GREELEY, Colo. – Chicago State baseball kicked off its final Great West Conference series of the season here today with a 10-1 loss to host Northern Colorado at Jackson Field. The Bears improved to 29-22 (19-6) with the win and the Cougars dropped to 4-46 (2-23) on the year.
The visitors got on the board with a 1-0 lead in the second inning when senior Kevin Hussey (Pickering, ON/Olney Central College) (Pickerington, Ont.) lined an RBI single to right center that brought home junior Billy Les (Oak Lawn, IL/South Suburban College) (Oak Lawn, Ill.), who reached base on a two-out double down the right field line.
UNC came back to score twice in the third inning behind RBI singles from senior Tyler Borzileri and junior TJ Berge to claim a 2-1 advantage. Borzileri struck again in the sixth inning when he lined an RBI sacrifice fly to center field that scored sophomore Tony Crudo to increase the Bears' leading margin at 3-1.
The home team added five more runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by Borzileri's two-RBI single, to hike its lead to 8-1. Freshman Harrison Lambert closed the scoring in the eighth inning with a two-run home run to left field for the final margin.
Les paced Chicago State offensively by hitting 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and scored a run. Sophomore Gregory Day (East Chicago, IN/East Chicago Central) (East Chicago, Ind.) took the loss despite allowing two runs on eight hits in five innings of work in addition to holding the Bears scoreless in four of those innings.
Northern Colorado was led by Borzileri's 3-for-4 effort with three RBI and scored twice, while Berge finished 2-for-4 and drove in three runs. Junior Joe Sawicki (9-2) captured the win on the mound for the Bears after giving up a run on seven hits and struck out three in seven innings thrown.
The Cougars return to action tomorrow afternoon with a conference doubleheader against UNC with a start time of 12 p.m., Mountain Time.
~CSU~
