EDINBURG, Texas (May 28, 2010) – Chicago State baseball (4-52) took to the field for the final time this season here today as it closed pool play at the inaugural Great West Conference Tournament, hosted by Texas-Pan American, with an 8-2 loss to North Dakota (19-35) at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
In the first inning, junior Josh Ray belted a two-run home run off CSU sophomore starter James Tucker (Gary, Ind.) to left field to give UND a 2-0 advantage.
CSU came back in the bottom half of the first to even the score at 2-2. Senior Patrick Hernandez (Romeoville, Ill.) drew an RBI hit-by-pitch that scored fellow senior Kellon McFarlin (Chicago, Ill.) from third after McFarlin lined a leadoff single through the left side to open the inning. Junior Billy Les (Oak Lawn, Ill.) followed that by bringing home senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, Ill.) via an RBI sacrifice fly to left center.
The Fighting Sioux regained the lead at 3-2 in the third inning when freshman Kris Kwak lined an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to score junior Josh Lagein from third after Lagein posted a triple to left center on the previous play.
Two more runs crossed the plate for UND in the fourth inning as it increased its leading margin to 5-2. Senior Andrew Gudmunson hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Ray after he reached base with a double to the left field wall. Gudmunson later scored on senior Josh Nelson’s RBI sacrifice fly to center field.
Lagein and Kwak recorded RBI singles in the seventh inning the helped the Fighting Sioux hike their lead at 7-2. UND finished the scoring in the eighth as Gudmunson hit an RBI single up the middle that scored Ray, who began the stanza with a double to left field.
Chicago State was led on the offensive end by freshman Christian Prince (Hudsonville, Mich.), who went 2-for-3 at the plate. McFarlin hit 1-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base while joining fellow seniors Hernandez, McDowell, Kevin Hussey (Pickerington, Ont.) and Scott Balcer (Palatine, Ill.) in playing their final collegiate game. Tucker (1-8) recorded three strikeouts and walked two in seven innings thrown, but allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits on the day.
Ray went 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored three runs to lead North Dakota. Gudmunson and Lagein each hit 2-for-4 and combined to drive in three runs and score three times. Junior Derek Biemaier (4-7) gave up two runs on three hits in six and two-thirds innings of work to capture the win for the Fighting Sioux.
~CSU~