsen (Bel Air, Maryland) came on in relief in the eighth. He induced a double play to blank the Spartans in his first inning of work. But then the Spartans scored once in the ninth and loaded the bases for pinch hitter Korey Singh with a chance to tie. The plate battle was intense but Poulsen blew a fastball by Singh for strike three to preserve the win.
"I'm proud of our guys today." Hollamon said. "At times they looked young and would get nervous, but they played loose and did things we always knew we were capable of. I hope this game gets things going for our team."
Maryland Eastern Shore goes for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Should they succeed, they will find themselves in second place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North.
