HANOVER, Md. – Pedro Agosto hit a grand slam, but the Coppin State baseball team dropped its NEC series opener to LIU, 16-7, on Friday afternoon at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles fell to 7-25 overall and 7-12 in the NEC while the Sharks improved to 14-16 on the year and 13-6 in league play.
Agosto's grand slam was his third home run of the season and one of just five hits recorded by Coppin on the day.
Jordan Treadwell and
Armando (AJ) Hurtado also drove in runs and combined for three walks.
Luke Corcoran got the starting nod on the mound and allowed four runs on seven hits while getting the no-decision after 4.0 innings.
Jake Cumming took the loss in relief after allowing four runs.
Nick Dolbin gave up one run in his lone inning of work before
Jackson Montgomery was charged with four runs in his inning.
Brandon Stephens struck out four over the final three innings, and only one of his three allowed runs was earned.
Agosto gave the Eagles a 4-0 with his shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the first. Treadwell reached on a single with one-out and got to third as back-to-back balks were called on the LIU starting pitcher. After Hurtado was plunked and
Angel Garcia drew a walk, Agosto took a 0-2 pitch deep.
Corcoran gave up a run in the second before throwing a 1-2-3 third but allowed the Sharks to tie the score with a three-run fourth.
Cumming and Dolbin combined to allow a five-run fifth, but Coppin cut its deficit to 9-7 with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Treadwell walked with the bases loaded to bring in the first run, followed by an RBI single by Hurtado. Garcia grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning, but
Noah Hogan came around to score.
LIU came right back with two in the sixth, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth as CSU stranded three runners over the final four innings.
Coppin hosts LIU in a 1 pm start on Saturday, April 18 before the series finale at 12 pm on Sunday, April 19.
