HANOVER, Md. – Coppin State's baseball team dropped a pair of NEC games to Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles (12-26, 11-15 NEC) fell in game one, 18-7, and 13-8 in the nightcap.
Game 1: Central Connecticut State def. Coppin State, 18-7
Kai Holm continued his impressive hitting as of late, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a walk and both
Samuel Nieves and
Noah Murciano matched him with a pair of runs batted in. Nieves and
Damon Gaither recorded doubles as Murciano recorded a triple.
Liam McCallum got the starting nod but lasted just 2.2 innings, as did
Jackson Montgomery and
Brandon Stephens. Stephens gave up just two hits in his scoreless outing before
Michael Matthews gave up a run in his lone inning of work. The four pitchers combined to allow 15 hits and 17 walks while hitting three batters.
Central Connecticut State scored seven runs in its first at-bat with six hits but Coppin came right back with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Anthony Divittorio and Holm started the game with walks before Gaither doubled to left center, scoring Divittorio. Nieves followed up with a double, driving in Holm and Gaither before being tagged out at third.
McCallum faced the minimum in the second, getting a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and Holm drove in a run in the second on a single to make it a 7-4 game.
The Blue Devils tacked on six runs in the third, which the Eagles got two back in their half on a two-run triple by Murciano.
Daniel Moore and
Angel Colon scored on the play.
CCSU went scoreless in the fourth before scoring twice in the fifth and sixth. Holm drove in another run with a single in the sixth but the Eagles went scoreless over the final three innings.
Game 2: Central Connecticut State def. Coppin State, 13-8
Kai Holm, Sam Nieves and
Chris Marte all had multi-hit games with Nieves driving in four runs, and Marte with two.
Daniel Moore added a home run along with Nieves and Marte while
Noah Murciano also drove in a run.
Nico Felber gave up eight runs over the first 4.2 innings while
Christian Pareja was charged with three earned runs while striking out four over the next 4.0 innings.
Justin Ritz retired the only batter he faced in the ninth.
Both teams went scoreless in the first before scoring a run in the second and going scoreless again in the third. CCSU scored 11 runs over the next three innings while Coppin got back-to-back RBI singles from Nieves and Marte in the fifth.
Coppin attempted to rally late in the game, getting back-to-back home runs from Marte and Moore in the seventh. With
Braylon Watson and Holm aboard in the eighth, Nieves blasted a three-run shot over the fence in left, cutting the deficit to 12-8.
The Blue Devils scored an unearned run in the ninth as the Eagles went scoreless in the bottom half.
Up Next: Coppin and Central Connecticut State are scheduled to play at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 4 to wrap up the series.
