DOVER, Del. – Jayden Asencio matched a school record with five base hits as Coppin State's baseball team rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat Delaware State, 17-7 on Thursday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. The Eagles (11-23, 9-7 NEC) have now won seven-straight conference games while the Hornets fell to 4-26 overall and 3-16 in the NEC.
Asencio finished 5-for-6 with a double and three RBI to become the 13
th different Eagles player to record five base hits in a single-game. A junior from Central Islip, N.Y., Asencio had an RBI single in the seventh, and an RBI double in Coppin's 11-run eighth inning as the Eagles finished the game with 12 unanswered runs.
Coppin's 17 runs and 18 base hits were season-highs and six Eagles, including Asencio had multi-hit games. The 18 runs were Coppin's most since the 2022 MEAC Championship Game, where it also used a big eighth inning to win the Tournament and send the team to its first NCAA Regional.
Daniel Moore had three hits and three RBI while
Gavin Grutzmacher,
Anthony Divittorio,
Indy Anderson and
Pranav Sundar all had two hits apiece. Sundar matched Asencio and Moore with a team-high three RBI, all of which came on a three-run home run in the seventh inning.
Divittorio was also hit by two pitches which helped him break his own single season school record. He's been hit by 18 pitches this season and 37 in his three seasons with the Eagles which is just two from
Mike Dorcean's (2020-23) career record of 39.
Luke Corcoran (2-3) got the win in relief of
Jobe Olson, allowing just three runs on four hits while striking out five in 6.1 innings. Olson tossed the first 1.2 innings, giving up one earned run in 1.2 innings with three strikeouts.
Keith Wallace threw the ninth inning, striking out one.
The Hornets led 6-1 through six innings, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings following Coppin's lone run in the first on Asencio's RBI single which scored Divittorio.
Corcoran held DSU scoreless in the middle innings before the Eagles started their rally with a four-run seventh. Asencio drove in Moore for the first run of the inning, and following a walk issued to
Noah Hogan, Sundar laced a shot over the left field wall to cut the deficit to 6-5.
DSU got a run back in its half of the frame before Coppin erupted for 11 runs on six hits while also taking advantage of two Hornets' errors. Grutzmacher was plunked to start the inning and scored as Divittorio tripled to right. Moore followed with a double to right, scoring Divittorio and tying the game at seven.
Hogan drew a bases-loaded walk to give Coppin an 8-7 lead before an error by the catcher with
Elijah Charlot at the plate scored two more runs. Charlot came through with an RBI single later in his at-bat before Moore and Anderson drove in two more runs apiece. Asencio's double drove in the final run of the inning, making it 16-7 in favor of the Navy & Gold.
Divittorio added an RBI double in the ninth for the final run of the game and Wallace held DSU at bay to clinch of the opening game of the series.
Coppin and Delaware State resume their three-game series at 1 pm on Friday, April 18 at Bob Reed Field.
