STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – A seven-run ninth inning for the Eagles was not enough as the Coppin State baseball team dropped an NEC series opener at Wagner, 14-8 on Friday afternoon at SIUH Community Park. The Eagles fell to 3-8 overall and 2-2 in the NEC while the Seahawks improved to 5-12 and 4-0 in league play.
Damon Gaither and
Anthony Divittorio each had a pair of hits for Coppin while Gaither drove in three runs and drew a walk. Divittorio scored once and drove in another.
Chris Marte, Sam Nieves and
Angel Colon also had base hits for the Eagles.
Kai Holm scored and drove in one and drew a pair of walks.
Nico Felber took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits while striking out three in 4.1 innings.
Liam McCallum was charged with two runs over the next 1.2 innings before
Justin Ritz gave up six runs.
Michael Matthews threw a scoreless eighth.
Wagner got out quick with a two-run first inning, but Coppin cut the deficit in half when Colon singled to drive in Marte from third.
Felber got a 1-2-3 second inning but the Seahawks scored at least a run in the next five innings, which included a six-spot in the seventh to go up, 14-1.
A last-ditch effort saw the Eagles score seven runs on just one hit. Three bases-loaded walks issued to
Jayden Asencio, Daniel Moore and Holm, as well as a HBP to Divittorio scored runs before Gaither cleared the bases with a three-run double to right center to make it a 14-8 score. Wagner then got a groundout to end the game.
Coppin and Wagner will meet on Saturday, March 16 for a 1 pm NEC clash.
