NORFOLK, Va. – Chris Marte went 4-for-4 with a home run and six RBI in the series finale, helping the Coppin State baseball team complete a three-game sweep over NEC rival Norfolk State with a 10-7 extra-inning victory on Sunday afternoon at Marty Miller Field. The Eagles improved to 9-19 overall and 8-10 in the NEC.
A freshman from Englewood, N.J., Marte slugged a three-run homer in the first inning for his fourth roundtripper of the season. Marte also added a two-run double in the tenth, giving him a team-high eight on season, scored twice, and recorded a sacrifice fly while also drawing a walk.
Noah Murciano also had three hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Samuel Nieves and
Damon Gaither also scored twice while combining for five walks.
Anthony Divittorio, Daniel Moore and
Angel Colon also drew a pair of walks as the Eagles drew 12 on the day.
Kaden Straily got the no-decision while allowing six runs in the first 5.0 innings.
Liam McCallum had arguably the best pitching performance of his career, giving up just one run on two hits while striking out nine in the final 5.0 innings to get the win.
After two scoreless innings for both teams, Marte's three-run shot to left gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, which Norfolk State cut to a single run with two in the bottom of the third.
Coppin scored another three runs in the fourth as an error on
Kai Holm's bunt single scored a run. Marte drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, driving in Divittorio and aggressive baserunning by Holm also allowed him to score and increased the lead to 6-2.
Murciano added to the lead in the fifth with an RBI single, but the Spartans got the run right back in the bottom half and pulled to within 7-6 with a three-run sixth.
McCallum struck out the side in the sixth after taking over for Straily, and retired ten-straight batters at one point before NSU tied the score with a run in the ninth.
Extra innings did not take long as Gaither led off the frame with a single before Nieves drew a walk. Marte brought in both runners with a double down the left field line and he scored later in the inning on a pair of wild pitches.
McCallum struck out the side in the tenth while giving up just a two-out walk.
The Eagles will play at local rival Towson at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, April 17 before welcoming Maryland Eastern Shore for a three-game NEC series on April 19-21.
