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NEWARK, N.J. – After back-to-back victories in the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament, eighth seeded Chicago State baseball suffered an 11-7 defeat to top seeded Northern Colorado on Friday (May 24) afternoon. The loss eliminates Chicago State from the GWC Tournament.
“To win two games and beat some teams we hadn't beaten all year is a really good thing,” Chicago State head coach
Steve Joslyn said. “We had great senior leadership from both Jim Tucker and Eric O'Brien. Both guys sacrificed to keep the smallest DI squad in America out there and competing.”
Northern Colorado starting pitcher and three-spot hitter Nick Miller opened the scoring with a two-out solo home run in the first inning. Miller returned to the plate in the third inning to line a triple to left center field to score a run. Colby Harrison then followed with a home run to right field, near where Miller's went over the wall in the first inning, to make it 4-0.
The Cougars scored a run in the bottom of the third thanks to a bases loaded walk by sophomore
Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame). Chicago State had two more at-bats with the bases loaded but Northern Colorado got out of the inning by working back-to-back strikeouts.
The Bears added two more runs in the fourth to grab a 6-1 advantage on a two-out 2-RBI single by GWC Player of the Year Jensen Park with the bases loaded.
Despite the five-run deficit the Cougars weren't finished yet. In the fifth Romanin doubled in O'Brien from first. Junior
Dylan Sterrett (Chalmers, Ind./Frontier) followed with a single to score O'Brien. In the sixth O'Brien smacked a hard hit ball to short that got by the shortstop and scored a pair of runners.
However Northern Colorado pulled away with three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Miller (5-4) earned the win for the Bears after 5.1 innings of work. At the plate he was 4-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored.
Sophomore
Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar) picked up the loss for Chicago State. His record falls to 2-12. He allowed six runs (four earned) in 3.2 innings. Sophomore
Jerry Silva (Chicago, Ill./Holy Trinity) pitched the final 5.1 innings.
Freshman
Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) and Romanin both scored in the eighth to close out the scoring and make the final 11-7. The Cougars had more chances to score but left 12 men on base in the contest.
Romanin finished with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Freshman
William Munoz (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) had two hits and a run scored. Junior
Dylan Sterrett (Chalmers, Ind./Frontier) recorded two hits and an RBI.
“To play the best baseball at the end of the year is what every coach wants,” Joslyn said. “That's a tribute to (the players). They could have given up with the way the season had gone but they didn't so I'm very proud of these kids.”
Northern Colorado improves to 32-23. The Bears will play North Dakota on Friday evening for the right to go to the 2013 GWC Championship.
The Cougars conclude the season 10-45. The pitching staff's 5.99 season ERA stands as the lowest for a Chicago State team since 1994's 5.45 mark.
Friday's contest is the last event in any sport for the Cougars as a member of the Great West Conference. Chicago State will be an all-sport member in the Western Athletic Conference next season.
