NORFOLK, Virginia – In resounding fashion, the Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team took its first weekend Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series win with a 17-8 drubbing of Norfolk State at Marty L. Miller Field in Norfolk, Virginia on Sunday (April 24).
 
Eight Hawks (14-27, 13-11 MEAC) crossed the plate against the Spartans (12-27, 9-15 MEAC) in the win, including Kyle Cincinnati and Alex McCoy finding paydirt four times each.
 
"Total team win today, I think this will kickstart us going into Coppin next weekend," head coach Brian Hollamon said.
 
Norfolk was able to grab four runs in the first to put pressure on the Hawks and starter Caden Parker with a leadoff walk and three straight singles to make it 2-0 in favor of the home team. Tanner Brandon then hit a triple for another run and Steven Shaffer drove in Brandon to put four up on the Hawks quickly.
 
It didn't take long for the Shore to respond with four of their own in the top of the second inning to tie the game up. Ryan Howe led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third following a ground out, then an Alex McCoy single. Brian Cordell put the first run on the board for the Hawks with a single to drive in Howe before finding himself on second and McCoy on third following a passed ball.
 
Kyle Cincinnati drew a four pitch walk in his first at-bat of the day and the Hawks took advantage of another passed ball with the bases loaded, scoring McCoy to cut the Spartan lead in half. With a Riley Horner sacrifice fly and a hard-hit Andrew Revels single, the Hawks had the game tied up heading to the bottom of the second.
 
With a single in the third inning, Howe found himself advancing to third following a wild pitch and a passed ball, eventually scoring after McCoy drew a walk and Norfolk committed an error on a failed pickoff attempt to have the Hawks up 5-4.
 
Two more runs were picked up in the fourth inning, with Nick Roets and Bryan Widdowson both picking up RBIs in the frame – Roets with a single to score Cincinnati and Widdowson driving in Revels on a groundout.
 
Not letting off the gas, another two runs were scored in the fifth thanks to great base running by Alex McCoy who has returned to the lineup after injury. McCoy reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and then advanced to third on a Cordell groundout. Cincinnati drew a walk to put runners on the corners and with a delayed steal after Cincinnati was on his way to second, McCoy stole home to make it an 8-6 game. Horner then grabbed his second RBI of the day on a single up the middle for another Hawk run.
 
"It was big to see Riley get some confidence, get some hits," Hollamon said. "Riley had a heck of a day."
 
With the game still within three runs, Hollamon made a call to the bullpen, putting the ever-steady Ryan Davis on the mound. The freshman would end up going three innings, giving up two but neither was earned.
 
"Ryan Davis is always the sense of calm," Hollamon said. "It could be a big situation and he's cool, calm and collected."
 
The Hawks again in the sixth scored another two runs with a Howe sacrifice fly and a Brantley Cutler single, scoring Roets and Mayes who reached on a walk and bunt single. In the seventh the Shore was able to snag another when Horner crossed home during a double play.
 
Blake Rebstock would replace Davis on the bump, going two innings scoreless.
 
Horner continued his dominance of the Norfolk pitching staff in the top of the eighth when with the bases loaded, he hit a single through the left side to score Cordell and McCoy to make it a 14-8 game in the favor of the Hawks. After some defensive changes by the Spartans, Roets singled up the middle to drive in Horner and Cincinnati from scoring position.
 
Making an exclamation point, the Hawks grabbed one last run in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded when Revels grounded out but drove in the Hawks 17^th run of the afternoon.
 
With the win, the Hawks move to second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as Coppin State took three of four at Delaware State, moving the Eagles into sole possession of first and the Hornets dropping to third. The Shore heads up to play Coppin starting on Friday (April 29) for four games, completing the meetings of the teams until at least the conference tournament.
 
Follow the action on Twitter via @eshawksbase.