Softball Sweeps Doubleheader with Howard

BALTIMORE – Cayla Brown hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning to give the Coppin State softball team a 7-3 victory over MEAC rival Howard in the second game of a doubleheader Thursday night at CSU Softball Field.  The Eagles also took the opening game, 3-2.
 
The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): Coppin State 2, Howard 2
• Final Score (Game 2): Coppin State 7, Howard 3 (9 innings)
• Records: Coppin State (8-25, 5-6 MEAC), Norfolk State (11-25, 4-6 MEAC)

How it Happened (Game 1)

• All of the runs came in the first and seventh inning with Howard taking an early 1-0 lead before Coppin tied it up in the bottom half of the frame.  Cayla Brown had the game-tying hit with a single up the middle to score Megan Narvaez who doubled to start the game.
• Madison Didion dominated the middle innings, retiring 13-straight batters before allowing a two-out single in the sixth.  Didion forced a groundout to get out of the inning unscathed.
• Coppin left the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth and Howard scored an unearned run in the seventh to take a 2-1 lead before the Eagles won it in their final at bat.
• Kylie Flagler got the rally started with a leadoff single to center field and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.  A groundout moved her to third and she scored the tying run on Cloe Ochoa's double to left center. Soraya Valdez-Frick followed up by reaching on a fielding error by the third baseman and she also made a throwing error which allowed Ochoa to score all of the way from second for the winning run.

Inside the Numbers (Game 1)

• Megan Narvaez went a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and two singles while scoring a run and drawing an intentional walk. 
• Melanie Aguilera was the other Eagles player to reach safely with a base hit and a walk as Coppin out-hit Howard, 8-4.
• Madison Didion earned the win in the circle, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out nine.

How it Happened (Game 2)

• Howard once again took the early lead, this time with two runs in the first, but Coppin cut into the lead with a run in the bottom half on a RBI single by Cayla Brown.  Desiree Carrizosa scored on the base knock from second after she reached on an infield.
• The Bison extended the lead back to two runs at 3-1 with a run in the second before Brissa Alvarado helped her own cause with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
• It remained 3-2 in favor of the guests until Coppin tied it in the fifth as Patricia Soria fouled out to the catcher just in front of the Howard dugout down the first base line.  Flagler tagged up from second and the throw from the catcher to third was wild and Flagler scored on the play.
• Howard led off the seventh and eighth innings on near identical singles in between the pitcher and catcher, but both times Alvarado got out of the inning.  In the seventh, Howard lined a shot back to Alvarado who then doubled up the runner at first base, one of six assists she had from the pitcher position.
• Megan Narvaez got the party started in the ninth with a two-out single, and following an error and a walk, Cayla Brown hammered a towering fly ball over the scoreboard in dead center field for a walk-off grand slam.

Inside the Numbers (Game 2)

• Cayla Brown finished the nightcap, 2-for-4 with five RBI while Desiree Carrizosa and Kylie Flagler scored a pair of runs. Carrizosa was the other Eagles player to reach safely twice with a single and a walk.
• Brissa Alvarado pitched all nine innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits while striking out two for her second win of the season.

Up Next

•  ​​​​​​​Coppin concludes the series with Howard in a 4 pm single game on Monday, April 22.