DOVER, Del. – Coppin State's baseball team racked up a season-high 18 base hits but was unable to hold on to the lead as Delaware State defeated the Eagles, 8-7 in ten innings on a windy Friday afternoon at Soldier Field. With the loss, Coppin fall to 4-16 in league play while the Hornets move to 11-9 in the MEAC.
Grant Williams led seven Coppin players with multiple hits, going 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI while freshmen
Sebastien Sarabia and
Jordan Hamberg both had three hits.
Eddie Javier, Jr., Darren Hagan,
Conner Walker and
Mike Dorcean all had a pair of hits as Walker drove in three runs with a home run and Hagan scored twice to go with a triple.
William Jackson pitched well in a no-decision, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out three in 5.0 innings.
Rashad Ruff gave up three earned runs over the next 3.0 innings.
Bradley Tuttle hit the only batter he faced to start the ninth before
Giovanni Canales was credited with a pair of earned runs while striking out two in the final 1.2 innings.
After a pair of scoreless innings, Javier put Coppin on the board first with a solo home run to center field with one out in the third. The Eagles added another run in the fourth on Williams' RBI double down the left field line, scoring Hamberg all the way from first.
Delaware State scored a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a 3-2 lead but Walker's three-run home run in the eighth gave Coppin a 5-3 lead. The Eagles quickly reloaded the bases with no outs after Walker's team-high fifth home run of the season but failed to capitalize for extra runs.
The Hornets tied the score in the bottom half of the eighth with two runs on a pair of hits while also taking advantage of a walk and two hit batsmen, but like CSU, left the bases loaded.
Hagan led off the ninth with a triple and scored on Sarabia's RBI single, giving the Navy & Gold back the lead at 6-5, but once again, DSU answered to tie the score on an unearned run.
Williams got the tenth inning started with a one-out single, his fourth hit of the game, and stole second with two outs. The extra base was huge as he came along to score on Dorcean's single to left field.
Canales retired the first two Hornets to start the bottom of the tenth, but after a single, allowed a two-run homer which gave DSU the victory.
Coppin will look for revenge when it takes on Delaware State in a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday, May 1 at Soldier Field.
