Hornets Defeat Lehigh In Home Opener

Dover, Del. (Mar. 2, 2011) --- Delaware State had 13 hits and freshman Tommy Dill pitched five solid innings to lead the Hornets to an 11-6 win over Lehigh at Soldier Field this afternoon.

DSU led 10-0 after four innings and held on to improve to 2-5 this season. The Mountain Hawks fell to 2-2.

Freshman Aaron Nardone was 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs batted in, and Joey Babuca smacked a three-run homer to lead the Delaware State attack. Cameron Cecil, Ryan Haas and Scott Davis had two hits each for the Hornets.

DSU opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. The rally began with two outs and the bases empty when Cecil reached on an infield single. Nardone followed with a single to right. Babuca then launched a drive over the fence in left center to give the Hornets a 3-0 lead. The home run was DSU's first of the season.

Delaware State opened up a 4-0 lead when Davis doubled to lead off the fourth and came around to score on a one-out single by Haas.

The Hornets scored six runs in the fourth to blow the game open. Nardone led off the fourth with his first collegiate homer and also singled in a run in the inning. Trey DeRouen also doubled in two fourth inning runs.

Delaware State added a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Tony Gatto to open up an 11-4 lead.

Dill, a Polytech High School (Del.) product, allowed a run on two hits in five innings to earn his first college win. He struck out four and walked one before leaving the game with a 10-1 lead.

Starter Mike Lebo suffered the loss for Lehigh. Lebo was touched up for eight runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings to fall to 0-2 on the season.
The Hornets return to action on Friday with the first of a three-game series against Buffalo at Soldier Field. Game time is 2:30 p.m. The teams will also play single games on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day.

For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com

Eagles Rally For First Victory Of The Season

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Zach Spahn delivered a bases-loaded double in the eighth inning that scored three runs as Coppin State rallied past Navy 13-11 for its first victory of the season on Wednesday at Max Bishop Stadium.

The Eagles were trailing 11-10 when Spahn ripped a game-winning double to center that plated three runs and capped a furious CSU comeback.

The Eagles trailed 8-0 after two innings and 11-3 after three innings, but scored six runs in the top of the seventh and four times in the top of the eighth inning to secure the first career victory for first-year CSU head coach Sherman Reed.

Spahn finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI, while Jesse Savage was 3-for-6 with five runs driven in to pace the Eagle offense.

Derek Richards and John Bergwall combined to blank Navy over the final six innings. Richards allowed only two hits in four innings of work to pick up the victory, while Bergwall notched a save after allowing only one hit in the final two innings.

Coppin State (1-5) had 13 hits on the day led by Savage and Spahn. Ricky Ferri had three hits and scored two runs, while Craig Richmond, Chris Kashangaki, Richards, Alex Black and Bergwall each picked up base hits.

After falling behind 8-0, Coppin State scored three times in the top of the third inning. Spahn led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Richmond drew a one-out walk and Ferri loaded the bases with a single to right field. Kashangaki brought in the Eagles first run with an RBI groundout that scored Spahn. After Richards walked, Savage singled to left that scored Ferri and Richmond and cut the Midshipmen lead to 8-3.

Navy responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring three more times to take an 11-3 lead.

The Eagles then exploded for six runs in the top of the seventh to get back into the game.

Ferri singled to start the inning and moved to second when Kashangaki walked. Richards then singled to left, which loaded the bases with no outs. Savage followed with a bases-clearing triple to right field that scored Ferri, Kashangaki and Richards and cut the Navy lead to 11-6.

Black then singled up the middle to score Savage with the Eagles fourth run of the inning. With one out, Spahn doubled to right center scoring Black and cutting the lead to 11-8. Richmond later brought in the Eagles final run of the frame with a sacrifice fly that scored Spahn and trimmed the lead to 11-9.

After a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning for Navy, Coppin State got right back to work in the top of the eighth inning.

Kashangaki led off the inning with an infield single. With one out, Savage singled and Black drew a walk to load the bases. Andrew Kiessling walked, which forced in Kashangaki and brought the Eagles to within 11-10.

Spahn then delivered his game-winning hit to center that gave the Eagles a 13-11 lead.

Bergwall then relieved Richards in the bottom of the eighth and retired the side in order. He then worked out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

With one out, Jeff Bland drew a walk but Bergwall retired Andrew Hahn on a fly ball to left field. Nick Driscoll doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Bergwall struck out Alex Azor swinging to end the game.

For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com