PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Coppin State's baseball team rallied from a 5-0 deficit to take the lead at La Salle, but the Explorers scored four in the ninth to defeat the Eagles, 11-10, on Sunday afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field. The Eagles fall to 2-8 on the season while the Explorers even their record at 6-6.
Matt Day went 3-for-4 with three runs, two walks and three stolen bases while
Darren Hagan also had three hits, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, two runs and four RBI to lead Coppin at the plate.
Toran Smith also had a pair of hits as
Sebastien Sarabia,
Nick Morales,
Eddie Javier, Jr., and
Mike Dorcean reached safely twice with a base hit and a walk apiece.
La Salle scored five runs, three of which were unearned, in the bottom of the first to take a 5-0 lead, but Coppin rallied with six runs over the next three innings to go up 6-5. Javier tripled to lead off the second and scored as
Toran Smith followed him with an RBI single through the left side.
William Jackson, who got the final out of the first inning, tossed a 1-2-3 second and the Eagles made it a 5-2 deficit with another run in the third as Day singled to start the frame, stole second and third before scoring on a throwing error by the catcher.
La Salle went down in order once again in the third and Coppin put a crooked number on the board in the fourth to take its first lead of the game.
Devyan Dyal was hit by a pitch with two outs before strolling to third on a double by Day.
Justin Oakley drove in Dyal with a single before Hagan cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left, putting the Eagles on top, 6-5.
The Eagles held on to a one-run lead until the Explorers retook the lead with two runs in the fifth, but CSU came right back with two in the sixth to retake the lead at 8-7. Hagan had an RBI single to score Day and a throwing error by the center fielder allowed pinch hitter
Wellington Balsley to score for the go-ahead run.
Jordan Hamberg relieved Jackson, who threw 4.1 innings of relief while allowing just one earned run on four hits with eight strikeouts, to start the sixth. Hamberg retired the first two batters, and after a walk, retired the final batter, and struck out two in the seventh to keep Coppin's lead intact.
CSU added two insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Sarabia, who later scored on a throwing error to make it a 10-7 score.
Tyler Nichol threw a scoreless eighth and Coppin failed to capitalize in the top of the ninth as it failed to score despite having runners on second and third with no outs.
The Explorers drew two walks to start the ninth before
Bradley Tuttle relieved Nichol. After another walk, La Salle scored a pair on a single to right to cut the deficit to a single run. A fly out put the tying run at third and a groundout to second tied the score at 10-10. The Explorers ended the game with a walk-off single to center field.
Coppin opens MEAC play with a four-game series at Delaware State on March 19-21. Friday's game starts at 3 pm, followed by a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday, and a 12 pm first pitch on Sunday.
