NORFOLK, Va. – The two top teams thus far in the MEAC's Northern Division baseball standings meet this weekend when the Spartans travel to face Coppin State for a three-game series Friday through Sunday at Joe Cannon Stadium in Hanover, Maryland.
The teams play single games at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Live stats are available for all three games at
www.sidearmstats.com/coppinstate/baseball/. Saturday's game will also be broadcast online by Herb FM Sports Radio (
herbfmsportsradio.weebly.com/).
Scouting the Spartans
NSU enters the weekend with an 8-13 overall mark, 4-2 in the MEAC. The Spartans dropped two of three at Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend before opening MEAC play with a sweep of Delaware State.
NSU lost a 16-6 midweek decision Wednesday at William & Mary in its last contest despite two hits apiece from
Korey Singh and
Justin Hayes.
The Spartans enter the weekend as the No. 2 team in the MEAC in batting average, at .253. Sophomore
Alsander Womack leads the way with a MEAC-best .425 average, which ranks 17
th nationally after Wednesday. Singh boosted his average to .300 with his 2-for-3 day Wednesday. Junior
Stephen Baughan is tied for second in the MEAC with three homers and has hit .375 in the first two weekends of conference play.
NSU has also been bolstered by 53 stolen bases as a team. NSU's 2.52 steals per game leads the MEAC and ranks seventh nationally.
Scouting the Eagles
Coppin State is 12-9 overall and 5-1 in the Northern Division. The Eagles are coming off a 16-2 loss to UMBC on Wednesday, but have won both of their first two divisional series of the year. CSU swept Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend, and took two of three from DSU two weeks ago.
The Eagles bat a MEAC-leading .291 as a team. Six Eagles hit .300 or better, led by Justin Banks, whose .409 mark is second only to Womack among MEC players. Banks also has hit a conference-best five homers with 25 RBIs.
The CSU pitching staff is led by Jahmon Taylor, a senior right hander with a 3.00 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 27 innings of work. Relievers Brandon Redfern (2-1, 1.66) and Anthony Martinez (0-1, 1.72) have been strong in relief.
CSU is the defending Northern Division champion. The Eagles' 2018 title snapped NSU's streak of three straight first-place finishes in the division.
