Coppin State Baseball Splits NEC Doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson
Submitted by Steve Kramer, Director of Athletic Communications
HANOVER, Md. – Brett Curran tied a school-record for hits in a game in the opener and Josh Hankins drove in four runs in the nightcap as the Coppin State baseball team split an NEC doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday at Joe Cannon Stadium. The Eagles now stand at 7-16 overall and 4-5 in league play while the Knights move to 12-9-1 on the year and 5-4 in the NEC.
Game 1: Fairleigh Dickinson def. Coppin State, 7-4
Brett Curran went 5-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, becoming the 12th different Eagles player to record five hits in a single game. Jordan Hamberg also had a pair of hits while Sebastien Sarabia drove in a pair of runs with a base hit and a walk.
Brody Black matched Curran with two runs scored while going 1-for-3 with an RBI while also being hit by a pitch twice. Mike Dorcean was also hit by a pitch, breaking the school-record for times being hit by a pitch in their career.
Marcos Herrand took the loss, allowing seven runs while striking out five in 6.0 innings. Tim Ruffino faced the minimum nine batters in the final three innings, fanning three Knights.
Coppin led early in the game, scoring twice in the first on a sacrifice fly by Sarabia, followed by an RBI single from Dorcean.
After a scoreless second, Fairleigh Dickinson scored four times in the third before CSU got one of the runs back with an RBI single by Sarabia, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Black tied the score at 4-4 in the fourth, driving in Curran with a single to right field.
FDU retook the lead with two runs on three hits in the fifth before tacking on another in the sixth on a throwing error. Coppin stranded four runners over the final four innings, failing to capitalize and allowing the Knights to pick up the win.
Curran’s fifth hit of the game came at the start of the ninth inning with a single to right. He got into scoring position on a wild pitch before advancing to third on a single by Hamberg before a 6-4-3 double play ended the game.
Game 2: Coppin State def. Fairleigh Dickinson, 16-5
Josh Hankins went 3-for-4 with a four RBI, a run scored and a walk while Angel Colon and Jordan Hamberg both had a pair of hits. Hamberg also scored four times, doubled and drew four walks in the game while Liam McCallum drew three walks along with three runs and a pair of RBIs.
Hamberg helped his own cause as he also got the win on the mound, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four in 5.1 innings. Nico Felber gave up just one run while fanning three over the next 2.2 innings before Rashad Ruff finished the final inning.
FDU took an early lead with a double steal in the first, but the advantage was short-lived as Coppin scored five in its half of the inning. Brett Curran started it off with a single before Black was hit by a pitch and Hamberg drew his first walk. McCallum drove in the tying run with a single before Sam Nieves reached on an error, allowing three runs to score. Hankins drove in Nieves with a opposite field double to make it a 5-1 lead.
Hamberg held the Knights scoreless in the second and Sebastien Sarabia extended CSU’s lead with an RBI single to right, scoring Hamberg after he walked and stole second.
The Knights scored three in the sixth off Hamberg before Felber got the final two outs of the inning, keeping the score at 6-4.
Mike Dorcean was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, extending the lead to 7-4 as well as his school-record for being plunked by a pitch. Hankins then drove in both Hamberg and McCallum with a single to right to make it a 9-4 lead.
After FDU scored a run in the seventh, Coppin put the game out of reach with a seven-run bottom half despite recording just two hits. Four-straight walks, another Dorcean HBP and two more walks led to a two-run single by Colon.
Felber got a 1-2-3 eighth before Ruff retired the side in the ninth as Coppin picked up the victory.
Up Next
Coppin returns to action on Tuesday, March 28 when it makes the short trip to Towson for a 3:00 pm non-conference tilt.
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This article originally appeared in The Afro.
