WASHINGTON, D.C. – Coppin State's
Vanessa Carrizosa threw a pair of complete games and no-hit Howard through the first 6.0 innings of game two as the Eagles split a MEAC doubleheader on ESPN+ with league-leading Howard on Saturday night. The Bison came back to win the opener, 4-3, before Coppin took the nightcap, 6-2.
The Eagles have now matched last season's win total (16), and their 11 conference victories are two shy of a school-record and most since 2012 when they went 13-5.
Game 2: Coppin State def. Howard, 6-2
Carrizosa allowed two runs on three hits while striking out two, with all of the damage coming in the seventh inning. Combined with her complete game in game one, Carrizosa became just the third pitcher in school-history to record 500 innings pitched as she struck out a batter for the first out of the second inning.
At one point, Carrizosa had retired ten-straight Bison before Howard got a pinch-hit single to lead off the seventh inning.
The Eagles gave Carrizosa a 1-0 lead in the third when
Seryna Esparza reached on an error with two outs.
Xzylia Maravilla scored on the play after a leadoff single and got to third after a walk issued to
Aniyah Haley and a sac bunt by
Celeste Gonzales.
Brooklyn Tapusoa led off the fourth with a home run and the flood gates opened as the Eagles struck for three more runs in the frame.
Julianna Mejia followed Tapusoa with a walk and got to second on
Leslie Sereno's sac bunt. Haley drove in Mejia with a single up the middle and scored when Gonzales doubled to left center.
Manaia Fonoti traded places with Gonzales with a double of her own before the side was retired.
Carrizosa got a 1-2-3 fourth before Haley gave her some extra insurance with an RBI single in the fifth.
Haley, Gonzales, Fonoti and
Giselle Ulloa all had multi-hit efforts in game two with Haley driving in two runs, scoring another and drawing a walk.
Game 1: Howard def. Coppin State, 4-3
Carrizosa allowed just three earned runs over 6.0 innings while striking out three as Howard rallied from a 3-0 deficit. Sereno had a pair of hits, including a double while Fonoti also doubled, drove in a run and scored another. Gonzales matched Fonoti, with a hit, run scored and an RBI and Haley also got a hit and scored a run. Ulloa also drove in a run with a hit and Esparza drew a pair of walks as well.
Both teams went scoreless the first two innings before Coppin scored three in the third. Haley got it started with a one-out single before advancing on a wild pitch. Gonzales drove her in with a single before scoring on a double down the line by Fonoti. Fonoti stole third and easily scored on a single by Ulloa to make it a 3-0 ballgame.
Howard came right back with three in its half of the inning before scoring the game-winner in the fifth on an unearned run.
Coppin left the bases loaded in the fourth and put runners on base in the final three innings but was unable to get the tying run across.
Up Next: CSU (16-14, 11-3 MEAC), who now trails Howard and Morgan State by a single game in the MEAC standings, wraps up its series with the Bison with a 3 pm start on Sunday, April 14.
