BALTIMORE – Coppin State's softball split with crosstown rival Morgan State combined every major sporting event from the much-hyped (and with good reason) "Greatest Day In Sports." Coppin State won the opener, 2-1, in eight thrilling innings and dropped the nightcap, 9-4 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
In the first game, both teams sparred like boxers landing occasional jabs. Coppin State's
Danielle Smith and
Shelby Mendoza dominated the top of the order like Blake Griffin and Chris Paul by combining for three doubles and four hits.
Alanna Williams sprinted home from second base like Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah with the winning run.
Alanna Williams scored the winning run.When Williams popped up from her slide, which produced a dust cloud, she was mobbed by her teammates like Alexander Ovechkin after his entertaining goal against the Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It made the Senior Day celebration extra special for
Candice Van Horn and
Samantha Denlinger, who were recognized for their outstanding careers before the game. They held their framed uniforms up like one of the recent NFL draftees in Chicago.
"These games were intense today," Williams said. "I was trying to get the catcher to throw it to second base so I could steal third base. I led off and the catcher went down to wipe her face and went down on one knee. Then I said OK, there's my opportunity so I just took it. It was awesome when I scored."
In the second game, it looked like Morgan State had applied a five-inning knockout leading 9-0 following a six-run fifth inning, but the Eagles got up off the mat and threw several Floyd Mayweather-like haymakers to make the Bears sweat a bit. The punches came in the form of two-out RBI hits from Van Horn, Willaims and Denlinger in the fifth inning.
Van Horn finished the game by smacking a long home run to leftfield like her favorite player Mike Trout. It was the 14th homer and her 29th multi-hit game of her awesome career. In the second game, Smith and Denlinger also enjoyed multi-hit performances. With her four hits over the two games, Smith raised her batting average to .360.
The Eagles displayed tremendous character in battling back in the second game. Although the season hasn't gone as expected, Coppin State turned in an effort to be proud of. It helped that Morgan State was in the house and that the Eagles could knock their rivals out of a possible berth in the MEAC Tournament.
"We could've went out there and lost these two games and not cared," Van Horn said. "The fact that we knew if we won, we could keep them from going to Florida made us play a little better. We were more relaxed today and upbeat. It was great to see the team happy."
Van Horn impressed everywhere she played on Saturday, providing fans with one final reminder her brilliance. She enters Sunday's season finale with a .402 batting average.
Van Horn earned the winning decision as the pitcher in the opening game by tossing eight one-run innings. The only blemish was a home run to Kate Vosper, the second batter of the game. After that, Van Horn danced in and out of trouble like a ballerina. Her excellence in the circle along with some dazzling defense allowed the Eagles to win the game.
"This was one of my better pitching performances that I've had this year," Van Horn said. "With it being senior day, I just knew I had to go out and get the job done. We were able to hit when we needed to, played good defense and had good baserunning, which won us the game. If we had a race, Alanna would finish in the top five of our team easily. She's a great baserunner and very agile."
Mendoza plated Smith with a run-scoring single in the third inning that tied the game at 1-1.
Taylor Haller made two amazing plays at third base to keep the game tied and set the stage for Williams' fun journey around the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning. She was helped by three Morgan State errors in the frame.
Williams stole third base and kept on trucking around the bases once the throw sailed into leftfield.
The final chapter of the 2015 season will be written Sunday when Coppin State and Morgan State battle each other at 12:00 p.m. Morgan State and Coppin State are like the Yankees and Red Sox of MEAC softball.
"The game is always tight and we're always angry with each other," Van Horn said of playing against Morgan State. "At the end of the day, we're crosstown rivals and we give each other credit where it's due. They're a great team and we like to play them. It's a good game all the time."
