HOUSTON – The Chicago State baseball continued its Great West Conference weekend series at Houston Baptist as it dropped a doubleheader today by scores of 15-4 and 14-9 this afternoon at HBU’s Husky Field. The Cougars’ record fell to 2-38 (0-15), while the Huskies improve to 18-24 (8-7).
The visitors gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, Ill.) lined a one-out single and later scored on an RBI infield groundout by senior Patrick Hernandez (Romeoville, Ill.). Senior Jonathan Moore, and sophomores Robbie Bullner and Kolby Arnst each recorded an RBI double in the bottom of the first to help HBU take a 3-1 lead.
CSU sliced its deficit to 3-2 in the top of the second after redshirt sophomore Albert Carpen (Whiting, Ind.) plated sophomore Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, Ind.), who walked on the previous play, with a run-scoring double. Another three runs crossed the plate for the Huskies in the second inning that was highlighted by a solo home run by Moore and an RBI triple from Derek Smith to increase their leading margin to 6-2.
In the third inning, the home team plated six runs behind a two-RBI single by Zeke Zikeli to hike its advantage to 12-2. Zikeli struck again in the fourth inning with an RBI triple as part of a three-run rally as HBU’s margin jumped to 15-2.
McDowell hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to score junior Michael Carpen (Whiting, Ind.) from first base to pull CSU within 15-3 and senior Kevin Hussey (Pickering, Ont.) singled home freshman Christian Prince (Husdonville, Mich.) in the seventh inning to provide the final margin.
Prince paced Chicago State offensively by hitting 3-for-4 with a stolen base and scored once. McDowell went 2-for-4 with an RBI in addition to dropping to 0-8 on the mound after giving up 12 runs on 14 hits in three innings thrown.
Moore hit a perfect 4-of-4 at the plate while scoring four runs and drove in three runs. Zikeli finished the game with a 2-for-5 performance with three RBI and a triple. Junior Michael Schulle (3-5) captured the win for the Huskies after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
In the second game, the Cougars bounced back from a 12-4 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning to pull within 12-9, but the Huskies scored twice in the bottom half of the inning to gain a 14-9 win. Check back with www.gocsucougars.com for a full recap of the game.
The Cougars close out the weekend series at HBU tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
~CSU~