Cougars' 10 Runs Not Enough In Loss To Omaha

Box Score PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Despite scoring 10 runs and having 16 hits, the Chicago State Cougars fell to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks 13-10 at the Snow Bird Classic on Friday (Feb. 28) in Port Charlotte, Fla.

The two teams combined for 41 hits in the game and 23 runs, a day after playing a 2-1 contest. The Mavericks would get the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning and would proceed to score in five of their eight at bats.

Trailing 2-0, the Cougars got on the board with three runs in the third. With one out, junior Evan Davis (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) walked and then advanced to third on junior Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame)'s double. Junior Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) doubled home Davis for the first Cougar run and junior Robert Swenson (Mason City, Iowa/Mason City) would give Chicago State a 3-2 lead with a two run single that scored Romainin and Matheson.

Nebraska-Omaha quickly answered with two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to regain the lead at 4-3.

Steve Joslyn's squad scored five two-out runs in the fourth inning. Sophomore Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) singled and reached second base on an error after the first two Cougars grounded out. Russell scored on junior Jared Patterson (Ventura, Calif./Buena)'s double to tie the game at four. Patterson would come around to score on an error to give the Cougars' their second lead of the game at 5-4.  A two-run double by Matheson and a RBI single by junior Jordan Strochein would give CSU an 8-4 lead, their largest of the game.

The Mavericks got their offense going with five runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Chicago State's starting pitcher junior Ean McNeal (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) didn't make it out of the fourth inning, giving up nine runs in three innings, picking up the loss.

Cole Gruber led Omaha with five hits, four runs and two RBI. Alex Schultz also had five hits, scored three runs and had three RBI. 

"Today was a good hitting day for both teams," Joslyn said. "Neither team pitched really well, but Omaha executed a little better than we did when it came to bunting and some small ball opportunities. We also ran ourselves out of a few innings. They're a good squad and a fun team to play against."

CSU added two runs in the seventh inning to wrap up the scoring.  Romanin and Swenson led the Cougars with three hits. Four Chicago State players (Davis, Romanin, Russell and Matheson) scored two runs. Matheson finished with a team-high three RBI.

Omaha improved to 3-4 on the season while the Cougars fell to 3-6 on the year. Chicago State finishes their Florida trip tomorrow (March 1) vs. Lehigh at 11:00 a.m. ET.