NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Mike Dorcean homered and
Marcos Herrand threw an impressive eight innings as Coppin State's baseball team took the series opener from NEC-leading Central Connecticut State, 5-1, on Friday afternoon at CCSU Baseball Field. The Eagles now stand at 13-23 overall and 6-10 in league play while the Blue Devils fall to 21-8 on the year and 16-3 in the NEC.
A redshirt junior from Bellerose, N.Y., Dorcean finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, two runs scored and a walk to lead the Eagles offense.
Brett Curran and
Liam McCallum also had a pair of hits, with McCallum also drawing a walk, and
Nathan Burdette drove in a run with a base hit, a sacrifice fly and a walk.
Herrand had one of the best outings of his career to improve to 4-5 on the season. A sophomore from Brandon, Fla., Herrand gave up just one run on nine hits while striking out a career-high nine batters.
Rashad Ruff threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including a strikeout to seal the victory.
Dorcean put Coppin ahead early with an RBI single in the top of the first, driving in
Josh Hankins who had walked and advanced to second on a single from McCallum. After the Blue Devils tied it at 1-1 in their half of the first, Dorcean gave the Eagles back the lead with a solo home run down the left field line.
Herrand took it from there, retiring seven-straight batters at one point and Coppin got him some extra insurance with a two-run eighth to extend the advantage to 4-1. McCallum walked and Dorcean singled to start the inning before
Angel Colon plated pinch runner
Bryce Thompson with a single to left. Following a sacrifice bunt by
Brian Nicolas, Burdette hit a fly ball deep to center field to score Dorcean.
In his final inning on the mound, Herrand fanned a pair, and
Brody Black drove in another run in the ninth with a single to score Curran from second.
Ruff got a pair of groundouts, sandwiching a punchout to put the Blue Devils away.
Due to inclement weather in the forecast, a doubleheader will now be played on Saturday, April 22, starting at 11:00 am.
