SALISBURY, Maryland – Waking up on Saturday (May 20) morning the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball program was unsure of what the next day would bring following the final regular season game of the spring with Delaware State University as a three-way playoff conundrum faced the Hawks.
A celebration of the Hawk seniors, some help from longtime Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Coppin State, and an 18-4 drubbing of the Hornets a few hours after batting practice places UMES in the Northeast Conference tournament in its first season as an associate member.
"The Hawks never die, that's what I kept preaching to them," interim head coach
Shawn Phillips said.
There is no term for the Hawks on Saturday afternoon other than relentless, striking early and often as ten different runners would cross home plate. An early lead would stake the momentum, as UMES crossed two on a double by
Alex McCoy that scored
Brian Cordell and
Marcus Brown in the first inning.
Dillon Oxyer would grab the first RBI of the second inning on a single to score designated hitter
Bryan Widdowson; followed by a single from
Brantley Cutler that drove in Cordell. Two more easy runs were scored in the inning by the Hawks as McCoy wore a pitch to drive in a run with the bases loaded, as well as a
Kyle Cincinnati walk that put another across.
In the bottom of the third, Widdowson would add another with a home run to right field, the second of his career as a Hawk.
An error and a three-run home run against starter
Evan Nibblett would cut the Hawk lead in half during the top of the fifth but that wouldn't stop the Hawks offense from working more to gain momentum going into the conference tournament.
"Nibblett made one bad pitch to a very good hitter," Phillips said. "He did some damage with it, a three-run homer, but it was the one bad pitch he made all day."
The Hawks would rattle off eight unanswered runs, completely assaulting the DSU bullpen and finishing the series win.
With their 18
th win of the season, the Hawks eclipsed last season's mark of 17 and give UMES it's most wins since the 1995 season. After being picked tenth in preseason voting, it's a happy occasion for the Hawks to prove onlookers wrong.
"They picked us tenth in preseason and to be where we started compared to where we're at now, that says a lot about these guys and their commitment to being a team," Phillips said. "Nobody expected us to be here, so we have the 'why not us attitude,' and we're going to play the best baseball and see where it takes us."
Aside from celebrating one of the biggest moments in recent UMES history, the Hawks were able to celebrate eleven seniors and graduate students leaving the program. These student-athletes have made a mark on program history, with some arriving as early as 2018 and dealing with the trials that have come through such an arduous college career.
"Since I've been here they've given everything to the program," Phillips said. "For guys to stick it out through Covid, not playing for two years, it says a lot about the university and being part of something special."
With more than a quarter of the squad leaving with degrees, there's something to be said about the education at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
"They didn't waste their six years, they got a good education and there's something to be said about that," Phillips said.
It's time for the Hawks to shine in May with the Northeast Conference tournament kicking off on Wednesday (May 24) against Fairleigh Dickinson University. During the regular season the Hawks dropped the series 1-2 but both losses came in extra innings to the Knights.
A preview of the Northeast Conference series will be coming soon to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Athletic Department website, as well as updates on Twitter via @ESHawksBase daily leading up to the tournament.
