COLUMBIA, Md. – Coppin State's baseball team set a school-record for triples and tripled up Saint Peter's on the scoreboard with a 12-4 victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Blandair Park. The Eagles now stand at 2-6 on the season while the Peacocks fall to 3-2.
With six triples on the afternoon, Coppin eclipsed their old single-game record of four set back on April 30, 1984, at Maryland Eastern Shore. The Eagles' six triples were one off the NCAA record of seven, which has been done twice, with the last coming on March 25, 1992, by Houston against McNeese State.
Sebastien Sarabia became the eighth different Eagles player to go for a pair of triples in the same game, matching a school-record, while
Wellington Balsley,
Matt Day,
Mike Dorcean and
Corey Miley also had a three-base knock.
Sarabia and Balsley both went 3-for-5 while combining for three runs and three RBI as Balsley also drew a walk. Miley and
Marcos Castillo each went 2-for-5 with two runs apiece while Miley drove in a team-high three RBI and doubled. Battery mates,
Jordan Hamberg and Dorcean, both scored twice and drew a walk.
Justin Johnson picked up his first collegiate win, tossing three innings in relief of Hamberg while giving up just one run on three hits while striking out one. Hamberg fanned eight batters in just four innings, allowing a run on two hits.
Rashad Ruff struck out five batters in the final two innings.
After Hamberg escaped the first inning with a pair of strikeouts, Coppin took an early two-run lead as
Brian Nicolas drew a bases load walk before Hamberg, who helped his own cause with a one-out walk, scored on a failed pickoff attempt that went wild.
Hamberg fanned another two batters in the second and stranded three runners before the Eagles tacked on three runs in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Balsley started the frame with a triple before an RBI single from Castillo and another base knock from Hamberg. After a fly out, Hamberg stole second and Castillo came home on the throwing error by the catcher. Miley then drove in Hamberg as he hit behind the runner to second base.
Saint Peter's put one run across in the fourth as Hamberg froze a couple Peacocks and left the game with a 5-1 lead.
Sarabia tripled down the right field line off a relief pitcher in the bottom of the fourth to score Castillo from first, but SPU got the run back in the fifth before Coppin plated a pair in its half of the frame. Dorcean started the inning with a triple before scoring on Miley's RBI double to left center. Day came in as a pinch hitter and tripled in Miley to give Coppin an 8-2 lead.
After the Peacocks cut into the deficit with a run in the sixth, the Eagles scored four in the bottom part of the inning as Sarabia and Miley tripled, followed by a two-run single from Balsley.
As both teams began to clear their benches, Saint Peter's was able to only manage on run in the ninth with Ruff striking out two in the eighth and the side in the final inning.
The Eagles play host to Cornell for a three-game series on March 5-6 with a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday before an 11 am single game on Sunday. Fans can follow the action live at
www.coppinstatesports.com
