DOVER, Del. – The Coppin State baseball team dropped a pair of hard fought games to Delaware State by scores of 15-14 and 18-13 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contests Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.
Each high-scoring affair featured plenty of clutch hits, walks and suspense. Unfortunately for Coppin State (1-15 overall, 0-6 MEAC), the Hornets (5-11, 5-1) were able to win both games in their final at-bats to remain in sole possession of first place.
Each game showcased Coppin State's fighting spirit as it rallied from significant deficits to take leads. The Eagles trailed 8-3 in the first game and 6-2 in the second game before seizing control during the middle innings of each contest.
Despite the defeats, Coppin State had players ring up significant numbers during the weekend series highlighted by
George Dragon's seven hits over two games on Sunday. He was 5-for-5 in the opening game. It was his fifth multi-hit game of the season. He was also the first CSU player to enjoy a four-hit game this season.
The highlight of his afternoon was a first inning two-run blast that gave Coppin State a 2-0 edge. He also added a RBI single as part of a five-run fourth inning that tied the game at 8-8.
Dragon added a pair of hits in the second game to raise his season average to .356. Following the weekend series, Dragon raised his average by 52 points. He hit .538 in three games against Delaware State this weekend. As a team, Coppin State hit .333 in the three-game weekend set.
Darien Percell (.429),
Mike Wright (.429) and
Bryant Miranda (.417) all hit over .400 during the weekend series against Delaware State.
Colin Dower (.400), Jack Kraft (.385) and
William Brown (.367) weren't bad either for the Eagles.
Brown had big hits in each game. He slammed a tying home run to left centerfield in the top of the eighth inning that pulled the Eagles even at 13-13 in the nightcap. However, the Hornets scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim their third straight victory over Coppin State.
Dragon and Brown were one of four Coppin State players to finish with multi-hits efforts in the nightcap. Miranda and Kraft also had two hits each.
Lance Montano drove in three runs for Coppin State. The Eagles scored six runs in the sixth inning on a single hit. They patiently waited out five walks and took advantage of two Delaware State errors to take a 12-7 lead.
Coppin State exploded for 10 of its runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
The first game, which was the completion of Saturday's suspended contest, was just as long. It took 3 hours, 27 minutes to complete because it featured 30 hits, 29 runs, 18 walks, five hit batters, four homers, along with a partridge and a pear tree. The Eagles scored a season-high 14 runs.
In addition to Dragon's hot hitting, Kraft also added a pair of hits as did Wright and Brown.
Darien Percell hit a rocket to deep center field for a two-run go-ahead triple in the fifth inning. After Percell jumped up at third base, clapped his hands and dusted brown dirt off of his blue uniform, the Eagles enjoyed a 10-8 advantage that eventually swelled to 12-8.
One of the pitching highlights was
Chris Estrada striking out the side on 10 pitches after Delaware State loaded the bases with no outs in a tie game in the bottom of the fourth inning of the second game. He got all three hitters swinging at high gas. Wright also made a pair of strong catches in leftfield and CSU threw out a pair of runners trying to score.
Coppin State displayed its trademark resolve in rallying to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning. Trailing 14-12, the Eagles got even thanks to a leadoff single from Brown, a pinch-hit double from
Jeffrey Fitch, a RBI walk from Kraft and a wild-pitch that allowed Fitch to score the tying run.
Coppin State returns to action Tuesday afternoon when it hosts George Washington in a non-conference contest at Joe Cannon Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.
