DOVER, Del. – Coppin State's baseball team picked up a pair of big wins in a doubleheader sweep at Delaware State on Sunday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. Completing the three-game sweep, the Eagles (18-30, 11-16 NEC) won game one, 12-5, and the nightcap, 16-11. In the series, Coppin scored 40 runs on 34 hits and it stands two games out of sixth place in the league standings with three games left to play.
Game 1: Coppin State def. Delaware State, 12-5
Jordan Hamberg went 3-for-4 with three runs, a home run, three RBI and a pair of walks while
Brett Curran and
Josh Hankins also homered. Hankins also scored three runs with three walks and two RBI while
Mike Dorcean and
Brody Black combined for five hits and five RBI.
Hamberg (3-4) also got the win on the mound, allowing four runs on six hits in 6.0 innings while striking out nine.
Tim Ruffino pitched the next 2.0 innings and gave up a run before
John Neeld threw a scoreless ninth.
Hamberg helped his own cause before he even stepped foot on the mound, clobbering a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, driving in Hankins. Later in the inning, Dorcean reached on a fielder's choice and an error on the play allowed
Liam McCallum to score, extending the lead to 3-0.
Delaware State took its first lead of the game with four runs in the third, but Coppin retook the lead with two runs in the fifth on a home run by Curran along with a RBI single by Black, driving in Hamberg.
Hamberg drove in another run with a single in the sixth, giving Coppin a 6-4 lead before the Eagles broke the game open with a four-run eighth. Black drew a bases loaded walk and was followed up by a bases-clearing double from Dorcean, extending the advantage to 10-4.
The Hornets got one run back in their half of the eighth which Hankins answered with a two-run homer in the ninth.
Game 2: Coppin State def. Delaware State, 16-11
Josh Hankins, Jordan Hamberg and
Brian Nicolas all had a pair of hits and combined for six RBI while
Bryce Thompson matched Hankins with a team-high three RBI in the game.
Brett Curran scored four times while drawing a CSU record five walks as the Eagles took advantage of 16 walks in game two.
Christian Pareja went the first 4.2 innings and gave up five runs before
Clay Thompson allowed three runs.
Tyler Nichol was credited with the win after recording a pair of strikeouts and no runs.
Nico Felber issued two runs in his 2.1 innings of relief before
Rashad Ruff struck out three in the final 1.1 innings.
Coppin scored the game's first eight runs, with three in the fifth, and never looked back, leading by as many as 13-1 after the top of the fifth.
In the first, Black,
Angel Colon, and Curran all drove in runs without recording an at-bat while
Brian Nicolas also had a two-run single. Hamberg stole third in the second before scoring on a throwing error, before a pair of wild pitches and an RBI single from Hamberg helped the Eagles score three in the third.
DSU got on the board with a run in its half of the third before Coppin blew it open in the fifth with a two-run double by Hankins and a two-run homer by Thompson.
The Hornets pulled to within, 13-8 with a seven-run fifth, but CSU sealed the win with a three-run eighth on RBI from Hankins, Thompson and
Liam McCallum.
Up Next
Coppin travels to Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday, May 16 before closing out the regular season by hosting Norfolk State in a three-game NEC series on May 18-20.
