BALTIMORE – Emily Quintero tossed her first career shutout and
Xzylia Maravilla broke the game open with a bases-clearing double, leading the Coppin State softball team to a 7-0 MEAC victory over South Carolina State on Sunday afternoon at CSU Softball Complex. Completing the three-game sweep, the Eagles improved to 15-12 overall and 10-2 in the MEAC while the Bulldogs fell to 5-23 on the year and 2-10 in league play.
CSU's ten conference wins are its most since 2018 when it also won ten games in the MEAC. The school-record for most MEAC victories in a season is 13, set in 2012.
Quintero improved to 6-3 on the year with her second complete game victory of the weekend, giving just two hits and three walks. The freshman from Oceanside, Calif., retired seven-straight at one point and allowed just one runner into scoring position which came in the first inning. At the plate, Quintero helped her own cause with a run.
Maravilla went 1-for-3 with a run and three RBI while
Seryna Esparza had another multi-hit game while scoring one.
Aniyah Haley, Manaia Fonoti and
Julianna Mejia all had RBIs.
Coppin took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first on an RBI groundout by Fonoti. Haley led off the game with a walk and advanced all the way to third on a sac bunt by
Celeste Gonzales.
It remained a one-run game until the fourth when Mejia drove a ball off the shortstop's glove for an RBI single. Esparza, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning, scored from second on the single.
Highlighted by a three-run double by Maravilla in the sixth, the Eagles scored five runs in the inning to put the game out of reach. Fonoti led off the stanza with a walk before getting to third on a single by Esparza. An error allowed Fonoti to score before Maravilla's drive to left center. Haley traded places with Maravilla with a double of her own to finish the scoring.
The Eagles will play their next four games in our Nation's Capital, starting with a midweek single game at George Washington University on Wednesday, April 10. Three days later will be a battle for first place in the MEAC standings when Coppin opens a three-game series with first-place Howard. Saturday's doubleheader on April 13 will start at 4 pm and air on ESPN+. A single game will also be played on Sunday, April 14 at 3 pm.
