Delaware State was three outs away from its first MEAC baseball championship in 33 years.

But Coppin State scored eight runs in the top of the ninth inning to claim its first title since 1995 with an 18-12 victory over the Hornets at Marty L. Miller Field Saturday afternoon.

Delaware State led 11-8 after seven innings and 11-10 after eight before the Eagles stormed back. Coppin State sent 14 batters to the plate in the top of the ninth.

The Hornets beat Coppin, 4-3, earlier on Saturday to force a second game for the conference title.

In the second game, Delaware State trailed 5-0 before scoring a run in the second and four in the fourth to tie the game. The Hornets then led for the first time, 6-5, on a single by Miguel Rivera (Polytech) in the fifth.

Trey Paige drove in a run on a sac fly later in the inning to give Delaware State a 7-5 lead.

After Coppin State put three on the board in the seventh to regain the lead, the Hornets answered with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning to lead by three.

Rivera, Paige and Krew Bouldin each singled in seventh-inning runs and Brady Daniels drove in one on a sac fly to put the Hornets ahead 11-8.

Alan Alonso was 2-for-5 with four RBI, while Rivera (3-for-5), Paige (2-for-5), Bouldin and Daniels drove in two runs each.

Delaware State was making its first MEAC Tournament finals appearance since 2012, and third under head coach J.P. Blandin.

In the first game, Evan Harris pitched a nine-inning complete game, tying his career-high with 11 strikeouts,

Alonso, Bouldin, Harris and catcher Robert Trujillo were named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team.

Northeastern 8, Delaware 1: The Huskies erupted for seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and earn the final spot in the CAA Tournament.

The Blue Hens needed to win all three games in the weekend series to make the tourney but only took two of three to finish the year at 25-26.

The loss also ends the career of UD head coach Jim Sherman, who announced before the season that he’d be retiring at the end of it.

“We played really good baseball for 26 of 27 innings this series, but the eighth inning today was the difference,” said Sherman.

“I feel bad for our group because I thought they were deserving of being in the playoffs. We had some tough games in other series that we lost, but I respect them and will always remember that they could have thrown in the towel after last weekend.

“But they really battled, and it meant something to them, and to Delaware baseball, and to me and Coach (Dan) Hammer personally, that there was no quit in this group. So that’s something I’m proud of.”

Mike Biasiello, making his first start of the season for the Blue Hens, retired the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a pair of doubles in the fifth.

Biasiello was outstanding in his final game as a Blue Hen, allowing just one run on three hits in six innings. He was one of seven players honored in a Senior Day pregame ceremony along with Jordan Hutchins (Dover), John Weglarz, Matt Kennedy, Jose Ledesma, Austin Colmery and Chris Ludman.