HANOVER, Md. – Nicco Holland threw seven strong innings as Coppin State's baseball team defeated Central Connecticut, 9-2, on Sunday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. With the series victory, the Eagles improved to 7-23 overall and 7-11 in the NEC while the Blue Devils fell to 9-16 on the year and 7-11 in league play.
A junior from Huntingtown, Md., Holland allowed just two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out six in 7.0 innings. At one point, Holland retired 11 straight batters before giving up a one-out single in the seventh before the final two batters flew out.
Justin Ritz threw the final 2.0 innings and gave up just one hit while striking out two more.
Terrell Milliner went 3-for-4 with a home run while
Jordan Treadwell and
Angel Garcia also had multi-hit games. Garcia doubled and drove in two as Treadwell scored twice and both also drew walks.
Armando (AJ) Hurtado also went deep, scored three runs and drew a walk.
Holland retired the first two batters he faced before his only mistakes of the game, allowing back-to-back home runs in the first.
Coppin got on the board in the third as Milliner led off the inning with a home run and it took the lead in the fifth with a pair of runs. Treadwell got a rally started with a two-out single, and after Hurtado was plunked, tied the score when Garcia singled to left.
Pedro Agosto followed with a double to centerfield to give the Eagles the 3-2 lead.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth before Coppin erupted for five runs in the seventh to take an 8-2 lead. After back-to-back one-out walks, Garcia drove in Treadwell with a double. Agosto was intentionally walked to load the bases, and a wild pitch allowed another run to score.
Nelson Grajales drove in a pair of runs with a single and
Marcus Sanders followed later in the inning with an RBI single as well.
Hurtado added a solo home run in the eighth for the final run of the game as Ritz got through the ninth.
Coppin hosts Lehigh on Tuesday, April 14 at 3 pm before welcoming LIU for a three-game NEC series on April 17-19 to complete the eight-game homestand.
