DOVER, Del. – Mike Dorcean and
Grant Williams both drove in three runs to lead the Coppin State baseball team to a 12-8 victory over Delaware State at the Hornets' Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon. After taking three of four games from the Hornets in the series, the Eagles have now won five of their last six games and improve to 7-16 in league play while DSU falls to 11-12 in the MEAC.
In the four-game series, Coppin erupted for 45 runs on a whopping 55 hits and hit an impressive .393 with ten doubles, a triple and four home runs.
Dorcean finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI while drawing a pair of walks. His day included a solo home run, tying him for the team-lead with five round-trippers this season.
Williams went just-1-for2 on the day but drew three walks.
Toran Smith was the only other CSU player to have a multi-hit day, but Coppin capitalized on 15 walks and four Hornets errors.
Tim Ruffino picked up the victory on the mound, allowing five earned runs while striking our four in 6.0 innings of work.
Matt Perkins retired all nine batters he faced to pick up the three-inning save.
Coppin rallied from an early 2-0 deficit, tying the game with a pair of runs in the second on an RBI groundout by Williams, followed by an RBI single by
Mario Cuevas. Delaware State regained the lead in the third at 3-2 but
Conner Walker tied it up in the fourth with a sacrifice fly.
Dorcean followed up later in the inning with a two-run single to right center, giving the Eagles their first lead of the game at 5-3 before
Matt Day drew a bases loaded walk to extend the advantage to three runs.
Three Hornets came around to scored in the fifth, once again tying the game at 6-6, but Dorcean led off the sixth with a home run to left, putting Coppin back on top 7-6.
Eddie Javier, Jr., delivered a sacrifice fly later in the inning, followed by an RBI single by
Darren Hagan to give the Navy & Gold a 9-6 advantage.
DSU continued to fight with a pair of runs in the sixth but Coppin tacked on a run in the seventh as
Jordan Hamberg took a pitch to the body with the bases loaded. In the eighth, the Eagles added two more runs on a two-run single by Williams.
Coppin closes out its home portion of the 2021 season as it hosts Norfolk State in a four-game series on May 7-9. Friday's game at Joe Cannon Stadium is set for 3 pm, followed by a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday and a 12 pm single game on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Eagles will honor its seniors,
Devyan Dyal,
Cole Gerula,
William Jackson and
Aaron Rea in between the first and second game.
