HANOVER, Md. – Daniel Moore drove in five runs with a grand slam and
Reagan Rivera threw six strong innings, leading the Coppin State baseball team to a 9-6 victory over UMass in the series opener on Friday at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles improved to 2-5 on the season while the Minutemen fell to 1-3.
A senior from Benton Harbor, Mich., Moore went 3-for-3, finishing a triple shy of the cycle while scoring once and drawing a walk. Moore led an Eagles lineup that recorded a season-high with ten base hits, matching the total from their season-opening win over Iona.
Gavin Grutzmacher and
Indy Anderson also had multi-hit games and both scored twice while
Samuel Nieves,
Jayden Asencio and
Derek Blackmore also had RBI. Nieves also scored a pair of runs and
Anthony Divittorio reached three times with a base hit and was hit by a pitch twice. Nieves and Divittorio combined for four stolen bases, with Nieves swiping three bags on three attempts.
Rivera, the reigning NEC Pitcher of the Week, put together another great outing, allowing just three earned runs while striking out nine in 6.0 innings. In his final full inning, Rivera struck out the side on 14 pitches.
Justin Ritz tossed the final 3.0 innings to pick up the save, allowing just one run on two hits.
Coppin got out to a quick start with a five-run first inning, highlighted by Moore's shot over the left field fence with the bases juiced to give the Eagles a 5-0 lead. Prior to Moore's first home run of the season, Blackmore was plunked with the bases loaded to score Divittorio from first, who was hit by the first pitch he saw as well.
UMass got two runs back in the third before Asencio drove in a run in the Coppin half of the inning. With Nieves and Moore on base, head coach
Sherman Reed started the runners and Asencio lined a shot to right field. Nieves scored easily on the play, but Moore was thrown out at home.
The Minutemen struck for runs in both the fourth and fifth as well, cutting the deficit to 6-4, but Moore drove in Nieves in the fifth with a single through the right side.
CSU put the game out of reach in the sixth with three base hits and a walk.
Pranav Sundar led off the frame with a walk and was sacrificed to second on a bunt from Divittorio. Grutzmacher singled through the left side and Sundar was thrown out trying to score, but Coppin kept up the aggressive play. Anderson followed with a single, driving in Grutzmacher, and Nieves doubled down the left field line to score Anderson.
UMass scored once in the seventh on a sacrifice fly which was charged to Rivera and had a solo home run to start the eighth, but Ritz faced the minimum the rest of the way. The guests got a one-out walk in the ninth but Blackmore made a great play on a lineout to first, doubling up the Minutemen to pick up the win.
Coppin hosts UMass for game two of the series on Saturday, March 1 in a 1 pm start at Joe Cannon Stadium.
