Cougars Close WAC Weekend Series at New Mexico State

Sophomore Zach Thomas went 2-for-5 at the plate and later pitched a scoreless eighth inning for CSU in Saturday's WAC series finale at New Mexico State

Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Chicago State baseball team closed out its first Western Athletic Conference series of the season here today with an 8-2 defeat to host New Mexico State at Presley Askew Field.

In the first inning, Daniel Johnson hit a one-out single and stole second base before crossing home plate on a wild pitch as the Aggies (15-10, 3-0) captures a 1-0 lead.

CSU (5-16, 0-3) came back to tie the score at 1-1 in the second inning as sophomore Matt Sullivan (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) drew a walk with two outs and advanced to third on a single from senior Chris Hipchen (Geneva, Ill./Geneva). Sullivan then scored on a double steal attempt as Hipchen stole second base.

New Mexico State regained the lead at 2-1 in the fourth inning when Greg Popylisen singled up the middle to score Joseph Koerper from third base.

The Cougars evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the fifth after redshirt junior Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) reached base via a walk and advanced to third after sophomore Zach Thomas (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West ) hit an infield single before scoring on an error.

NMSU put the game out of reach by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings for the final margin.

The Green and White were led on the offensive end by Thomas as he finished the game hitting 2-for-5. Senior Dillion Engle (Milwaukee, Wis./Nathan Hale) took the loss on the mound after giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings of work and Thomas later came on to throw a scoreless relief inning in the eighth.

Johnson went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and scored twice to lead NMSU. Marcel Renteria captured the win when he struck out seven batters and walked five, but allowed two runs on five hits over six innings of work. Tyler Erwin scattered a hit in 2.3 innings of relief to record the save.

The Cougars return to Chicago to kick off a five-game homestand next week beginning on Tuesday afternoon with a non-conference contest against Western Michigan with a start time of 3 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#34 Dillion Engle: P; 5' 9"; Senior; L-L

#19 Chris Hipchen: OF; 6' 2"; Senior; R-R

#1 Julian Russell: IF; 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior; R-R

#15 Matt Sullivan: IF; 5' 10"; Sophomore; R-R

#44 Zach Thomas: P/OF; 5' 11"; Sophomore; L-L

Players Mentioned

#34 Dillion Engle
: 5' 9"; Senior; L-L
: P

#19 Chris Hipchen
: 6' 2"; Senior; R-R
: OF

#1 Julian Russell
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior; R-R
: IF

#15 Matt Sullivan
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; R-R
: IF

#44 Zach Thomas
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; L-L
: P/OF

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned