NORFOLK, Va. – All of Coppin State's runs came in the first three innings as the Eagles fell at Norfolk State, 7-6 on a walk-off single on Friday afternoon at Marty Miller Field. Both teams now stand atop the MEAC standings with identical 3-2 records in conference play.
Eimir Perez had three of the Eagles' seven base hits on the day while
Wellington Balsley added two more while scoring twice to lead CSU offensively.
Sebastien Sarabia drove in three runs with a base hit and a walk while
Corey Miley recorded a hit and
Marcos Castillo scored twice.
Tyler Nichol struck out seven Spartans in 5.2 innings while allowing five runs on five hits in the no-decision.
Justin Johnson took the loss despite giving up just one run over 3.0 innings with two strikeouts before coming out of the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for
Giovanni Canales.
Coppin took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, taking advantage of a walk, an error and a passed ball while recording a pair of steals. Balsley drew a walk to lead off the game before stealing second. Castillo the reached on an error, allowing Balsley to advance to third and the duo were successful on a double steal for the first run of the game. After a passed ball, Castillo scored on Sarabia's groundout to third.
Nichol fanned a pair of batters to get a 1-2-3 first inning but gave up four runs in the second. The Eagles retook the lead in their next at bat with Sarabia tying the score at 4-4 with a two-run single to center field, scoring Balsley and Castillo.
Brian Nicolas, who was hit by a pitch just prior to Sarabia, scored on
Josh Hankins' RBI fielder's choice and Hankins later scored on Perez' double to right.
The Spartans went down in order once again in the third before Nichol faced the minimum once again in the fourth and got a 1-2-3 fifth inning. Norfolk tied the score at 6-6 in the sixth and the score remained that way until the bottom of the ninth before NSU's walk-off single.
Coppin and Norfolk will play a 1 pm doubleheader on Saturday, March 26 before a 12 pm single game on Sunday, March 27.
