LEXINGTON, Va. – Jordan Hamberg collected five hits and drove in four runs in two games, but the Coppin State baseball team dropped a pair at Virginia Military Institute on Saturday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium. The Keydets took the opener, 8-3 before holding on to win, 6-4 in the nightcap.
Game 1
Hamberg went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI in the first game which was scheduled for seven innings. A sophomore from South Plainfield, N.J., Hamberg had half of Coppin's six hits in the opener with the others coming from
Brody Black,
Corey Miley and
Angel Colon. Miley also reached on a walk while
Brian Nicolas drove in the team's other run.
On the mound,
Liam McCallum kept the Eagles in the game, allowing seven runs in 5.0 innings before
Giovanni Canales gave up just one run in the final inning.
After a scoreless first, VMI scored four runs in the second and added three in the third to take a 7-0 lead. Coppin left the bases loaded in the top of the third following a walk issued to
Anthony Divittorio and back-to-back singles from Black and Hamberg. Following a strikeout, VMI made a pitching change and he got the final out of the inning.
Hamberg put CSU on the board in the fifth with an RBI double to left center, scoring Black all the way from first.
McCallum got a 1-2-3 fourth and allowed just an infield single in the fifth before the Keydets got a run in the sixth off Canales.
Hamberg drove in another run in the seventh, as did Nicolas with a sacrifice fly, before VMI got the final out of the game.
Game 2
Hamberg, Black and Divittorio all had two base hits in the nightcap with Hamberg also drawing a walk and just missing on a home run that went for a triple. Black and
Sam Nieves both connected for doubles while Nicolas and Colon drove in runs.
Marcos Herrand took the loss on the mound, giving up five runs in 5.0 innings before
Tim Ruffino and
Nico Felber threw three scoreless innings.
An RBI single from Hamberg in the first gave Coppin an early 1-0 lead, but VMI scored three in the bottom half and scored two more in the third to extend its advantage to 5-1.
Nieves got the fourth inning started with a double to right and he came around to score on Colon's sacrifice fly to deep center.
VMI got the run back in the fifth, but Nicolas was quick to answer, hammering a solo home run over the fence in left field. Hamberg brought Coppin within, 6-4 with a triple off the wall in right field, driving in freshman
Bryce Thompson.
Ruffino started the sixth on the mound and cruised through the first two innings which included a 5-4-3 double play in the seventh.
Felber escaped a jam in the eighth as the first two hitters got into scoring position with nobody out. He proceeded to fan the next two hitters and got the third to fly out to center field, keeping the deficit at just two runs.
Divittorio got the ninth inning started with a one-out single before advancing to third on a double by Black, getting the go-ahead run to the plate. After a strikeout,
Sebastien Sarabia drew a walk to load the bases before the side was retired.
Up Next
Coppin will look to take a game from VMI as the same two teams meet on Sunday, March 5 in a 1 pm first pitch. The series finale will air on ESPN+
