CSU beats Windy City Rival UIC, 7-6

Box Score CHICAGO, IL- Chicago State (3-11, 0-0 WAC) ended their losing streak by beating the Flames of University Illinois-Chicago (2-8-1) 7 to 6.

Cougars started the second inning hot with three straight hits with a single by Chase Matheson (McHenry, IL/McHenry) to the left side of field and advance to third by Chris Hipchen (Geneva, IL) single to left field. Cody Freund (McHenry, IL), who had a great performance going 3 for 4 earned his first RBI of the game when he hit a single up the middle. Sanford Hunt (Chicago, IL/Kenwood) hit in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Chris Hipchen (Geneva, IL) from third.

The Flames took the lead in the fourth with Jeff Boehn started the inning with a single then later scored off a Cody Bohanek single. With Boehanek and Ricardo Ramirez on the base path, David Cronin hit triple that lead them around the bases and give the Flames a 3-2 lead. 

The sixth inning was key for the Cougars as they took over the lead from the Flames. ,With a single to the right side of the field from Jared Patterson (Ventura, Calif./Buena), that allowed Hunt to score. The Cougars took advantage of the Flames getting the ball into the infield and scoring Julian Russell (Chicago, IL/Gordon Tech) on a error. The Cougars added one more run with Evan Davis (Sterling, IL/Sterling) single to the right side that scored Patterson, making it 5-3 after six. 

With the power of the bats in the eighth, the Cougars added couple more runs by Freund and Russell that put the game out of reach for the Flames.

The Flames put pressure on the Cougars in the bottom of the ninth when Cronin hit a double down the line that scored Ramirez. UIC added couple more runs with a fielder's choice by Carl Sugiharar that scored Bohanek from third and then a single that scored Cronin. With the strong closing bullpen of the Cougars ended the game with fly out to center field. 

Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar) earned his first win of the season going strong 8.1 innings, with eight hits, six runs, and one walk. Dillion Engle (Milwaukee, WI/Nathan Hale) came in the ninth and earned his first save of the season. 

Chicago State has this season home opener at Cougar Field on Friday, March 13, at 2pm vs University of Albany.