GLEN BURNIE, Md. – After rallying to tie the score after an 11-run deficit, Coppin State's baseball team fell to Mount St. Mary's, 21-17 in a near five-hour contest on Wednesday afternoon at Bachman Sports Complex. The Eagles now stand at 18-24 on the season while the Mountaineers move to 11-24.
Marcos Castillo went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI while
Wellington Balsley drove in four runs with three hits and a walk from the leadoff spot. The Eagles drew 18 walks on the day, but the pitching staff issued 16 of their own as the teams combined for 34 walks. Additionally, eight batters were hit by a pitch.
The Eagles trailed 9-0 after the first two innings as
Luke Baker held The Mount scoreless in the first before being charged with nine runs in the second. Coppin was able to cut the deficit to just six runs as
Corey Miley,
Mike Dorcean and Balsley had RBI base knocks in the bottom half of the inning.
Mount St. Mary's put another five runs on the board off Baker and
Sam Batis in the third, upping its lead to 14-3, but the Eagles bounced back once again, scoring four runs in their half.
Matt Day delivered with a sacrifice fly to score Castillo from third, and Balsley then cleared the bases with a three-run triple down the right field line to drive in Miley, Dorcean and
Bruce Hilton.
Both teams scored twice in the fourth to keep the deficit at seven before Castillo had an RBI single in the fifth to make it a 14-8 score. After a scoreless sixth, Coppin scored six runs in the seventh without recording a base hit to tie the score at 14-14. Six CSU players drew walks in the frame with two more being hit by a pitch. Along with an error,
Eimir Perez and Castillo added sacrifice flies.
The visitors came back with a run in the eighth which was matched by Coppin with a fielder's choice and a throwing error with
Brian Nicolas at the plate. Perez scored on the error after drawing a walk before advancing to second on a bunt attempt from Balsley.
A leadoff home run to start the ninth proved to be the game-winner for The Mount but it added three more runs in the frame. Castillo singled up the middle in the bottom of the ninth for his fourth hit of the game but was left stranded at first following a pair of flyouts to end the game.
The Eagles got good pitching performances from
Johan Freudenburg and
Giovanni Canales who both threw scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.
Mario Cuevas made his debut on the mound and retired the only batter he faced to help CSU keep The Mount scoreless in the fifth as well.
CSU hosts Maryland Eastern Shore in a four-game MEAC series on April 29-May 1. Friday's game will start at 3 pm followed by a 12 pm doubleheader on Saturday and a 12 pm single game on Sunday.
