SALISBURY, Maryland – It was a full effort from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team against Coppin State under the lights on Friday, April 7 at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex.
On the back of a
Noah Covington complete game and a
Jason Brown home run, the Hawks secured the weekend series against the Northeast Conference rivals with a 5-1 win.
"It's just good to get a win, period," interim head coach
Shawn Phillips said. "You've got the series wrapped up and now you try to go for the sweep. It's a big series for us, it's a big win for us."
Covington was given a one run lead by the Hawk offense in the bottom of the first inning when
Brantley Cutler drove in
Dillon Oxyer following his sixth double of the season.
The Hawks kept pounding in the bottom of the second when
Luke Myers drew a two-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Showing he has more to his game than just blistering speed,
Jason Brown proceeded to knock a no-doubt homer to left field, extending the UMES lead to 3-0.
"The boys got me up early when we went up 1-0 in the first inning and we kept it there," Covington said. "JB with the two-run home run gave us some insurance. Seeing this team multiple times last year, I knew I had the stuff to dominate them and that's what I did."
Coppin was able to sting Covington following an unearned run in the top of the third, but the Seaford, Delaware native locked down the rest of the evening. Over his nine innings of work, Covington struck out a season high nine batters and walked just his second batter of the spring.
A major fielding blunder in the sixth gave the Hawks two more runs. With
Bryan Widdowson on base,
Kyle Cincinnati knocked a single to right field that went through the fielders' legs, allowing the catcher to leg out a three extra bags to cross home.
"I wheeled him around and I was in between, but he just went for it," Phillips said. "He got in there safe and made a play out of it. He gave us some momentum there in the latter innings."
Cutler and Widdowson both finished the game with two hits apiece, while Brown led the way with two RBIs on his home run.
It's a quick turnaround for the Hawks, taking on Coppin at noon on Saturday (April 8) in the getaway game for the Eagles. Live Stats will be provided with a link available on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore website and updates are also available on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.
