ARLINGTON, Va. – Coppin State's baseball team battled to the final out, getting the tying run to the plate in its final at-bat, but the Eagles fell, 7-4 at George Washington University on Wednesday afternoon at Barcroft Park.
Inside the Numbers
- Conner Walker drove in a pair of runs with two hits while Marcos Castillo also had a pair of hits, an RBI and scored twice to lead the Coppin State offense.
- Justin Banks, Matt Day, Mike Dorcean and Caden Walton also had hits with Banks also reaching base twice via a walk. Day and Dorcean's base knocks went for doubles.
- Toran Smith also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
- Aaron Rea allowed six runs over the first two innings but settled down and faced the minimum over the next two frames.
- Rashad Ruff tossed the final four innings and allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five.
How it Happened
- Coppin continued its hot hitting from yesterday's game with a pair of runs on three hits in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Three-straight singles by Marcos Castillo, Justin Banks and Conner Walker scored a run and Banks later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Toran Smith.
- George Washington took a 3-2 lead after its first at-bat and added three more in the second off starting pitcher Aaron Rea to extend the advantage to 6-2.
- While the Eagles went down in order the next two innings, Rea settled down and faced the minimum in the third and fourth to finish his day.
- Mike Dorcean doubled to lead off the fifth and Banks drew a walk to put a pair of runners on, but CSU failed to capitalize.
- Freshman Rashad Ruff relieved Rea to start the fifth and got through the first inning unscathed before striking out a pair of batters in the sixth.
- GW put a run across in the seventh despite two more strikeouts from Ruff before Coppin's last-ditch rally in the final two innings.
- Walker drove in a run in the eighth for the Eagles on an RBI single through the left side but a double play ball later in the frame stopped any more runs from scoring.
- Ruff retired the last three batters he faced in the eighth before Coppin's final at-bat in the ninth.
- Matt Day, who came in as a defensive replacement the previous inning, doubled to lead off the ninth and advanced to third on a ground out. Justin Oakley was hit by a pitch and Castillo singled to right center to score Day and get the tying run to the plate.
- CSU was unable to get any more runs across as the Colonials escaped with the victory.
Up Next: Coppin is off the next six days before traveling to face Georgetown on Tuesday, March 3. First pitch from Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md., is set for 3 pm.
