NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Coppin State's baseball team dropped a pair of games to first place Central Connecticut State on Saturday afternoon at CCSU Baseball Stadium. The Eagles now stand at 13-25 overall and 6-12 in the NEC while the Blue Devils improve to 23-8 on the year and 18-3 in league play.
Game 1: CCSU defeats Coppin State, 8-1
Noah Murciano had two of the Eagles' five hits and drove in the team's lone run of the game.
Mike Dorcean added a base hit and drew a walk while
Brian Nicolas and
Corey Miley had the other hits.
Tyler Nichol gave up seven runs over the first 4.2 innings and received the loss.
Giovanni Canales allowed just one run over the next 3.1 innings.
Central Connecticut scored a run in the first before adding two in the third and fourth innings to take a 5-0 lead. Murciano put the Eagles on the board with an RBI single down the right field line to score Nicolas, but the Blue Devils got two more in their half of the inning to go up, 7-1.
After CCSU added another in the eighth, Coppin loaded the bases in the ninth as Dorcean walked,
Angel Colon was hit by a pitch, and Miley added a single, but the next two Eagles were retired to end the game.
Game 2: CCSU defeats Coppin State, 6-5 (10 inn.)
It took an extra inning, but the Blue Devils edged out Coppin despite two-hit games from
Bryce Thompson, and
Josh Hankins who scored twice, drove in another and added a walk.
Liam McCallum walked twice and
Nathan Burdette drove in two.
Freshman
Christian Pareja went the first 4.2 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts before
Nico Felber went the next 2.2 innings, allowing just one run.
Rashad Ruff got the loss, giving up an unearned run while striking out three in the final 1.2 innings.
Coppin got out first with an RBI single from Hankins in the top of the first, driving in
Brett Curran who led off the game with a single.
Pareja got through the first inning unscathed, but the Blue Devils put three runs across in the second, before
Mike Dorcean cut the deficit to 3-2 with a single through the left side to score Hankins.
CCSU got the run back in the fourth, and it remained a two-run game until Burdette was credited with an RBI on a groundout in the seventh, driving in
Brian Nicolas after an error on a stolen base.
Angel Colon tied the score at 4-4 in the eighth as Hankins scored once again on a single, but the hosts retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning.
Burdette made quick work of the deficit with a solo home run to left field while leading off the ninth. The Eagles put two runners on after the blast but were unable to capitalize.
Ruff struck out the side in the Blue Devils half of the ninth, and CSU failed to score in the tenth despite singles from Miley and Nicolas.
CCSU started the tenth with a double before scoring the game-winning run on an error.
Up Next
Coppin travels to UMBC on Wednesday, April 26 before hosting Sacred Heart on April 28-30 for a three-game NEC series at Joe Cannon Stadium.
