Box Score

Game One Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – With heavy thunderstorms threatening the area, the visiting Eagles of Coppin State University broke open a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a five-run flurry which propelled them to the series opening 8-5 win over North Carolina Central University on Saturday afternoon at the Durham Athletic Park.

CSU’s Alex Black knocked in the first run of the day in the second with a single through the right side which drove in teammate Derek Richard who left off the frame with a single of his own to take a 1-0 lead.

NCCU answered as senior Edward Pegues (Laurinburg, N.C.) reached on an error by Coppin State’s Jim Vagnier. Senior Blake Murray made it safely to first base and Pegues advanced to third when pitcher John Bergwall’s errant throw to second rolled into the outfield. Freshman Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) drove in his RBI No. 14 on the season with a sacrifice fly to centerfield scoring Pegues and knotting the game at 1 apiece.

The game went south for the host Eagles in the top of the third inning when a walk to CSU’s Craig Richmond was followed up by three straight hits including Derek Richards double down the left field line that cleared the bases and put CSU up 4-1. An infield error by NCCU scored Richards and Black drove in Chris Kashangaki to put the final touches on the inning. All in all, Coppin State scored five runs on three hits with the aid of one Eagle error and let 6-1 after three innings.

NCCU made its best move in the seventh inning when Marrow’s leadoff single was followed up by Carter Williamson’s (Roanoke, Va.) first career home run in a maroon and gray uniform to right center field, giving him a team-high 20 RBIs on the year and cutting the margin to 6-3. With one out, junior Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) came up to the plate and ripped a single to left field that turned into two more bases following an error by Coppin’s Jessie Savage. Pinch runner Alex Moore, III later scored on an RBI groundout by freshman Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) making it 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh.

Coppin State plated its final two runs in the top of the eighth inning on a Vagnier double that drove in Black, and an RBI single by Bergwall to put the clamps on NCCU’s chances to win game one taking an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

After keeping the visiting Eagles scoreless in the ninth, NCCU had one last chance to rally and certainly made it interesting with three hits including Williamson’s third hit of the day and Drayton’s sixth double of the season, but scored just one run and dropped the series opener 8-5 on Saturday afternoon.

The Diamond Eagles recorded 10 hits in the loss, but Williamson was the lone student-athlete to rip of three hits going 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored in the loss.

The weather forced Sunday’s schedule to change to a “Senior Day” doubleheader that will begin at 12:00 p.m. with the ceremony to honor the nine seniors beginning at approximately 11:45 a.m. at the Durham Athletic Park. Senior Drew Robinson (Carthage, N.C.) will start the first game of the day which is slated for nine innings and sophomore Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) will take the hill for final contest which is slated for seven innings.

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