DOVER, Del. – Coppin State's baseball team earned a split of its MEAC doubleheader at Delaware State, dropping wild 13-12 decision in game one before winning the nightcap, 8-5, on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. The Eagles now stand at 4-10 on the season while both teams are 2-2 in league play.
Errors proved very costly for Coppin in the opener as five errors led to four unearned runs, including two of Delaware State's runs in the bottom of the seventh.
After two scoreless innings, Coppin got on the board first with a pair of runs in the third inning on an RBI single by
Matt Day and a sacrifice fly by
Darren Hagan. The Eagles continued to threaten in the frame after Hagan's long fly ball with a single and a walk to load the bases but were unable to capitalize.
Delaware State came right back with two runs, both unearned, in its half of the frame to tie the score at 2-2.
Nico Felber relieved
Giovanni Canales on the mound to start the fourth and escaped trouble without allowing a run. The Eagles responded, putting two runs on the board in the fifth as
Conner Walker drove in
Justin Oakley and Hagan to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
The Hornets got a run off Felber early in the fifth, cutting the deficit to 4-3, before he was replaced by
Tyler Nichol. An error allowed Nichol's inherited runner to score which tied the game at 4-4.
DSU held Coppin scoreless in the sixth and responded with four runs in its half of the inning.
Matt Perkins relieved Nichol with two runners on and nobody out in his CSU debut, and retired all three batters he faced, including striking out a pair of Hornets veteran hitters.
Trailing by four runs heading into the seventh, Coppin exploded for eight runs on six hits and took advantage of a Delaware State error to take a 12-8 lead. Walker led off the inning with a solo home run to left center before
Eddie Javier, Jr., drew a two-out walk.
Jordan Hamberg also drew a walk as a pinch hitter and
Wellington Balsley singled to load the bases.
An error then allowed Javier to score from third before Hagan cleared the bases with a three-run triple to the gap in right center, giving the Eagles a 9-8 lead. Coppin was not done as
Sebastien Sarabia and Walker recorded back-to-back singles to extend the advantage to 10-8.
Nick Morales then singled to drive in pinch runner
Mike Dorcean and Walker later scored on a wild pitch.
Delaware State recorded five runs on five hits with two CSU errors in its half of the seventh to win in walk-off fashion. With the score now 12-9 with one out and two on, Coppin dropped a fly ball which allowed two runs to score before a single up the middle tied the game. Following another single,
Tim Ruffino came into the game and struck out the first batter he faced. The Hornets then stole third base as the throw from the catcher was wild and allowed the game-winning run to score.
Walker finished the game going 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBI while Sarabia also had a multi-hit game and both drew a walk as well. Hagan drove in four runs in game one with a triple, a walk and a sacrifice fly and scored twice.
Coppin's defensive woes continued early in the nightcap as two errors in the first inning led to three unearned runs, giving the Hornets an early 3-0 lead.
The Eagles got all three of those runs back in the second and added another to go up 4-3 on two-run singles by
Devyan Dyal and Balsley.
From there, freshman starting pitcher
Jordan Hamberg proceeded to hold DSU scoreless the next three innings and his offense gave him a much-needed insurance run in the fifth.
Hamberg got the first two outs of the fifth, but gave up a run, making it a 5-4 score, before Ruffino finished off the inning.
Walker and
Toran Smith extended CSU's lead to 7-4 with RBIs in the sixth and Balsley drove in another run in the seventh to give Coppin an 8-4 advantage going into the bottom half. The Hornets were able to put one run across but Ruffino forced a groundout to end the game and pick up the save after allowing one run in 2.1 innings.
Hamberg picked up his first career win, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out four in 4.2 innings.
Balsley had a 4-for-5, three RBI performance in game two while Hagan, Smith and Javier all had multi-hit efforts.
CSU will head to Philadelphia for a midweek game at La Salle on Wednesday, March 24 starting at 3 pm.
