CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Chicago State baseball concluded the first month of the season here tonight as host Illinois posted an 18-2 non-conference victory at Illinois Field. The Cougars fell to 1-13 on the year, while the Fighting Illini evened their season record to 9-9.
Illinois jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks to seven hits which included a two-run double by senior Craig Lutes. Casey McMurray and Josh Parr also recorded RBI singles during the stanza.
An additional four runs crossed the plate in the second inning for the home team as it increased its lead to 9-0 behind a two-run home run from senior Aaron Johnson to left field.
CSU got on the board in the third inning when senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, IL/Olney Central College) (Coal City, Ill.) hit a leadoff single to right field and stole second before scoring on an RBI walk by senior Kellon McFarlin (Chicago, IL/Meramec CC) (Chicago, Ill.) to cut the Illini's lead at 9-1.
Freshman Brandon Hohl opened the fourth inning with a triple before later scoring on a CSU error to increase UI's advantage to 10-1. The Fighting Illini added two more runs in the fifth inning to increase their lead 12-1, while Capetta drove home another score in the sixth inning with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field that plated Adam Davis for a 13-1 UI lead.
The visitors scored again in the top of the eighth when freshman Christian Prince (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) (Hudsonville, Mich.) reached base on a throwing error and later scored on junior Michael Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark)'s (Whiting, Ind.) single to close within 13-2. The Fighting Illini added five more runs in bottom half of the eighth, highlighted by a two-run homer from redshirt freshman Doug Schumacher to provide the final margin.
Michael Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) paced Chicago State with a 3-of-5 offensive effort at the plate and drove in a run. McDowell hit 2-of-4 and posted a stolen base, while falling to 0-4 on the mound after allowing five runs on seven hits in an inning thrown. Redshirt sophomore Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) hit 2-of-2 on the day and senior Scott Balcer (Palatine, IL/Harper College) (Palatine, Ill.) threw a scoreless relief inning in the seventh.
Five Illinois players recorded two hits in the game, led by Johnson (2-of-3, three RBI) and McMurray (2-of-3, three runs scored). Freshman Matt Milroy (1-0) gave up only one run on five hits to go along five strikeouts in five innings of work to earn the win.
The Cougars head back to Indiana this weekend open a three-game series at former Mid-Continent Conference foe Valparaiso beginning Friday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. from VU's Emory G. Bauer Field.
~CSU~
