Box Score

HANOVER, Md. – Mikey Bruno and Tyon Ore both went 3-for-5 to support a solid start from right hander Justin Bhatti to lift Norfolk State to a 12-2 win over MEAC North foe Coppin State on Thursday evening at Joe Cannon Stadium.

With the win, NSU improved to 18-26 overall, 12-9 in the MEAC Northern Division. The Eagles dropped to 1-48, 0-21. The game, a rescheduled contest from a March 26 rainout, was stopped after eight innings due to the 10-run rule.

Bhatti (4-6) pitched five solid innings, allowing just one unearned run with six strikeouts. It was his third straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer. Bhatti had plenty of help from his offense, which tallied 14 hits. Eight of the nine Spartans' starting position players had at least one hit.

CSU scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first. Mike Wright led off with a walk off Bhatti and scored on a two-out NSU error.

But NSU scored the game's next 10 runs. Ore's RBI single scored Ryan Montgomery to tie the game in the top of the second. In the third, Ross Cardwell's sacrifice fly and Montgomery's run-scoring single put NSU ahead to stay, 3-1.

Two more Spartan runs crossed the plate in the fourth, one coming on Bruno's RBI single. The Spartans stretched their advantage to 8-1 in the fifth by scoring three more times. The rally was highlighted by a run-scoring triple off the bat of freshman Justin Lee, his first career three-bagger.

Chase Kyriacou tacked on a two-run single and Ore added another run-scoring single in NSU's two-run eighth, which pushed the lead to 12-2.

Bhatti allowed four hits and one unearned run in five innings. He walked three and struck out six. Jeff Di Fulgo pitched two innings allowing one run, and Horace Smith pitched a scoreless eighth.

Montgomery was 2-for-4 and scored twice. Kyriacou and Ore knocked in two runs apiece, while Rafael Colon scored three times. The three hits represent a new career high for Bruno, while Ore matched his previous career best. Ore has two straight three-hit games and three in the last two weeks.

John Walls was 2-for-4 for CSU. Maddison Neddo (0-11) took the loss for the Eagles after giving up 12 hits and 10 runs, four earned, over seven innings.

The teams play game two of their four-game set on Friday starting at 6 p.m. NSU needs one more win or one more Maryland Eastern Shore loss to wrap up the MEAC North No. 2 seed in next week's MEAC Tournament. UMES starts a three-game series with MEAC North regular-season champion Delaware State on Friday.