WASHINGTON, D.C. – Coppin State's softball team held the lead but could not hang on as it was defeated by Big 12 member Iowa State, 10-2 in its season opener on Monday afternoon at Washington Nationals Youth Academy. The Cyclones, who advanced to the NCAA Regional last year, are now 8-1 on the season.
The Eagles threatened in their first at-bat of the season as
Isabella Zalba,
Makayla Caballero and
Vanessa Carrizosa all drew walks to load the bases with two outs. Iowa State was able to get out of the inning unscathed as they forced a groundout after making a pitching change.
Iowa State blasted a home run in the bottom half of the frame, but Coppin responded with two runs in the second.
Avianna Peterson led off the frame with a double in her first plate appearance with CSU and later advanced on an
Alexis Genovese single before scoring on
Desiree Carrizosa's groundout to second tie the score. Genovese later scored on a groundout from
Brissa Alvarado to give the Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
The Cyclones came right back with six runs in the bottom of the second before
Shawnee Ronyak replaced
Vanessa Carrizosa on the rubber with no outs. Ronyak proceeded to retire the side and ended the inning with a strikeout.
Coppin put a pair of runners on in the third to no avail and Iowa State capitalized with a run and sealed the win with two more runs in the fifth.
Vanessa Carrizosa received the loss, striking out a pair in her lone inning of work. Ronyak allowed just three runs over the final 3.1 innings on three hits while striking out three.
The Eagles return to the field on Feb. 26-27 at the UMBC Round Robin. Coppin will play at UMBC on 10 am on Saturday, followed by Georgetown at 2 pm. On Sunday, the Eagles will take on the Retrievers at 12 pm, followed by the Hoyas at 2 pm.
