DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After several weather delays pushed the start time seven hours back, the Coppin State baseball team defeated Florida A&M, 5-3, on Thursday night in the MEAC Tournament hosted at Sliwa Stadium. The victory improves the Eagles to 21-21-1 on the season which matches a program-record for victories in a season.
Caleb Duhay had a huge game for Coppin with the bat, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Marcos Castillo and
Erik Crossman also drove in runs while
Derek Lohr scored a pair.
Coppin got out to an early 1-0 advantage in the first thanks in large part to some aggressive base running.
Andres Santana drew a walk to lead off the inning and advanced all of the way to third as
Corey Treyes laid down a bunt single down the first base line. Duhay then laced a shot through the right side of the infield to put the Eagles on the board.
Jahmon Taylor cruised through the first two innings, recording strikeouts for his first five outs before Florida A&M tied it in the third with an RBI double by Jacky Miles.
The Eagles regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Castillo drilled a pitch to left field for an RBI. Scoring on the play was Lohr who reached just prior on a three-base error by the centerfielder.
A pair of throwing errors by Coppin led to both of the Rattlers' runs in the fifth as Florida A&M took its first lead at 3-2. Taylor was able to get a pair of outs before being replaced by
Branden Redfern with two runners on. Making his first appearance in nearly a month, Redfern was able to finish the inning, forcing a weak fly ball to right field.
Like they have all season, the Eagles kept on swinging the bat, and it paid off. Duhay led off the bottom of the fifth with a blast over the palm trees in left center to tie the score at three. Coppin was not done, however, as
Nazier McIlwain drew a walk and advanced to third on a double by Lohr. Crossman then grounded a ball off the shortstop which allowed both McIlwain and Lohr to score, giving the Eagles a 5-3 lead.
Redfern pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief to get the victory as he allowed just two hits and a walk. After he plunked Dallas Oliver to start the ninth, Treyes came in and retired all three batters he faced to pick up his eighth save of the season.
In the no-decision, Taylor struck out eight in 4.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out eight.
With the win, Coppin will take on North Carolina A&T at 2 pm on Friday, May 18 in a battle of the top seeds from the Northern and Southern Divisions.
