OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Senior Patrick Hernandez (Chicago, Ill.) went 2-of-3 with a double and an RBI, but Chicago State (1-22, 0-4) dropped its Great West Conference-opening series finale against host NYIT (10-12, 4-0) by a score of 20-3 Sunday afternoon at President’s Field.
The home team struck first with three runs in the first inning off CSU starter Dayton Dalman (Nashville, Ill.), including a two-run homer from junior Jerry Smith to gain a 3-0 advantage. The Bears added six more runs in the second inning , including a two-run home run from senior Brian Smith and three-RBI double by sophomore Ryan Campbell that increased their lead to 9-0.
CSU scored its first run of the game in the top of the third when junior Miguel Camacho (Chicago, Ill.) hit his third home run of the series to right field off NYIT starting pitcher Tom Cardona to cut the home team’s lead to 9-1. An RBI single by senior Christian Dienna brought home Brian Smith to hike NYIT’s leading margin to 10-1 in the bottom of the third. Freshman Ari Rodriguez blasted a two-RBI single in the fourth inning as the Bears saw their lead move to 12-1.
Hernandez singled home Camacho from third in the top of the fifth to pull CSU within 12-2. The Bears scored eight more runs over the fifth and sixth innings to increase their leading margin to 20-2 before senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, Ill.) lined an RBI single to right field in the seventh inning that scored senior Scott Balcer (Palatine, Ill.) from second for the final tally.
McDowell hit 2-of-4 and drove in a run for the Cougars, while Dalman (0-3) took the loss after giving up nine runs on eight hits in one and two-thirds innings of work.
Grazziani led NYIT by hitting a perfect 4-of-4 with three RBI and scored three times, while Brian Smith finished with a 4-of-5 effort offensively in addition to scoring four runs and driving in two. Cardona (1-2) captured the win for the Bears by recording two strikeouts and allowing two runs on two hits in five innings thrown.
CSU returns to the Midwest for a non-conference matchup Tuesday evening at Notre Dame with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m., Eastern Time.
~CSU~