DOVER, Del. – Aaron Rea broke the Coppin State career record for strikeouts as the Eagles defeated MEAC rival Delaware State, 9-3, in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Soldier Field. The Hornets took the nightcap, 6-4.
A redshirt senior from Altamonte Springs, Fla., Rea tossed a seven-inning complete game where he allowed just two earned runs on five hits while striking out nine. Rea now has 230 career strikeouts, eclipsing Brian Pisani's 24-year-old school record of 229 punchouts. Improving to 2-2 on the season, Rea is second to Pisani (21 wins, 354.0 innings pitched) with 17 career victories and 267.1 innings pitched.
Coppin left two runners on in the first inning of the opener, but Rea kept the Hornets in check with a pair of strikeouts. The Eagles gave Rea the lead with a pair of runs in the second on RBI base knocks by
Mike Dorcean and
Devyan Dyal.
Rea fanned another in the second before freshman
Darren Hagan scored a run in the third on classmate
Jordan Hamberg's RBI single, making it a 3-0 game.
Matt Day gave the Eagles a four-run lead with an RBI double in the fourth, scoring
Toran Smith who doubled to lead off the inning.
Delaware State cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the fourth, but
Sebastien Sarabia got one of those runs back for Coppin in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. Scoring on the long fly ball to centerfield from second base was Hagan, who singled and stole second.
Coppin added another run in the sixth before Rea struck out the side in the sixth, with the final out accounting for his school-record 230
th strikeout.
The Eagles gave Rea some extra insurance in the seventh as Hamberg led off the frame with a single before
Brandon Watkins got him to third on a double. Dorcean then cleared the bases with one swing, blasting a three-run homer to make it a 9-3 score.
DSU was able to score one in the seventh with a sacrifice fly, but Rea finished it off by inducing a flyout to left.
Dorcean, Rea's battery mate for the game, went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, three runs and four RBI. Hamberg and Day also had three hits in game one, with Day also drawing a walk, while Hagan added a pair of hits and scored twice.
Coppin got out to an early 1-0 lead in the nightcap with the Hornets tying it up in the second. Both teams went scoreless in the second, but the Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the third after a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hagan, followed by a sole home run by
Conner Walker.
The Hornets took their first lead of the game at 4-3 with three runs in the third, but CSU tied it up in the sixth on a pinch-hit RBI double by Sarabia. Walker scored on the play from first base after leading off the frame with a single.
Delaware State answered with a pair of runs in the sixth on a two-run home run off
Bradley Tuttle, who tossed a scoreless fifth in relief of
William Jackson.
Tyler Nichol retired the final batter of the sixth on one pitch.
CSU threatened in its final at bat, putting two runners on as Day singled and
Wellington Balsley drew a walk. Day, who recorded a pair of hits in the second game, got to third on a fly ball but the Eagles were unable to capitalize with two outs.
The same two teams will meet again on Sunday, March 21 for a 12 pm doubleheader.
