TOWSON, Md. – Coppin State's softball team won its season opener against Bryant, 6-3, on Saturday morning at Towson's Demarini Tiger Clash. It was the first time since 2019 that the Eagles won their season opener. Later in the afternoon, CSU fell to Bucknell, 14-0.
Coppin State def. Bryant, 6-3
The Eagles got contributions from all over the lineup and were sparked by freshman
Aniyah Haley's 2-for-3 performance where she drove in three RBI. Fellow freshman
Celeste Gonzales also had two hits in her first collegiate game while
Brissa Alvarado went 3-for-4 with a double. Freshman
Seryna Esparza slugged her first career home run, driving in two important runs in the process.
In the circle,
Vanessa Carrizosa got the win, allowing just three runs in 6.0 innings while striking out four. Freshman
Brandilyn Reymer got the save, fanning two batters in the seventh. Carrizosa also helped her own cause with an RBI single.
Bryant got out to the early lead with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, but Haley gave Coppin the lead with a two-run single in the second. Gonzales and
Shawnee Ronyak scored on the play as Gonzalez got the rally started with a two-out single, and both reached scoring position following a single by Ronyak and a double steal before Hayley's shot to right.
Carrizosa held the Bulldogs in check in the bottom half and got a 6-4-3 double play in the third before the Eagles extended their lead with two runs in the fourth. Gonzales led off the frame with a double before stealing third and scoring on Haley's bunt single. Following a base hit by Alvarado, Haley scored on Carrizosa's base knock to left.
Bryant cut the deficit in half with a run in the fifth and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it, 4-3 in Coppin's favor. Esparza gave the Eagles some extra insurance with a two-run home run to right field, extending CSU's lead to 6-3.
Reymer relieved Carrizosa on the rubber to start the seventh, and after a leadoff walk, she settled down to fan the next two Bulldogs before getting a popup to end the game.
Bucknell def. Coppin State, 14-0
Alvarado went 2-for-2 with a double in the second game of the day, but Coppin only got one other base hit on the afternoon, coming from freshman
Manaia Fonoti.
Bucknell scored six runs in the first inning, all charged to Reymer, but just four were earned due to a crucial two-out throwing error which allowed two runs to score.
Freshman
Isabel Tobias finished the first inning in the circle and got the final two outs. The Bison added two runs in the second before Tobias held them scoreless third. Six more runs came across in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Tobias threw 3.2 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits while striking out one.
Up Next
Coppin wraps up its time at the Demarini Tiger Clash on Sunday, March 5 against Bucknell at 10:00 am, followed by Towson at 3:00 pm.
