Dover, Del. (May 3, 2014) --- The Delaware State University baseball team clinched its third straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Northern Division championship with a doubleheader sweep of Coppin State at Soldier Field today.
The Hornets won the opener 8-7 in 10 innings; and completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory in the seven-inning nightcap. Freshman Harry Thomas tossed his first career shutout on a two-hitter and Aarron Nardone smacked his third career grand slam to lead DSU to the game two win.
Delaware State has won eight of its last nine games to improve to 26-14 overall. The Hornets are 15-6 in the MEAC North with three league games remaining. Second place Norfolk State entered the weekend with an 11-10 mark in the division.
The North title gives the Hornets one-of-two No. 1 seeds in the MEAC Tournament May 13-18 in Norfolk, Va.
Thomas did not allow a hit until Coppin State's John Walls reached base on a bloop single to right field in the fifth inning. The only other hit off Thomas was a single by Bryant Miranda with two outs in the seventh inning. The Hornet freshman struck out a career-high seven batters and did not allow a walk to improve to 4-2 this season.
Thomas also lowered his earned run average to 1.56 with the performance.
Game two was scoreless until the fifth inning when DSU scored all of its runs.
The Hornets scored the game's first run when Coppin State starter Shane Davies (1-5) walked Cameron Cecil with the bases loaded to score Chris Gonzalez, who walked to lead off the inning.
The next batter, Aarron Nardone, cleared the bases with his third career grand slam, a liner over the fence in right field to give the Hornets a 5-0 lead. The homer was Nardone's team-leading eighth of the season. He also tops the Hornets with 40 runs batted in.
Eddie Sorondo drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
The shutout victory was DSU's third of the season. The Hornets posted a 1-0 win over Bucknell on Feb. 22 and blanked Akron 4-0 on Mar. 1.
In the opener, Delaware State scored the winning run on a Coppin State error in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Mike Alexander and pinch hitter Rich Rodriguez drew walks to lead off the 10th. The next batter, Hassan Evans, bunted the ball down the first base line. Coppin State first baseman Chris Godfrey fielded the ball, but his throw to third was wide, allowing Alexander to score the winning run.
The Hornets led 7-2 before the Eagles scored five unanswered runs to tie the game. Coppin State trailed 7-5 when catcher William Brown tied the game on a two-run single in the top of the ninth inning.
Delaware State opened the game one scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning. Alexander drove in the first run on an infield single and the second run crossed the plate on a Coppin State error.
After the Eagles tied the game with two runs off DSU starter Matt McClain in the second inning, the Hornets regained the lead with four runs in the fourth.
Justin Allen singled to lead off the DSU fourth and scored the first run of the inning on an infield hit by Nardone. After Charles Dailey scored on a wild pitch, Ron Farley singled in two runs to give the Hornets a 6-2 lead.
Delaware State stretched its lead to 7-2 when Allen drew a walk, stole second and scored when Dailey followed with a single to right field in the fifth inning.
Coppin State scored a run in the sixth; and two in the eighth and ninth innings to even the score.
Cecil, Farley and Allen had two hits each for the Hornets. Allen is six for his last seven, and has seven hits in 17 at bats this season (.412).
Brown was two-for-four with three RBI in the opener for Coppin State. Dalton Cozart (3-for-3) and Walls (3-for-5) had three hits each for the Eagles.
Eric Sharff (6-3) pitched two innings in relief of McClain to earn the win.
Delaware State is 6-2 against Coppin State this season. The Hornets and Eagles will wrap up their season series with a single game on Sunday. Game time is 1 p.m. at Soldier Field.
