OREM, Utah - Chicago State University baseball closed out its 2012 slate here this afternoon after dropping an 8-4 decision to Houston Baptist in an elimination game of the Great West Tournament at Brent Brown Ballpark.
The visitors opened the scoring in the first inning when Jake Gonzalez lined an RBI single to right field off CSU starter Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar) (Oakville, Ontario) which brought home Kolby Arnst for a 1-0 advantage.
A double from senior Ryan Malhotra (Oakville, ONT/Niagara County CC) (Oakville, Ontario) to left center in the second inning plated fellow senior Jack Bobillo (Michigan City, IN/Kalamazoo Valley CC) (Michigan City, Ind.) from first base to put the Cougars (13-40) on the board and tie the score at 1-1. Senior Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) gave the home team a 2-1 lead by blasting an RBI single to left field off Huskie starting pitcher Tyler Hoelscher on the next play to bring home Malhotra.
HBU took advantage of a pair of CSU errors to bring home two runs and recapture the lead at 3-2. Josh Foust opened the stanza by reaching on a fielding error and later scored after Jake Gonzalez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Two plays later, Samm Wiggins hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center field which scored Kolby Arnst.
The Huskies (26-32) added five additional runs in the seventh inning to hike their leading margin at 8-2 that which included a two-RBI double from Arnst to go along with RBI singles from Jake Gonzalez and Wiggins. CSU sliced its deficit to 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh when senior Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) (Whiting, Ind.) lined an RBI single through the right side to score Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) from second.
The Carpens struck again in the ninth inning as Albert connected with a leadoff single to center field in his final collegiate at-bat and scored two plays later when Jonathan hit an RBI single through the left side for the final margin.
Albert Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) led Chicago State's 15-hit attack after going 4-of-5 with an RBI and scored twice, while Jonathan Carpen (Whiting, IN/Clark) hit 3-of-4 and drove in two runs. Malhotra went 2-of-3 at the plate and fellow senior William Hill (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) (Wheaton, Ill.) hit 2-of-4 with a stolen base for the Green and White. Hall (1-6) allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits in six innings thrown to take the loss for CSU. Senior Steven O'Hair (Scottsdale, AZ/GateWay CC) (Scottsdale, Ariz.) finished the game by giving up a hit and recording a strikeout in 2.1 relief innings.
Gonzalez paced Houston Baptist's offensive output by producing a 3-of-4 effort and drove in three runs, while David Pfuntner hit 2-of-4 and scored a run. Hoelscher (5-4) captured the win for the Huskies by posting four strikeouts in eight innings of work despite allowing 13 hits and three runs.
~CSU~
