SUMMARY
After playing a back-and-forth game for the first five innings of the contest, the Coppin State Eagles, behind a pair of grand slams in the sixth inning, powered past the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, 16-6.
THE SCORE
Coppin State Eagles - 16
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks - 6
(Coppin State wins the series 2-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Contrary to the pitcher's duel in game one of the series, game two between Coppin State and UMES was a slugfest through five innings. Maryland Eastern Shore got rolling in the bottom of the first inning when Bronson Taylor drove in Ansel Carson on a sacrifice fly. A few moments after the first scoring play, Jason Brown followed up with an RBI single that drove in Julian Jimenez, raising the Hawks lead to two runs.Â
After Coppin State answered with four runs of their own, UMES would outscore their opposition ,3-1, to tie up the game. Ryan Davis scorched an RBI single to left field to drive in Ryan Howe in the third inning. In the fourth inning, Taylor doubled to the left center field gap to drive in Carson. Lastly, Michael Blackiston dropped a well placed single to the gap between the first baseman and right fielder to drive in Brown for a game tying RBI. At the end of the fifth inning, the Hawks and Eagles were tied, 5-5.
Unfortunately for the Maroon and Grey, Coppin State turned up the dial in the sixth inning, slamming a pair of grand slams over the right field wall. The two homers paired with an additional run gave the Eagles a nine-run sixth frame, turning a tied matchup into a comfortable advantage for Coppin State. Although the Hawks would score one more run in the sixth on a Ryan Howe RBI double, Coppin State cruised through the seventh and eighth inning to defeat the Hawks in run rule fashion, 16-6.
THE NUMBERS
The Hawks finished with six runs on nine hits and two errors while the Eagles recorded 16 runs on 14 hits and two errors.
Jason Brown (2/3 RBI), Ryan Davis (2/3 RBI), and Ryan Howe (2/4 RBI) all recorded multi-hit games for UMES.
Bronson Taylor finished 1-for-4 at the plate with a team high two RBI.
UP NEXT
With this loss, the Hawks fall to 4-24 (3-11) on the season. Maryland Eastern Shore will aim to salvage the series against Coppin State on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Joe Cannon Stadium.
FOLLOW ALONG
Keep up with the latest from UMES baseball on UMESHawkSports.com and by following along on X (@UMESHawkBase) and Instagram (@umeshawksbase).
Â