CHICAGO - The Chicago State University baseball team bounced back from a pair of one-run deficits in its Great West Conference series opener this afternoon against visiting North Dakota at Brooks Field to en route to pulling out a thrilling 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
The win improved the Green and White's season record to 12-35 and 9-16 in conference play, and marked the first time this season with a winning streak of three games.
UND produced a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Jeffery Campbell lined an RBI single off CSU starting pitcher Dylan Sterrett (Chalmers, Ind./Frontier) (Chalmers, Ind.) to right center which scored Mark Bearmon, who led off the inning with a single.
The Green and White evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning after freshman Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) (Burlington, Ontario) posted an RBI single of his own that plated senior Shane McGaharan (Northwood, OH/Patrick Henry CC) (Northwood, Ohio) from second after he tallied a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch on the next play.
In the sixth inning, the Fighting Sioux recaptured the lead at 2-1 thanks to a run-scoring single from Kyle Bolander that brought home Campbell, who reached base via a leadoff single.
CSU responded in the seventh inning after senior Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) hit a two-out, RBI single to score fellow senior Ryan Malhotra (Oakville, ONT/Niagara County CC) (Oakville, Ontario) to even the score once again at 2-2.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the 10th when senior Jeremy Ratajczyk (Highland, IN/Indiana University Northwest) (Highland, Ind.) led off with a double to left center before coming out in favor of junior Jeremy Legania (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) (Chicago, Ill.) in a pinch running situation. Senior William Hill (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) (Wheaton, Ill.) became the hero as he lined an RBI walk-off single to left field to bring home Legania for the game-winning run.
Malhotra. Ratajczyk and Romanin each went 2-of-4 at the plate to pace Chicago State's 13-hit offensive output, while Hill and freshman Aveeno Nasiloski (Hammond, Ind./Gavit) (Hammond, Ind.) also added two hits on the day. Senior Steven O'Hair (Scottsdale, AZ/GateWay CC) (Scottsdale, Ariz.) improved his season record to 3-5 after allowing a hit and recording a strikeout in the 10th, while freshman Andrew Wellwerts (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) (Cedar Lake, Ind.) tallied three strikeouts and walked one in four scoreless relief innings.
Bearmon, Campbell and Kris Kwak led North Dakota with two hits, while Brett DeGagne (2-6) took the loss after allowing a run on two hits in 0.2 innings of relief. Kevin Auth produced eight strikeouts in 3.2 innings after relieving starter Andrew Thome in the sixth.
Both team return to action tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader at Brooks Field with a seven-inning game starting at 12 p.m., followed by a nine-inning game 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest. The Cougars and the Fighting Sioux conclude the series on Saturday afternoon with a single game at 12 p.m.
~CSU~
