FREDERICK, Md. – Parker Coddou tied a State College Spikes franchise record with five hits and Jeremy Neff struck out nine batters over six shutout innings as the Spikes topped the Frederick Keys, 8-0, on Tuesday night at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
Coddou’s 5-for-5 performance included two doubles along with a stolen base and an RBI, and enabled him to match the five-hit efforts of Ciro Rosero on August 8, 2008 and David Vinsky on July 13, 2019. Coddou is now hitting an MLB Draft League-best .464 for the second half and leads the league in second-half slugging with a .679 average.
Neff (2-0) made his third consecutive quality start to begin his Spikes (6-6 2nd Half) tenure. The Virginia Tech left-hander’s nine strikeouts tied him for the second-most in a single outing by an MLB Draft League pitcher in the second half and third-most overall in 2024. Neff scattered six hits and did not walk a batter, giving him a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 22-to-4 over his first 18 innings with the Spikes.
The game was delayed one hour, 23 minutes by rain and lightning in the Frederick area at the outset, but the Spikes (6-6 2nd Half) wasted little time jumping on the board as Cooper Hext launched a 397-foot home run over the 25 feet of billboards on and behind the right-field wall in the first inning. Hext’s homer left the yard at 107 miles per hour, the hardest-hit ball by a Spike in the second half.
The night wasn’t over for Hext, as his two-run double in the third extended the State College lead, and he added another double, his fifth over his first 11 games with the Spikes, in the eighth.
Nick Palumbo and Jacob Peaden finished the shutout for the Spikes. Palumbo delivered nine pitches, all strikes, but allowed a groundout along with two strikeouts in the seventh. Peaden gave up just one walk in two innings to end the win.
Frederick (5-7 2nd Half) starter Harold Baez (0-2) took the loss for the second straight time opposing Neff. Baez, who faced the Spikes this past Thursday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, was charged with seven runs, six of them earned, over 4 2/3 innings.
The Spikes and Keys will have a quick turnaround before the rubber match of their three-game series on Wednesday, with a noon start in the offing. Left-hander Jackie Robinson (0-1) will get the start for State College, while right-hander Kade Lancour (1-0) gets the ball for Frederick.
Following the concluding game of the series, the Spikes will return home for a seven-game homestand to begin August. The run of August home games begins with the third Bark in the Park Night of the season presented by the Centre Daily Times on Thursday, August 1, featuring Dugout the Baseball Dog welcoming his canine friends to the ballpark for a night of fun on $1 Beer Night at Thirsty Thursday presented by The BUS.
To purchase tickets to the upcoming homestand and every remaining home game on the Spikes’ 2024 schedule at the new-look Medlar Field at Lubrano Park through September 3, fans can call 814-272-1711 or by visiting the Spikes Ticket Office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with hours during home game days of 9 a.m. to the end of the game Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to the end of the game on Saturday and Sunday.
Fans can also buy and download single-game tickets 24/7, and view the 2024 promotional schedule, by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com.
Catch all of the action of the Spikes’ game on Wednesday via the Spikes Radio Network presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, Official Healthcare Provider of Penn State Athletics with Steve Jones and Joe Putnam on the call. The broadcast starts with Spikes Live! presented by Mount Nittany Health on the air from Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium at approximately 6:45 p.m.
The game can be viewed worldwide on the MLB Draft League streaming platform powered by Pixellot at MLB.watch.pixellot.tv and the Watch section of the MLB app by scrolling the Watch Now tab, along with the “Listen Live” link on StateCollegeSpikes.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
