HANOVER, Md. – Reagan Rivera pitched seven strong innings in game one and
Jamar Whitehead came through with a walk-off double in the nightcap, leading the Coppin State baseball team to a pair of NEC wins against Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles (9-22, 7-7 NEC) won the opener, 8-4, and game two, 4-3 in ten innings and have won five-straight conference games.
Game 1: Coppin State def. Norfolk State, 8-4
Rivera allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out seven to pick up his third win of the season.
Justin Ritz threw the final 2.0 innings, giving up an unearned run on one walk while striking out two.
Bryce Thompson went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored while
Pranav Sundar added a pair of hits, a run and an RBI.
Anthony Divittorio and
Noah Hogan drove in a pair of runs apiece.
After a pair of scoreless innings,
Gavin Grutzmacher scored his first of two runs on a wild pitch to give Coppin a 1-0 lead in the third. Norfolk State answered with two in the fourth and another in the fifth to go up 3-1.
Rivera got a 1-2-3 sixth inning with a pair of strikeouts, and that momentum carried into the bottom half as the Eagles erupted for six runs on six hits.
Indy Anderson led off with a walk and got to third on a single by Thompson. Sundar cut the lead to one with an RBI single to right and Hogan put Coppin back in front with a two-run single to right. Divittorio added a double down the right field line, driving in two more and he scored on a double by
Daniel Moore to make it a 7-3 score.
With another 1-2-3 seventh, Rivera retired the last seven batters he faced before Ritz was tagged with an unearned run in the eighth.
Jayden Asencio got the run right back for the Eagles with a two-out double down the right field line, and an errant throw allowed Moore to score.
Ritz retired the Spartans in order in the ninth to give the Eagles the series-opening victory.
Game 2: Coppin State def. Norfolk State, 4-3 (10 innings)
Jamar Whitehead doubled to the gap in right center in the tenth, scoring
Bryce Thompson all the way from first for the walk-off victory. Thompson was hit by a pitch just prior before Whitehead came through with a full count.
Gavin Grutzmacher had two of Coppin's seven base hits as
Daniel Moore and
Indy Anderson also had RBI.
Anthony Divittorio walked three times and was hit by a pitch in five plate appearances.
Jobe Olson struck out four while giving up just one run on one hit in the first 3.0 innings.
Luke Corcoran was impressive in relief, striking out five more over the next 4.1 innings, allowing just one run on one hit.
Justin Ritz went the final 2.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the win.
Norfolk took an early 1-0 lead on a wild pitch in the first before an RBI single by Anderson drove in Divittorio to tie the score in the third.
Noah Hogan scored on a double play in the fifth, giving CSU a 2-1 lead, and Moore drove him in again in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
The Spartans tied the score with a sacrifice fly in the eighth and an RBI single in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Up Next: Coppin will go for its second-straight series sweep when it hosts the Spartans at 1 pm on Sunday, April 13 at Joe Cannon Stadium.
