ARLINGTON, Va. – Wellington Balsley matched a school-record with five base hits, including a triple, but it was not enough as the Coppin State baseball team fell to George Washington University, 13-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Barcroft Park. The Eagles now stand at 3-9 on the season.
A junior outfielder from Vacaville, Calif., Balsley went 5-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI to become the tenth different Eagles player to record five hits in a single game.
Marcos Castillo,
Eimir Perez and
Landen Argabright also had multi-hit games with two base hits apiece with Perez and Argabright adding doubles in the process. Argabright also scored twice while Castillo drove in a run.
Corey Miley and
Brian Nicolas also drove in runs while Miley also drew a walk.
Marcos Herrand got the start in his collegiate debut and allowed three runs on four hits in 3.0 innings of work but did not factor in the decision as the Eagles used eight pitchers on the day.
Matt Perkins retired just one batter in relief of Herrand before
Nico Felber, who was credited with the loss, allowed one run in 1.2 innings of work.
Justin Johnson,
Tim Ruffino and
John Neeld all got through one inning of work.
The Eagles got out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first on back-to-back RBI singles from Miley and Nicolas to score Balsley and Miley. Coppin's lead was short lived as GW matched the two runs in its half of the frame before adding another in the second.
Herrand threw a scoreless third and faced the minimum as the leadoff hitter reached on an error before the following batter grounded into a double play. Herrand then fanned the next batter to get out of the inning.
GW scored two runs off Perkins in the fourth to go on top, 5-2, but Coppin responded with a pair of runs in the fifth coming on an RBI triple from Balsley before a single from Castillo. The Colonials got one of the runs back in the fifth before the Eagles once again pulled within one in the seventh on another single from Balsley.
The Colonials added some insurance runs to extend their advantage to three runs in the bottom of the seventh before pulling away with a five spot in the eighth. Balsley reached base for the fifth time in as many at-bats in his final plate appearance in the ninth but was left stranded in scoring position.
Coppin returns to action when it hosts Albany in a three-game series this weekend. A doubleheader will be played on Friday, March 11 at 12 pm before Sunday's single game at 12 pm.
