DOVER, Del. – A 12-run sixth inning propelled the Coppin State baseball team to a 17-4 NEC victory at Delaware State on Friday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. The Eagles have now won eight-straight conference games and improved to 12-23 overall and 10-7 in league play while the Hornets fell to 4-27 on the season.
Daniel Moore led four CSU players with multi-hit games, going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI.
Gavin Grutzmacher,
Jayden Asencio and
Bryce Thompson all had a pair of hits, with Grutzmacher and Thompson also walking twice each combining for six runs scored.
Pranav Sundar had a team-high five RBI while Divittorio,
Indy Anderson and
Noah Hogan also had multi-RBI games.
Reagan Rivera got the win on the mound, giving up three runs in 5.0 innings while striking out five.
Isaiah Licorish and
Justin Ritz threw the sixth and seventh innings for the Eagles who run-ruled the Hornets for the second-straight game to clinch the series before Saturday's finale.
After two scoreless innings to start the game, Coppin got on the board in the third on an RBI infield single by Anderson, driving in Grutzmacher who singled and stole second to start the frame. DSU responded with a run to tie the score in its half of the inning.
Coppin took advantage of a Hornets error to score three runs in the fourth with
Elijah Charlot recording a sacrifice fly to break the tie. Following a walk issued to Grutzmacher, Divittorio singled through the right side of the infield to bring in Hogan and Grutzmacher.
The Hornets cut the deficit to 4-3 with a two-run fourth, but Sundar got one run back in the fifth with a groundout scoring Anderson from third.
Rivera threw a 1-2-3 fifth, which ended up being his last inning thanks to a huge sixth inning for the Eagles. Moore followed a pair of hit batsman with a single to load the bases, and Anderson grounded out to score the first run. Thompson singled home Divittorio with the bases loaded and Hogan followed with a walk to put the Eagles up, 8-3.
Sundar broke the game open with a bases-clearing, three-run double to right, but Coppin was not finished. After a pair of walks loaded the bases once again, Moore roped a double to left which scored two more runs. A pair of wild pitches scored two more Eagles before Hogan and Sundar ended the run with back-to-back walks with the bases loaded.
Despite going scoreless in the seventh, some CSU history was made when Divittorio was hit by a pitch. Breaking his own school-record with his 20
th HBP of the season, Divittorio has now been hit by 39 pitches in his three seasons with the Eagles, tying
Mike Dorcean for the most in school history.
Licorish retired three-straight Hornets after allowing a leadoff hit, and the Hornets mustered just one run in the seventh off Ritz, capitalizing on a CSU miscue.
Coppin will look to complete the sweep of Delaware State at 1 pm on Saturday, April 19 at Bob Reed Field.
