LEXINGTON, Va. – Coppin State's baseball team nearly overcame a seven-run deficit before dropping the series finale at Virginia Military Institute, 14-11 on Sunday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium. The Eagles now stand at 3-8 on the season.
Brody Black and
Josh Hankins combined for five of Coppin's ten base hits with Black going 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Hankins had two hits and scored twice with both recording a double on the day.
Sam Nieves and
Sebastien Sarabia both drove in three runs with Nieves scoring three times and slugging his first home run with the Eagles while Sarabia recorded a sacrifice fly and a two-run double.
Jordan Hamberg continued his steadiness at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI. He doubled, drew a walk, was hit by a pitch and was credited with a sacrifice hit.
On the mound, Hamberg gave up six runs over the first 2.2 innings as he moved into fifth on Coppin's all-time strikeout list.
Clay Thompson gave up four runs over the next two innings, followed by
Tyler Nichol and
Rashad Ruff who were charged with three runs over the final 3.1 innings.
VMI got out early, scoring three runs in the first before Hamberg held them scoreless in the second. They Keydets plated four more in the third, ending Hamberg's day on the hill and extending their lead to 7-0.
Coppin got on the board in the fourth, scoring five runs on four hits with Hamberg doubling in Black before scoring as
Brian Nicolas reached on an error. Nieves made VMI pay for the miscue, homering over the fence in left center to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Thompson held VMI to nothing in the bottom half but the Keydets scored four in the fifth to retake a 11-5 advantage.
Sarabia and
Angel Colon drove in runs in the sixth before the hosts got one of the runs back in their half of the frame.
After a scoreless seventh, the Eagles pulled to within 12-11 with four runs in the eighth. After Nicolas reached to start the inning, Nieves drew a walk and Hankins got to first on an error, loading the bases with no outs. Sarabia lined a shot down the line for two runs before
Anthony Divittorio drove in Hankins with a groundout, and he later scored on Black's single to center.
VMI tagged Ruff for a pair of runs in the eighth and Coppin left two runners stranded in its final at-bat.
The Eagles travel to Lehigh on Wednesday, March 8 for a 2:30 first pitch in their final non-conference before opening NEC play against Wagner on March 10-12.
