COLUMBIA, Md. – Sebastien Sarabia's two-run double in the eighth tied the game at 8-8, but the Coppin State baseball team fell to Maryland Eastern Shore in the 12
th inning by an 11-8 margin on Friday afternoon at Blandair Park. Both teams are now tied for first in the MEAC with identical 5-4 records in league play.
With the score tied at 6-6 going into the eighth inning, the Hawks scored two runs in the top of the frame to go on top, 8-6. Following a walk issued to
Marcos Castillo and a single by
Jordan Hamberg, Sarabia found the gap in right center, scoring both Castillo and Hamberg to tie the score. The Eagles had a chance to take the lead but grounded out twice which kept the score tied.
Giovanni Canales threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning and CSU left
Mike Dorcean stranded at second in the bottom half which sent the game into extra innings. The Hawks stranded two runners in both the 10
th and 11
th while Coppin left one runner on in those innings to force a 12
th inning.
Canales got the first two outs of the frame before being taken out for
Johan Freudenburg and the Hawks got a three-run opposite field home run to take a 11-8 lead. Coppin got an infield single from Castillo in its half of the frame but was unable to score.
The Eagles led, 5-0 early in the game, scoring a run in the first on a sacrifice fly from Hamberg, and four in the fourth with RBIs from
Corey Miley and
Eimir Perez along with an error with
Wellington Balsley at the plate.
Maryland Eastern Shore scored twice in the sixth and four in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead, before the Eagles matched them as
Toran Smith reached on an error which scored
Josh Hankins.
Hankins was the lone CSU player with multiple hits as he went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and a double. Castillo and Miley both reached safely three times, recording a base hit along with two walks apiece.
Tyler Nichol threw the first 5.0 innings and gave up just two runs on two hits while striking out six.
Marcos Herrand allowed four runs over the next 2.0 innings before giving way to Canales who took the loss despite giving up just two earned runs over 4.2 innings.
Coppin returns to action on April 2 when it hosts the same Hawks team in a 12 pm doubleheader at Blandair Park.
