HANOVER, Md. – Jake Cumming threw 7.2 innings while allowing just one run to lead the Coppin State baseball team to a 2-1 victory over Mercyhurst in the NEC opener on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles moved to 1-8 on the season while the Lakers fell to 0-8.
A junior from Fernley, Nev., Cumming scattered five hits while striking out seven in his longest outing of the season. Cumming stranded four Lakers on base over the first three innings before facing the minimum in the fourth. He got even stronger as the game went on, striking out a pair of batters in the eighth before being relieved with two outs for
Justin Ritz.
Ritz struck out all four batters he faced to earn his first save of the season, and the eighth of his career putting him alone for third place on CSU's all-time list.
Armando (AJ) Hurtado took a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left field for a home run, accounting for Coppin's only two runs of the game as
Angel Garcia touched home after reaching on an error just prior. The roundtripper was the first for a CSU player this season.
Garcia and
Emilio Feliciano both had two hits for the Eagles with Hurtado and
Terrell Milliner recording the others.
Noah Hogan also drew a pair of walks for the Navy & Gold.
Coppin hosts Mercyhurst in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday, March 7. First pitch from Joe Cannon Stadium is set for 1 pm, followed by a 12 pm start in the series finale on Sunday.
