HOUSTON – The Chicago State baseball continued its Great West Conference weekend series at Houston Baptist as it dropped a doubleheader today by scores of 15-4 and 14-9 this afternoon at HBU's Husky Field. The Cougars' record fell to 2-38 (0-15), while the Huskies improve to 18-24 (8-7).
The visitors gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior Austin McDowell (Coal City, IL/Olney Central College) (Coal City, Ill.) lined a one-out single and later scored on an RBI infield groundout by senior Patrick Hernandez (Romeoville, IL/Triton CC) (Romeoville, Ill.). Senior Jonathan Moore, and sophomores Robbie Bullner and Kolby Arnst each recorded an RBI double in the bottom of the first to help HBU take a 3-1 lead.
CSU sliced its deficit to 3-2 in the top of the second after redshirt sophomore Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) plated sophomore Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.), who walked on the previous play, with a run-scoring double. Another three runs crossed the plate for the Huskies in the second inning that was highlighted by a solo home run by Moore and an RBI triple from Derek Smith to increase their leading margin to 6-2.
In the third inning, the home team plated six runs behind a two-RBI single by Zeke Zikeli to hike its advantage to 12-2. Zikeli struck again in the fourth inning with an RBI triple as part of a three-run rally as HBU's margin jumped to 15-2.
McDowell hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to score junior Michael Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) from first base to pull CSU within 15-3 and senior Kevin Hussey (Pickering, ON/Olney Central College) (Pickering, Ont.) singled home freshman Christian Prince (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) (Husdonville, Mich.) in the seventh inning to provide the final margin.
Prince paced Chicago State offensively by hitting 3-for-4 with a stolen base and scored once. McDowell went 2-for-4 with an RBI in addition to dropping to 0-8 on the mound after giving up 12 runs on 14 hits in three innings thrown.
Moore hit a perfect 4-of-4 at the plate while scoring four runs and drove in three runs. Zikeli finished the game with a 2-for-5 performance with three RBI and a triple. Junior Michael Schulle (3-5) captured the win for the Huskies after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
In the second game, the Cougars bounced back from a 12-4 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning to pull within 12-9, but the Huskies scored twice in the bottom half of the inning to gain a 14-9 win. Check back with www.gocsucougars.com for a full recap of the game.
The Cougars close out the weekend series at HBU tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
~CSU~
