COLUMBIA, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team was hoping to drive back across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with a series win and tied for first in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings but fell short to Coppin State University on Sunday (April 3) to split the series with a 4-6 loss to the Eagles.
 
The Shore (7-19, 6-6 MEAC) seemed to overcome early inning errors against Coppin (11-17, 7-5 MEAC) that let the Eagles jump out to an early game lead, five men left on base in the final two innings though wasn't the recipe for success.
 
"This is the way baseball is supposed to be played," head coach Brian Hollamon said. "Sometimes you're going to win, sometimes you're going to lose, but I think we can still continue to raise our level."
 
Coppin struck a lead in the first when shortstop Josh Hankins singled and got into scoring position with a wild pitch, then was driven in on a single to right by starting pitcher/designated hitter Jordan Hamberg.
 
In the third the Eagles were able to strike again in the third when Hankins once again was in scoring position, this time off a single and stolen base, and crossed home on a single by second baseman Corey Miley. An error by Hawks third baseman Andrew Revels then let Marcos Castillo score the third run of the game.
 
More errors plagued the Hawks in the fifth, when Coppin was able to grab two more runs to make it 5-0 in their favor. Sebestien Sarabia found paydirt on a sacrifice fly by Brian Nicholas, then Landen Argabright singled up the middle to drive in Castillo for his second run of the morning. Both runs went down as unearned due to a throwing error that put Castillo on first.
 
As Hamberg started to run out of gas as he passed 100 pitches the Hawks were able to chip away at Coppin's lead with a pair of two out runs, aided by the rarely seen detached equipment call against the Eagles. Nick Roets hit a single to the right field triangle and Miley, in either a bit of confusion or frustration, committed the act by grabbing the ball with his cap. On the play Marcus Brown scored an earned run and an RBI for Roets, as well as Brian Cordell for an unearned, non-RBI as he was advanced to home due to the free bases.
 
Another run was scored for Coppin in the seventh when Nicholas hit a solo shot to left against Riley Horner, who gave the Hawks 3.2 innings of one run ball in relief with just the long ball against, to make it 6-2 for the hosts.
 
Coppin saw its lead cut in half in the 8^th when runners were in scoring position following walks by Bryan Widdowson and Dillon Oxyer, who advanced to second and third on an Eagle passed ball. Ryan Howe kept his eight-game hitting streak alive with a single to center, also increasing his RBI streak to six games, to drive in Oxyer.
 
A two-out rally was started for the Hawks in the ninth when Jason Brown hit a single, then made it to third when Revels hit one himself and Oxyer loaded the bases with a walk. Widdowson then showed patience at the plate to get Brown home but that was all the Shore could muster following a three-pitch strikeout to end the game with three runners on.
 
"it's kind of the story with us, we get runners in scoring position and sometimes you can't push them across," Hollamon said. "Today, even in the last two innings we had the chance to push the tying runs and even the go-ahead runs across, we were just waiting for that one big hit and didn't get it."
 
The Hawks next play out of conference this week with a Tuesday (April 5) matinee with Georgetown University at Shirley Povich Field in Rockville, starting at 3 p.m. Following the Big East opponent, the Hawks remain on the road against Delaware State University for another four-game set of MEAC action starting on Friday (April 8).
 
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