COLUMBIA, Md. – Coppin State's baseball team was swept by Lehigh in a doubleheader at Blandair Park on Saturday afternoon with the Mountain Hawks taking the opener, 9-0, and the nightcap, 10-1. The Eagles fall to 0-4 on the year while the Lehigh moves to 2-0.
Facing Mason Black, one of the top MLB Draft prospects in game one, the Eagles managed just one base hit, a triple by
Matt Day in the sixth inning.
Devyan Dyal also reached via an error in the fifth. The Mountain Hawks scored five runs over the first two innings but Coppin also the visitors scoreless the next four innings before they tacked on four more runs over their final three at-bats.
Aaron Rea got the start on the mound, breaking Coppin's all-time record for games started (46) and allowed three earned runs on three hits while striking out three in 3.0 innings. A redshirt senior from Altamonte Springs, Fla., Rea now has 215 career strikeouts, just 14 off the CSU career record held by
Brian Pisani.
Nico Felber and
John Neeld were impressive in relief as Felber allowed just one run on five hits while fanning two in 4.0 innings. Neeld gave up just one earned run on four hits over the final 2.0 innings.
Lehigh also got off to a fast start in game two, scoring six runs in the first two innings off
Bradley Tuttle with the help of two CSU defensive miscues. All six of Tuttle's outs in his two innings of work came via the strikeout.
Jordan Hamberg tossed the next three innings in his first career appearance on the mound and he also struck out six batters while giving up just two runs. Graduate transfer
William Jackson was very impressive over the final four innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out three.
The Eagles were able to put a run across in the bottom of the eighth on a base hit and a couple walks.
Mike Dorcean led off the frame with a walk and advanced to second on
Nick Morales' first career hit. After a fielder's choice and a walk, Dorcean scored from third on a wild pitch.
After a pitching change, the Eagles left the bases loaded, and Dorcean also singled in the ninth but was stranded.
Darren Hagan, Dyal and Dorcean all reached safely twice in game two with a base hit and a walk. Dyal came up big defensively throughout the day with a couple of highlight-reel defensive stops.
The Eagles will play a four game-series at Mount St. Mary's on March 5-7. Friday's game will start at 3 pm, followed by a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 pm single game on Sunday.
