JONESBORO, Ark. – Chicago State baseball team bounced back from an early 12-0 deficit, but it eventually fell to host Arkansas State by a score of 16-9 Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium & Kell Field. The Red Wolves improved to 15-18 on the year, while the Cougars' season record dropped to 3-31.
The home team took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior Guy Brown lined a single through the left side off CSU starting pitcher Scott Balcer (Palatine, IL/Harper College) (Palatine, Ill.) and scored a couple of plays later on an RBI single through the right side from sophomore Murray Watts.
Senior Derrick Coleman started the second inning with a leadoff double to left field and advanced to third on junior Kyle DeGrace's single before scoring on a double play that increased ASU's advantage to 2-0.
The Red Wolves scored five more runs off Balcer in the third inning to hike their lead to 7-0, highlighted by a three-run homer from Coleman to left field. Coleman struck again in the fourth inning with a run-scoring single down the right field line that scored sophomore Todd Baumgartner to hike the lead at 8-0.
ASU recorded four additional runs in the sixth inning which included a three-run homer by freshman Kevin Burgi to increase its leading margin to 12-0.
The Cougars got on the board in the seventh inning with a four-run rally, led by a two-run triple by senior Kellon McFarlin (Chicago, IL/Meramec CC) (Chicago, Ill.) to right center which sliced their deficit to 12-4.
A three-run homer by freshman Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) highlighted the top of the eighth as CSU closed within five runs at 12-7, but the home team scored four in the bottom of the eighth to increase its advantage to 16-7. Junior Derek Jones lined a pinch hit three-run triple to right field during the Red Wolves' rally.
In the ninth inning, the visitors scored two runs to close within 16-9 following a triple by senior Matt Haug (Plymouth, IN/Ancilla CC) (Plymouth, Ind.) that scored sophomore Michael Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) and senior Preston Pires (Waipahu, HI/Kalani HS) (Waipahu, Hawai'i), who reached base via singles for the final margin.
Watts paced ASU with a 4-for-5 day at the plate with three runs scored, two RBI and a pair of doubles. Coleman finished a perfect 3-for-3 while scoring four runs and drove in four runs. Sophomore Andy Ferguson (2-3) picked up the win for the Red Wolves as he allowed only four hits and recorded six strikeouts in six shutout innings.
CSU was led on the offensive end by Haug, who finished with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while Pires and senior Patrick Hernandez (Romeoville, IL/Triton CC) (Romeoville, Ill.) each contributed two hits and scored a run. Balcer (0-8) suffered the loss when he allowed seven runs on 10 hits over three innings of work in addition to walking two and striking out one.
Both teams will meet in the series finale Sunday afternoon with the first ptch set for 1 p.m. The game will be live on the internet at www.gocsucougars.com with Brian Snow calling the action.
~CSU~
