BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In a midweek slugfest, Coppin State's baseball team fell to Lehigh, 29-16, on Tuesday afternoon at J. David Walker Field. The Eagles fell to 13-27 on the season while the Mountain Hawks improved to 22-21 overall.
Noah Hogan went 4-for-4, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, to go with three runs, two RBI and a walk while
Daniel Moore also had four hits.
Gavin Grutzmacher and
Anthony Divittorio also went deep and combined for seven RBI.
Pranav Sundar added three hits to go with two runs and a pair of RBI.
Six pitchers made appearances for the Eagles, starting with
Luke Corcoran who went the first inning.
Brandon Stephens struck out five in his two innings of work while
Jaedin Hurd also threw a pair of innings.
Tyrone Lake and
Isaiah Licorish followed on the mound before
Justin Ritz threw the final 1.1 innings.
Lehigh scored five runs in the first inning which Grutzmacher answered with a grand slam in the second. The Mountain Hawks got all four runs back in their half of the frame and added three more in the fourth to take a 12-4 lead.
Coppin took its first lead of the game with a nine-run fifth, recording six hits while also taking advantage of a Lehigh error. Moore singled off the pitcher to drive in Grutzmacher for the first run of the inning before
Herick Vital drove in another with a groundout. A wild pitch made it a five-run deficit before Sundar tripled in both
Jayden Asencio and Hogan.
Jamar Whitehead found a gap in center field to drive in another and Divittorio put CSU ahead with a three-run shot over the fence in right field.
The Mountain Hawks tied the score at 13 with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Hogan's first career home run but Coppin back on top in the sixth.
Once again, Lehigh erupted, this time with a ten-run sixth, and Coppin got two back on RBI base knocks from
Elijah Charlot and Hogan in the seventh.
Lehigh sealed the win with six more runs in the seventh despite recording just two hits.
Coppin hosts Stonehill in a pivotal three-game NEC series on May 2-4 at Joe Cannon Stadium. Friday's game is set for 3 pm, followed by a 1 pm Alumni Day on Saturday and a 12 pm first pitch on Sunday.
