By: Jake Miller
HARTSVILLE, S.C.- Coker baseball dropped its series opener with No. 22 Indianapolis 5-2 on Friday (Feb. 10).
Coker struck first in the bottom half of the first inning, with Brooks Estrada drawing a catcher's interference call with the bases loaded to score Bryson Conner from third. Indianapolis struck for two runs in the top half of the second, before Thomas Lopez would launch his second home run of the year over the left field fence to tie the game at two in the third.
Neither team would score again until the visitors scraped a third run across in the top of the sixth. Indy would score two more runs in the eighth inning to pad their lead, while holding Coker scoreless after the Lopez dinger.
Lopez finished the day 2-4 with a double along with his long ball. Three other Cobras tallied hits in the contest.
Darius Coldiron (2-1) turned in a strong performance on the mound, turning in six innings while allowing three earned runs on seven hits. The senior allowed one walk and punched out five. Griffin Hollifield made his fourth relief appearance of the season, tossing two innings. The side-winder allowed two hits and two unearned runs, while notching one strikeout. Brady Shuey also threw one inning of relief, notching one strikeout.
The two teams square off in game two of the series at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 11) at Tom J. New Field. Video and live stats will be available at www.cokercobras.com. Prior to the game at 11:15, the stadium will be dedicated in honor of legendary head coach and 2017 Coker Hall of Fame inductee Dave Schmotzer. Tickets for the game are $5 for adults, $3 for students and free to all Coker faculty, staff and students.