SALISBURY, Maryland – The weekend ended with another Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference split as the Maryland Eastern Shore (11-25, 10-10 MEAC) baseball team lost to visiting Coppin State University (15-22, 11-9 MEAC) at Perdue Stadium on Saturday (April 16). It was Evan Nibblett's first start in almost a month with the graduate student taking the 6-2 loss, the Seaford native turning in five innings with two earned.
 
Nibblett was solid through three innings, seeing just the minimum number of Eagles during his time on the mound. In the first third of game, he struck out four Coppin batters, looking like his old self before his short time on the shelf.
 
In the fourth the Eagles were able to get a triple off an odd bounce in the right field corner to put Wellington Balsley in scoring position with no outs. Following a fielding error at short Balsley found pay dirt to give Coppin a lead. When starting pitcher/designated hitter Jordan Hamberg singled Josh Hankins advanced to third and then was driven in on a Sebastien Sarabia sac fly to left field before Nibblett was able to end the inning with two fly balls.
 
Coppin grabbed another run in the fifth by manufacturing a run thanks to a leadoff single by Brian Nicolas hit to short center field. Matt Day laid down a sacrifice bunt and Balsley drove him in with a single through the hole on the right side to put Coppin up 3-0.
 
Ryan Davis replaced Nibblett in the six and put the Eagles down in order, needing just five pitches to work through the inning by getting early swings.
 
The Shore responded in the bottom of the sixth with a run of its own when Dillon Oxyer reached on a fielder's choice, then Bryan Widdowson on a hit by pitch. Ryan Howe came to the plate and hit his third RBI of the weekend with a single to right, making it a 3-1 ballgame.
 
Davis ran into trouble in top of the seventh when a hard-hit ball to short put a runner on first, then was replaced by the speedy Tyler Lloyd. Lloyd stole second and then advanced to third when Brian Nicolas hit a single, followed by a Balsley hit by pitch to load the bases. Davis hit the next batter to drive in a run, followed by a Hamberg single to drive in two more runs.
 
From the seventh until the end of the game nothing worked for the Hawks in the box, collecting a handful of walks and just a single hit, stranding two along the way.
 
For the midweek matchup, the Hawks will head to Newark, Delaware for the first half of a home-and-home against the University of Delaware on Wednesday (April 20). The Blue Hens are facing Hofstra this weekend in a Colonial Athletic Conference affair, splitting the series 1-1 as of Saturday with the getaway game coming on Sunday (April 17) and then have a single game against Villanova on Tuesday (April 19) as part of the Liberty Bell Classic.
 
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