Baseball Closes Home Schedule With Northern Colorado This Weekend

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Chicago State closes out the home portion of the 2014 season this weekend with a visit by Northern Colorado. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. Saturday is at 4 p.m. and Sunday is set for 1 p.m. Saturday will be "Kids Day" with children and their parents welcomed on to the field 15 minutes before the game for a pre-game walk around the warning track. After the game kids will be allowed on the field again to run the bases. Sunday will be Senior Day for the Cougars' program. Jake Peltz (Alliance, Neb./Alliance), Joelh Calixto (Chicago, Ill./Guerin) and Nathan Poff (Sellersburg, Ind./New Albany) will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.

• The Cougars' 15 wins are the most since 2001 when the Cougars also earned 15 wins.

• The Cougars have now recorded double-digit wins in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-01.

• Jerry Silva (Chicago, Ill./Holy Trinity)'s 29 pitching appearances this year are a new single-season school record. Mike Storrs (2007) held the previous mark of 28 appearances. Silva's 27 appearances last season ranks third for an individual season. Silva's 56 career appearances ranks fourth-all time at CSU. Jose Leon's 62 appearances from 2009-12 is Chicago State's all-time leader.

• The Cougars have hit into just nine double plays this season, the lowest amount in the WAC.

• This is the first season the Cougars have defeated UIC twice in the same season since 1988.

• Junior Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar)'s 2.95 ERA ranks seventh in the WAC. He has only given up 24 earned runs in 73.1 innings pitched on the season. Hall has allowed three earned runs or fewer in five of his last eight starts marking the first time in his career he has accomplished that feat.

• Chicago State enters the week second in the WAC in hits (422).

• Nine Cougars on this year's squad have double digit RBI. Last year only six cougars accomplished that feat all season.

• The Cougars have 92 extra base hits on the year. All of last season the Cougars had 66 extra base hits.

• Four Cougars (Stroschein, Matheson, Russell and Romanin) have started every game for Chicago State this year.

• Junior Jared Patterson (Ventura, Calif./Buena), Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) each have 16 multiple-hit games this year.

• Sophomore Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) has 10 doubles this season, which more than triples his total of three from his freshman campaign. He also has 18 RBI, up from his 12 last year.

• Senior Andrew Wellwerts (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) has struck out five or more batters in six of his 10 starts this season. He leads the team with 47 strikeouts.

• Junior Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) has driven in two or more runs in a game seven times this season. He has had multiple hits in a game 16 times this season and recorded a base hit in 36-of-47 games.

• Current Chicago State teammates Jordan Stroschein (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) and Dane Mehring (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) were teammates last year at Ellsworth Community College in Ellsworth, Iowa, while Ean McNeal (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) and Robert Swenson (Mason City, Iowa/Mason City) were teammates at North Iowa Area Community College. Ellsworth CC and North Iowa Area CC are conference rivals.  

• Junior pitcher Jerry Silva (Chicago, Ill./Holy Trinity)'s 29 pitching appearances are tied for the WAC lead with  Alex Paisha of Sacramento State. Chicago State junior Nick Kostalek (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) ranks third in the WAC with 24 outings on the mound.

• Junior Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) had a hitting streak of 13 games earlier this year while freshman Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) also reached double-digits with 10 straight games with a hit.

• Freshman Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood)'s .325 batting average ranks ninth in the WAC. It is also the highest average for a freshman in the WAC.

• Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) didn't have to travel far to get to Chicago State. He played high school baseball Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago about 15 minutes away from Chicago State's campus.

• Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) (March 29 at Grand Canyon) and Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) (April 22 vs. Wabash) have the Cougars' only four-hit game for the Cougars this year.

• Sophomore Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) started all 55 games at shortstop last season and has started every game this year at shortstop.

• The 15 triples the Cougars have this season more than doubles their total of five of last year.

• The Cougars' on base percentage is .353 which is 61 points higher than their on base percentage from last year.

• 2014 is Chicago State's first season in the Western Athletic Conference after spending the previous four seasons in the Great West Conference. This will be the first time that the Cougars will participate in a conference with a bid to the NCAA Regionals since the 2006 season.

• Despite only having five full-time pitchers last year, Chicago State compiled the program's best single season ERA (5.99) since 1994 in 2013.

• The Cougars have a 5.23 ERA entering this week. If the Cougars finish the season with a team ERA under 6.00 it will mark the first time since the 1988 and 1989 seasons that Chicago State has back to back seasons with an ERA under 6.00.

• Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) and Andrew Wellwerts (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) were named to the 2013 All-Great West Conference Tournament Team. Romanin and Wellwerts represented the most players that the Cougars have had on a postseason tournament team since 1999.

• The Cougars earned a pair of victories in the GWC Tournament last year. By finishing in the final four, it was Chicago State's best finish in a conference tournament since 1999.

• Junior Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) became a viral Internet celebrity this past summer. A skydiver landed on him prior to a college summer league contest in Hannibal, Mo. The video of the incident earned over 3 million hits and was featured on ESPN, USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

• The Cougars moved into a brand new on-campus baseball stadium this season. The $2.5 million facility gives Chicago State a true home for the first time in program history. The ballpark features a FieldTurf artificial surface, a dirt mound and a crushed-brick warning track. Notre Dame and Northern Illinois have both used the field for their own home games this year.

• The Cougars have played non-conference games against teams from 10 different conferences.
1. Southland Conference (McNeese State)
2. Conference USA (Southern Miss)
3. SEC (Missouri)
4. MEAC (Savannah State)
5. Atlantic 10 (St. Bonaventure)
6. Summit League (Omaha, Western Illinois, South Dakota State)
7. Horizon (UIC, Valparaiso, Milwaukee)
8. Patriot League (Lehigh, Holy Cross)
9. ACC (Notre Dame)
10. Big 10 (Northwestern)