HANOVER, Md. – Eddie Javier, Jr., collected four hits in the doubleheader but Coppin State's baseball team dropped a pair of games to North Carolina A&T on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Aggies took the opener, 9-2, and the nightcap, 16-7.
Javier went 1-for-3 in game one and then moved up to the third spot in the lineup in the nightcap and went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Javier also drew a walk in the second game and his four hits lifted his batting average over forty points.
Coppin took a 2-1 lead after the first inning in game one on a single by
Jordan Hamberg followed by
Sebastien Sarabia's sacrifice fly to dead center field.
Wellington Balsley and Hamberg both scored on the plays.
The Aggies retook the lead in their half of the second with three runs to go on top 4-2 and added three more in the fourth to increase their lead to five runs.
Nico Felber took over on the mound with two outs in the fourth and held the visitors scoreless in the fifth and sixth, which included an impressive double play ball to
Grant Williams at third base.
North Carolina A&T were able to solve Felber in the seventh for a pair of runs and CSU was unable to capitalize in the seventh despite an Aggies error.
Only Balsley, Hamberg and Javier collected base hits in game one while Balsley also drew a walk.
Conner Walker also drew a pair of walks.
William Jackson allowed five runs in 3.2 innings to take the loss before Felber gave up just a pair of runs in 3.0 innings.
John Neeld retired the final batter for the Eagles pitching staff.
Tyler Nichol got the nod on the mound for game two and retired the side in the first on just six pitches, but the Aggies put three runs across in the second and third innings to take a 3-0 lead.
Coppin tied the score at 3-3 with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third. Balsley singled to start the inning, followed by another single by Javier. Sarabia lined a shot to center field for a single and the ball got passed the center fielder which allowed both Balsley and Javier to score. Sarabia got to third on the play and came home on Walker's RBI single through the left side.
Nichol got through the fourth unscathed, but an unearned run came across in the fifth, giving the Aggies back the lead at 4-3.
The wheels came off for Coppin in the sixth as North Carolina A&T sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs against
Matt Perkins,
Bradley Tuttle and
Luke Baker. The Aggies recorded just four hits in the inning but took advantage of two errors, two walks and two hit batsmen.
Coppin rallied for a pair of runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to 12-5, but the Aggies added four in the seventh to increase their advantage to 16-5. A wild pitch on a walk issued to
Nick Morales allowed CSU to score a run in the seventh and Williams followed up with a sacrifice fly to score Walker, who had doubled earlier in the frame.
Nichol was credited with just two earned runs on four hits while striking out six in 5.0 innings and took the loss.
Aside for Javier's three hits in the nightcap, Walker also had a pair of hits while Balsley and Williams recorded hits while also drawing walks.
Coppin and A&T will meet in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 24 starting at 12 pm.
