DOVER, Del. – The Coppin State baseball team has now won seven-straight conference games after sweeping a MEAC doubleheader at Delaware State on Saturday afternoon at the Hornets' Soldier Field. The MEAC North-leading Eagles, who won the opener, 11-4 and the nightcap, 10-4, now stand at 13-16-1 overall and 12-2 in conference play which is one win shy of tying the program-record for single-season MEAC wins.
Five different players recorded a pair of hits in game one as Coppin rallied from a four run deficit after three innings with 11 unanswered runs. Delaware State got three runs in the first and added another run in the fourth before the Eagles broke through in their half of the fourth with seven runs.
Carlos Alviarez started the rally with a leadoff walk before a single by
Nazier McIlwain put runners on the corners.
Derek Lohr reached on a fielder's choice to score a run but an error also allowed McIlwain to reach third on the play as well.
Erik Crossman drove in McIlwain with a single before
Marcos Castillo tied it up with a two-run triple to the gap in left center.
Brett Helmbrecht continued his hot hitting to give CSU the lead with a single before Alviarez doubled to left field, bringing in both Helmbrecht and
Corey Treyes who laid down a bunt single.
Helmbrecht recorded an RBI triple in the fifth to make it an 8-4 ballgame before McIlwain and Lohr both drove in runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 10-4.
Meanwhile,
Aaron Rea pitched a 1-2-3- fifth inning and escaped a little bit of a jam in the sixth to close out his day and get the win.
Allen Saar helped Coppin tack on another run in the seventh with a bunt single to score Helmbrecht while
Devin Rivera Ozuna pitched three scoreless innings to pick up the save.
Saar, Alviarez, Lohr, Crossman and Helmbrecht all had a pair of hits for CSU while Alviarez, Lohr, Castillo and Helmbrecht each drove in a pair of runs. Every Coppin starter had at least one hit in game one.
The Eagles led from start to finish as McIlwain went a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs and four RBI.
Andres Santana also had a three-hit effort to go with a pair of RBI.
McIlwain drove in two of Coppin's four first inning runs with a double which scored Santana and Saar. Crossman and Helmbrecht also drove in runs later in the inning.
DSU responded with a run off starting pitcher
Jahmon Taylor in the first, but McIlwain drove in Santana once again in the second before Santana recorded a two-run single in the third to make it a 7-1 game.
Both team scored a run in the fourth and went scoreless in the fifth before RBI by Helmbrecht in the sixth and McIlwain in the seventh helped Coppin reach double digit runs once again.
The Hornets were able to get a pair of runs in the seventh but it was not enough to overcome an eight-run deficit.
Jahmon Taylor got the win to improve to 4-3 on the year as he allowed two runs on three hits while striking out six in 5.0 innings.
Delvin McFadden allowed two more over 1.1 innings before Treyes finished the game.
The series finale scheduled for Sunday, April 15 at Delaware State has been postponed due to forecasted inclement weather. A makeup date is still to be announced.
On Deck: CSU will make the short trip to play UMBC on Wednesday, April 18 for a 6 pm start.
