HANOVER, Md. – Gavin Grutzmacher went 4-for-5 but the Coppin State baseball team was unable to hang on in a 7-6 Northeast Conference loss to Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles fell to 15-33 overall and 13-16 in the NEC while the Knights improved to 15-37 on the season and 15-14 in league play.
A junior from Temecula, Calif., Grutzmacher tripled, scored a run and drove in another while collecting a career-high four base hits. Grutzmacher now has 17 multi-hit games on the season, just behind
Indy Anderson's 18.
Pranav Sundar also had a pair of hits along with a run and an RBI while
Anthony Divittorio,
Elijah Charlot, Jayden Asencio and
Jamar Whitehead also drove in runs. Anderson finished 1-for-3 with two runs and a pair of walks, one of which was intentional.
Brennen Barczai also doubled in his lone at bat.
Reagan Rivera allowed just three runs on three hits while striking out nine in 7.0 innings, finishing his season with a CSU record 97 strikeouts in 80.2 innings of work. He left with the lead before giving way to
Justin Ritz who took the loss despite giving up just one earned run in 2.0 innings. Ritz made his 26
th appearance on the mound this season, matching a school record.
Coppin got out to an early lead on a sacrifice fly by Divittorio in the first, which followed a leadoff triple by Grutzmacher.
FDU scored three in the second and added another in the third before the Eagles got the run back on Sundar's RBI single up the middle in the bottom half of the inning. Scoring on the play was Charlot, who pinch ran for Barczai following his double. A lineout into a double play prevented Coppin from having a bigger inning as Rivera held FDU scoreless the next four innings.
CSU cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth on Grutzmacher's RBI single, scoring Sundar who doubled just prior. The Eagles took the lead in the following inning on a sacrifice fly by Asencio, followed by an RBI single by Charlot.
Rivera struck out a pair of batters in the seventh and retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Ritz relieved Rivera to start the eighth and quickly got a pair of outs. Following a walk and a hit batsman, Ritz fanned the next batter, but the ball got by Asencio to load the bases. FDU then smacked a two-run double to the left and another runner was thrown out at home trying to score which ended the inning.
Following a sacrifice fly by the Knights in the ninth which made it a 7-5 score, Coppin only got a run on a fielder's choice in the bottom half before leaving the bases loaded.
The season ends on Saturday, May 17 at 1:00 pm as Coppin wraps up the series with FDU. Prior to the game, the Eagles will recognize seniors
Anthony Divittorio, Daniel Moore and
Keith Wallace.
