CHICAGO – Senior Kevin Hussey (Pickering, ON/Olney Central College) (Pickering, Ont.) hit 3-of-5 at the plate and drove in a run, but host Chicago State completed its Great West Conference weekend series today with a 9-6 loss to NJIT at Olive-Harvey College. The Highlanders improved to 9-23 (5-3) with the win, while the Cougars dropped to 1-28 (0-8) on the year.
The home team opened the scoring in the first inning when freshman Christian Prince (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) (Hudsonville, Mich.) drove home senior Kellon McFarlin (Chicago, IL/Meramec CC) (Chicago, Ill.), who led off with a walk and stole third base, to capture a 1-0 lead.
NJIT evened the score at 1-1 in the second inning when freshman Jeff Peterson lined a single to left field which scored sophomore Vincent Del Vecchio from third after he reached base via a one-out double.
In the fifth inning, McFarlin led off with a single through the right side while stealing both second and third before crossing home plate on a single from senior Patrick Hernandez (Romeoville, IL/Triton CC) (Romeoville, Ill.) that gave the Cougars a 2-1 advantage.
The Highlanders scored four runs off CSU starter Dayton Dalman (Nashville, IL/Nashville) (Nashville, Ill.) in the top of the sixth, highlighted by a two-run home run by junior James D'Aloia to left field, to reclaim the lead at 4-2. The Cougars received an RBI single from junior Billy Les (Oak Lawn, IL/South Suburban College) (Oak Lawn, Ill.) and a run-scoring single from Hussey in the bottom of the sixth to even the score at 4-4.
Four more runs crossed the plate which helped the visiting team gain an 8-4 lead in the top of the seventh that included an RBI single from junior Matt Tomczyk, and RBI walks from Del Vecchio and sophomore Jeff Pizzi. The Cougars scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the seventh thanks to an RBI double from Les which scored junior Miguel Camacho (Chicago, IL/Oakton CC) (Chicago, Ill.) and Les later scored on a NJIT error to slice their deficit to 8-6.
Peterson led off the ninth with a ground-rule double to right field before scoring on a freshman Teddy Bickert's single to right center that closed the scoring.
McFarlin went 2-of-4 with a game-high three stolen bases and scored twice, while Les hit 2-of-3 with two RBI and scored twice. Camacho also hit 2-of-4 and scored two runs, and senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, IL/Olney Central College) (Coal City, Ill.) also recorded two hits for CSU. Dalman (0-3) recorded three strikeouts in six innings thrown despite allowing eight runs on nine hits, while McDowell gave up only one run in three relief innings.
NJIT was led offensively by Peterson's 4-of-5 effort at the plate with a double and two RBI, and Del Vecchio went 2-of-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Junior Steven Ace (1-2) gained the win after allowing two runs (one earned) in one and one-third innings of relief with two strikeouts, while freshman Austin McAuliffe threw two and one-thirds innings of scoreless relief and struck out three to earn the save.
CSU returns to action this Tuesday afternoon at Olive-Harvey College with its final non-conference home game of the season against Purdue. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m.
~CSU~
