Baseball Defeats CSU Bakersfield, 8-4, for First Home Win of 2017

Cody Freund batted a perfect 3-for-3 to help CSU post an 8-4 win over CSU Bakersfield

Box Score

CHICAGO – Chicago State baseball captured its first home victory of the season this afternoon after defeating CSU Bakersfield by a score of 8-4 in the second game of this weekend's Western Athletic Conference series at Cougar Stadium.

The Green and White posted an early 1-0 lead in the second inning after junior Cody Freund (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) lined a lead-off double to left center and scored three plays later on a fielding error.

Redshirt senior Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) posted a double with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch before he crossed home plate on an RBI single from junior Jacob Vanitvelt (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) to increase CSU's lead to 2-0 after the third inning.

CSUB sliced its deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth on an RBI single from David Metzgar that went through the left side of the infield which plated Andrew Penner, but the Cougars received a two-run home run from senior Rick Salazar (Bloomingdale, Ill./Plainfield South) in the bottom half of the inning to bring their advantage back to 4-1.

Another run crossed home plate for CSU with its lead growing to 5-1 in the seventh inning as junior Zach Thomas (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West ) reached base on a walk and advanced to third on another Vanitvelt single then scored on a stolen base.

The Roadrunners tallied three runs in the top of the eighth to pull within 5-4 that was highlighted by a two-run double from Mahlik Jones. RBI singles from sophomore Joe Baier (Suamico, Wis./Bay Port) and junior Jacob Northrup (Phoenix, Ariz./Sahuaro) helped the Cougars post three runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth to finish out the scoring.

Freund hit a perfect 3-for-3 on the day with a double and scored three times to lead Chicago State (7-20, 3-2), while Russell batted 3-for-4 with a double.

Redshirt junior Brad Moore (Mount Prospect, Ill./Hersey) captured his first win in a CSU uniform as he posted three strikeouts over 5.1 innings thrown while allowing a run on two hits. Thomas starred on both ends as he batted 2-for-3 and later threw 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts to record his first save of the year.

Jones and Metzgar paced the Roadrunners (14-12, 2-6) by hitting 2-for-4 with two RBIs apiece, while Jones allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over four innings of work to take the loss.

CSU closes out its weekend series with CSU Bakersfield tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Joe Baier: IF/OF/P; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R-R

#9 Cody Freund: C; 5' 11"; Junior; L-R

#33 Brad Moore: P; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior; L-L

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

#22 Rick Salazar: IF; 6' 0"; Senior; R-R

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

#15 Jacob Northrup: C/IF; 5' 10"; Junior; R-R

#23 Jacob Vanitvelt: OF; 5' 10"; Junior; L-L

Players Mentioned

#2 Joe Baier
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R-R
: IF/OF/P

#9 Cody Freund
: 5' 11"; Junior; L-R
: C

#33 Brad Moore
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior; L-L
: P

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

#22 Rick Salazar
: 6' 0"; Senior; R-R
: IF

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

#15 Jacob Northrup
: 5' 10"; Junior; R-R
: C/IF

#23 Jacob Vanitvelt
: 5' 10"; Junior; L-L
: OF

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned