HANOVER, Maryland -- The Norfolk State baseball team extended its own school Division I-era record winning streak to 11 games on Saturday with two more convincing wins, sweeping a doubleheader from Coppin State 21-3 and 8-0 at Joe Cannon Stadium.Outfielder Syeed Mahdi had four hits and four RBI in Saturday's doubleheader sweep, while first baseman Ryan Kilmon homered in game two and also knocked in four runs on the day. Troy Applin added his first career homer in the opener, while the Spartans (17-10, 14-3 MEAC North) got two more solid outings from left handed pitchers Matt Outman (6-1) and Devin Hemmerich (3-2). Hemmerich threw a two-hit shutout, the first of his career, in the nightcap.
The Spartans scored early and often in the opener en route to tying their season high in runs scored in a game that was shortened to seven innings by the 10-run rule. NSU plated four runs in the top of the first, highlighted by Mahdi's two-run double.
Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
CSU (3-28-2, 2-15) answered with two runs on four hits off out Outman in the bottom of the first. RBI singles by Bryant Miranda a
nd Jack Kraft cut the Eagles' deficit in half.
But NSU scored 17 runs in the third through seventh innings to blow the game open. Catcher Omar Hotusing hit two RBI singles, one in the third and one in the fourth. Ismael Herrera doubled in two runs in the fourth and Alex Mauricio also knocked in a run with a double in NSU's four-run fourth.
Mahdi tacked on an RBI double and Kilmon delivered a two-run double in the fifth.
The Spartans substitutes did plenty of damage in the last two innings. Mikey Bruno (three RBI) and Kyle Vaas (two RBI) combined to drive in five runs with a pair of sixth-inning doubles. The crowning blow came in the top of the seventh and final inning. Troy Applin, who has seen most of his playing time as a reliever in his three-year NSU career before working as a backup infielder as of late, launched a two-run, opposite-field homer in his first career at-bat to cap the scoring for NSU in the seventh.
Outman won his fifth straight start. He allowed six hits and three runs with four strikeouts in five innings. Jonathan Mauricio and Matt Boone each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off game one.
Mahdi drove in a career high four runs in the opener and doubled twice. Kilmon also had two doubles and two RBI as the Spartans registered a season-high eight two-baggers in the game. Six Spartans had two hits and seven had at least two RBI in the opener.
Mahdi added two more hits and scored twice in the nightcap, while Kilmon blasted his first homer as a Spartan. They gave more than enough support to Hemmerich, who came within shouting distance of a no-hitter. Hemmerich surrendered just a pair of infield singles, both to Kraft, over a seven-inning, complete-game shutout.
The Spartans plated three runs in the second off CSU starter Anderson Burgess. Tony Leite singled in a run, and Robbie Hiser singled in both Herrera and Kilmon for a 3-0 Spartans' lead.
Kilmon's two-run homer highlighted NSU's four-run third inning. His blast to right field scored Mahdi, who singled earlier in the inning. Denathan Dukes also had an RBI single in the frame.
Hemmerich cruised in his third complete game of the season. Kraft hit slow rollers to second base in the second and seventh innings and beat out both for a pair of infield hits off Hemmerich. The Eagles hit just three balls out of the infield against Hemmerich, who walked one, struck out eight and induced seven ground-ball outs.
Mahdi and Herrera each had two hits in the nightcap. Mahdi was the only Spartan with four hits on the day, but Kilmon, Hiser and Herrera had three hits apiece. Herrera added four RBI on Saturday.
The teams cap their three-game set with a noon game on Sunday.
Matt Michalec, Asst. AD/Communications
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
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