Delaware State Tops Coppin State, 23-0

DOVER, Del. -- Ryan Haas had two hits and drove in four runs and three Delaware State pitchers combined to shutout Coppin State as the Hornets defeated the Eagles 23-0 in the opener of a three-game series on Friday at Soldier Field.

The Hornets (27-14-1, 15-1 MEAC) held a 7-0 lead after four innings, but then exploded for 14 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jordan Elliott went 6.0 innings and allowed five hits and struck out nine batters to improve to 8-2 on the season. Tommy Dill pitched two thirds of an inning and Zach Candelord recorded the final out of the seventh inning.

Scott Davis, Aaron Nardone, Tony Gatto and Peter Broehl each added two RBI for Delaware State as the Hornets pounded out 17 hits on the day.

Coppin State (1-39, 0-15 MEAC) was coming off of its first victory of the season on Wednesday, but couldn't get untracked against the Hornets.

Mike Wright, Jesse Savage, Ian Arciaga, Jordan Ellis and Dawan Smith all picked up base hits for the Eagles.

For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com or www.coppinstatesports.com

Hawks Defeated By Longwood 7-1

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Hawks were not able to crack Matt Gwaltney as UMES was defeated 7-1 in the series opener against Longwood.  UMES falls to 9-33 while the Lancers go to 22-18.

The starting pitchers, Matt Gwaltney (1-4) for Longwood and Matt Witte (Westminster, Md.) (1-7) for UMES, went through the first inning without allowing a hit.

In the bottom of the second, Brandon Delk led off with a single.  Joey Varaksa followed with a line drive double down the left field line, scoring Delk.  Two batters later, a Travis Biddix ground out to short scored Varaska to give the Lancers a 2-0 lead.

Witte  (1-7) got out of a third inning jam with first and second and one out, inducing a fielder's choice and a fly out to end the frame with no damage.

But in the bottom of the fourth, Conner Hall singled to left to bring home Gwaltney from second to put Longwood up by three.  The home team added another score in the next inning off a Robby Newman RBI single for a 4-0 advantage.

Longwood put two more on the board off a Scott Burkett double, scoring Travis Biddix and Gwaltney, to go up 6-0.

UMES finally broke through in the top of the eighth.  Joshua James reached first on a dropped third strike.  Two batters later, Stephen Bull doubled to the left-center gap, scoring James to pull UMES closer at 6-1 Longwood.

But the Lancers held their lead, adding a run in the bottom of the eighth off a Matt Dickason RBI single to give Longwood a 7-1 lead, the eventual final score.

Gwaltney got the complete game victory, striking out 11 with one run allowed.

The loss went to Witte, pitching six innings with six runs charged and four strikeouts.  Zachary Saca pitched the seventh and eighth, striking out one with one run allowed.

For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com

Bethune-Cookman Holds Off North Carolina A&T, 7-5, on ESPNU

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Wildcats earned the win over the North Carolina A&T Aggies on ESPNU, Friday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium, pushing past an early Aggie lead, and later tie, with three straight scoring innings on a solid situational hitting approach and aggressive base running in the 7-5 win.

Scoring in the first frame, B-CU lit up the board with an RBI single by David Lee up the middle, but the Aggies responded in kind and more, taking advantage of back-to-back singles, and capped off with a sacrifice fly to take the early 2-1 lead.

B-CU gained the upper hand in the fourth, as Jake Welch's RBI single to left field set off a three-run frame for the Wildcats. Brandon Turner and Lee added a pair of RBI singles to go up by two.

 Like the first series, NCAT remained tight with B-CU, playing a scoring the scoring game like a dog chasing a cat. The Aggies responded with a two-run set to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two unearned runs on an error play.

Over the next two frames, B-CU pushed out on top, scoring on a Jairo Acevedo double down the left line in the fifth, while Josh Johnson scored on an error play in the sixth, all while holding A&T without a hit through the two innings.

Each team allowed just one more run, as the Aggies cut the deficit to one in the eighth on Dairio Little's theft of home plate, but the 'Cats responded in the top of the ninth as Juan Pizarro's sacrifice fly brought Brashad Johnson home to take a 7-5 lead; upheld by Jordan Dailey's eighth save of the year, allowing no hits with one strikeout.

 B-CU and MEAC leader, Rayan Gonzalez (7-0) pitched five innings for the win, remaining perfect on the year with three strikeouts. In the sixth, he gave way to middle reliever Acevedo, who also struck out three, giving just two hits before handing off to Dailey for the close.

B-CU also hit the base path heavy, collecting seven steals as a team against the Aggies.

For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.ncataggies.com