GLEN BURNIE, Md. - The Coppin State Eagles drove in the
go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to earn the 5-4 win over the George
Mason baseball team on Wednesday afternoon at Bachman Field. The Patriots put a
baserunner on in each inning, but stranded 13 along the way while dropping to 28-16
overall.
With the game knotted at 3-3 in the top of the eighth,
junior second baseman Chris Cook hit a leadoff double to right, advanced to
third on a wild pitch and gave the Patriots the lead as he crossed home plate
on a sacrifice fly from senior shortstop Brig Tison to put the Patriots up,
4-3.
The Eagles wouldn't go away, as Coppin loaded the bases in
the home half of the eighth to see a run walk in to tie the game and John Walls
drive in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right field for the final 5-4
margin.
Mason struck first in the top of the second inning, as
sophomore first baseman Mick Foley led off with a hard hit triple deep to
center field and came home on a wild pitch to go up, 1-0. Redshirt sophomore outfielder
Josh Leemhuis followed with a double to center and scored on an RBI double by
freshman catcher Ray Toto, extending the lead to 2-0. Junior outfielder Nick
Allen drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to put Mason
ahead, 3-0.
Coppin State chipped away at the Mason lead, bringing in a
single run in the bottom half of the second, third and fifth innings to tie the
game at 3-3 and set up the eighth-inning dramatics.
Fernandez led the Patriots with a 2-for-4 performance at the
plate, while Allen, Tison and Toto accounted for three of the Mason runs
scored.
The Mason pitching staff used six different pitchers on the
day, as sophomore Neight Hoffa (0-2) was charged with the loss after throwing
1.1 innings of relief and giving up two earned runs on two hits.
Coppin State's Myles Taylor earned the win after coming on
in relief and working 4.2 innings with one earned run scoring on two hits.
The win is the first for Coppin (1-38) in nearly a year,
since they defeated Florida A&M on April 30 of last season.
The Patriots return to CAA action this weekend, traveling to
face JMU in Harrisonburg.
