Cougars Earn Split in WAC Doubleheader against Grand Canyon

Eric Hall struck out three and allowed a run to help the Cougars split Saturday's WAC Doubleheader with Grand Canyon

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CHICAGO - Chicago State baseball opened a three-game Western Athletic Conference series against Grand Canyon with a doubleheader split today at Cougar Stadium. The Cougars captured a 3-1 win in the opener, while the Antelopes closed out the day with a 4-1 win in the nightcap.

The first game started off as a scoreless picthing duel between CSU's Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar) and GCU's Andrew Naderer over two and a half innings until the bottom of the third inning when the Cougars used a two-out rally to score a pair of runs for an early 2-0 lead. Senior Chase Matheson (McHenry, IL/McHenry) lined an RBI double down the left field line that scored fellow senior Jared Patterson. Matheson later scored on the next play after senior Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) singled through the left side.

The Green and White added a run in seventh inning to hike its lead to 3-0 when senior Robert Swenson (Mason City, Iowa/Mason City) led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a single to left center by fellow senior Quintin Alexander (Chicago, IL/Brooks).

Grand Canyon (15-13, 4-1 WAC) got on the board in the eighth inning after Paul Panaccione scored on a single by Brandon Smith after reaching base on a walk to provide the final margin.

Matheson, Romanin and Alexander each recorded a hit and drove in a run, while Hall improved his record to 2-3 after allowing just one run on seven hits and struck out three in eight strong innings. Senior Nick Kostalek (Huntley, IL/Huntley) tallied his second save of the season after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

Paul Panaccione hit 2-for-2 and scored a run to lead Grand Canyon offensively. Naderer (3-3) took the loss after giving up three runs on seven hits in seven innings of work to go along with striking out six batters.

The Antelopes started the second game with a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to an RBI single from Smith that brought home Chad De La Guerra, who reached base with a two-out triple.

CSU (7-18, 1-4 WAC) evened the score at 1-1 in the second inning after senior Evan Davis (Sterling, IL/Sterling) drew an RBI walk with the bases loaded to score fellow classmate Matt Schmidt (Dundee, IL/Jacobs), but GCU scored twice in the third inning to regain the lead at 3-1 after the third and later added a run in the seventh to seal the win.

Seven players recorded hits for the visitors in the second contest, and Coley Bruns struck out 10 CSu batters to hike his record to 4-1 on the year after allowing a run on five hits in a complete-game effort.

Freshman Cody Freund (McHenry, IL) hit 2-of-4 on the day for Chicago State. Sophomore Jake Perkins (Huntley, IL/Huntley) fell to 0-4 on the year after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five and one-third innings thrown. Junior Dillon Engle also struck out four in three and two-third innings of relief.

Both teams will conclude the series at Cougar Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Quintin Alexander: IF; 6' 2"; Senior; R-R

#28 Evan Davis: OF; 5' 11"; Senior; L-R

#24 Eric Hall: P; 5' 10"; Senior; R-R

#33 Nick Kostalek: P; 6' 1"; Senior; R-R

#22 Chase Matheson: IF; 6' 0"; Senior; R-R

#2 Mattingly Romanin: IF; 5' 10"; Senior; R-R

#20 Matt Schmidt: IF; 6' 1"; Senior; L-L

#6 Robert Swenson: C; 6' 2"; Senior; R-R

#27 Cody Freund: C; 5' 11"; Freshman; R-R

#31 Jake Perkins: P; 6' 1"; Sophomore; L-L

Players Mentioned

#13 Quintin Alexander
: 6' 2"; Senior; R-R
: IF

#28 Evan Davis
: 5' 11"; Senior; L-R
: OF

#24 Eric Hall
: 5' 10"; Senior; R-R
: P

#33 Nick Kostalek
: 6' 1"; Senior; R-R
: P

#22 Chase Matheson
: 6' 0"; Senior; R-R
: IF

#2 Mattingly Romanin
: 5' 10"; Senior; R-R
: IF

#20 Matt Schmidt
: 6' 1"; Senior; L-L
: IF

#6 Robert Swenson
: 6' 2"; Senior; R-R
: C

#27 Cody Freund
: 5' 11"; Freshman; R-R
: C

#31 Jake Perkins
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; L-L
: P

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned