OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Chicago State baseball kicked off inaugural Great West Conference play here this afternoon with a 4-2 loss to host NYIT at President's Field. The Bears improved to 7-12 (1-0) and the Cougars fell to 1-19 (0-1) on the year.
Redshirt sophomore Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) and junior Preston Wasmund battled in a pitcher's duel for the first four innings until the fifth inning when sophomore Matthew Carr lined an RBI single to right center that scored sophomore Ryan Campbell from second to give the home team a 1-0 advantage.
The Bears added two more runs in the sixth inning to hike its leading margin to 3-0 thanks to an RBI double from junior Effery Valdez and an RBI sacrifice fly from junior Jerry Smith. Freshman Ari Rodriguez lined a run-scoring infield single in the seventh inning that plated senior Greg Gilroy as NYIT brought its lead to 4-0.
CSU got on the board in the eighth inning as junior Miguel Camacho (Chicago, IL/Oakton CC) (Chicago, Ill.) hit his first home run as a Cougar with a two-run shot to right field which also scored senior Kellon McFarlin (Chicago, IL/Meramec CC) (Chicago, Ill.) that cut the Bears' lead to 4-2, but senior Mike Roth pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save for the home team.
Junior Michael Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) went 2-of-4 at the plate to lead Chicago State, while Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (0-1) took the loss on the mound after allowing three runs on eight hits in five and two-thirds innings of work.
Valdez paced NYIT by hitting 3-of-4 on the day with a double. Wasmund (3-0) allowed two runs on six hits in eight innings thrown to earn the win.
Both teams head back to compete in a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at President's Field with a start time of 12 p.m., Eastern Time.
~CSU~
