HANOVER, Md. – Pitching performances by starters
Nico Felber and
Alek Elges, and a walk-off home run by
Damon Gaither in the nightcap, highlighted the day as Coppin State's baseball team opened NEC play with a doubleheader sweep of Merrimack on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles won the opener, 7-4, before defeating the Warriors, 5-4 in 12 innings in game two.
Dating back to last season, Coppin has won eight-straight conference games.
Game 1: Coppin State def. Merrimack, 7-4
Felber went the distance on the mound in game one, allowing just four runs on eight hits while striking out three over 9.0 innings. Pitching to contact throughout, he threw just 111 pitches on the day.
Kai Holm and
Sam Nieves both went 3-for-4 with an RBI in game one with Nieves scoring a run and Holm also drawing a walk. Two of Holm's hit went for doubles while
Angel Colon and
Victor Alongi drove in two runs.
Daniel Moore also scored twice and drew a pair of walks.
After both teams went scoreless in the first, they matched each other with a run in the second. Moore, Nieves and
Bryce Thompson all reached safely to start the bottom of the second and Alongi reached on a fielder's choice to bring in Moore.
A pitcher's duel ensued over the next five innings as Coppin took a 2-1 lead with a run in the seventh. Thompson started the inning with a double but was thrown out trying to extend the hit to a triple. Alongi followed with a walk, as did Colon before Holm drove in the go-ahead run with a double down the right field line.
Merrimack regained the lead with two runs in the eighth, but the Eagles scored five runs in their half of the inning to take a commanding 7-3 lead.
Chris Marte led off with a single and the bases were loaded following walks issued to
Brody Black and Moore. Nieves tied the score with an RBI single up the middle and Thompson drew a walk to give Coppin the lead. Alongi welcomed the relief pitcher with a sacrifice fly, scoring Moore from third, and Colon singled down the right field line to bring in both Nieves and Thompson.
Coppin continued to threaten as Holm doubled, followed by an intentional walk issued to Gaither, but Merrimack was able to retire the next batter.
Felber took the mound in the ninth and forced a foul out and a groundball to first before freezing the final batter to win the game.
Game 2: Coppin State def. Merrimack, 5-4 (12 innings)
Elges tossed 8.0 scoreless innings in the no-decision as he gave up just six hits and a walk while striking out five.
Coppin gave him an early 2-0 lead after the first on an RBI single by Marte and a bases-loaded walk by Nieves. That was all that Elges needed but the Eagles scored two more in the fifth on another single by Marte, followed by a wild pitch which scored another.
Elges fanned the final two batters of the fifth and got a 1-2-3 sixth before facing his biggest threat in the seventh. Getting out of the inning unscathed after a groundout to first, he retired the side in order once again in the eighth, maintaining a 4-0 lead.
Merrimack erupted for four runs on five hits off
John Neeld and
Reagan Rivera in the ninth and Coppin was unable to go up in its half despite a double by
Anthony Divittorio and another intentional walk to Gaither.
Rivera, who finished the ninth, tossed a 1-2-3 tenth and faced the minimum in the 11
th. He fanned the side in the 12
th and Gaither won it on the very first pitch he saw in the 12
th, blasting his team-leading third home run over the fence in right field.
Rivera received the win in relief, allowing just one run on four hits with five strikeouts in 4.0 innings.
Holm, Gaither and Marte all had three hits in game two with Holm and Gaither scoring all five of the team's runs. Marte was the only CSU player with multiple RBIs while Divittorio and Colon also had a pair of hits apiece.
Up Next: The teams will close out the three-game series at 12:00 pm on Sunday, March 10 with rain expected to hit the area throughout Saturday, forcing a postponement.
