Russell Belts Two Home Runs for CSU in Season Finale at Northern Colorado

Julian Russell closed out his CSU career with a 3-for-4 performance with two home runs Saturday at Northern Colorado

Box Score

GREELEY, Colo. – Redshirt senior Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) led the Chicago State baseball team in its regular season finale here Saturday against host Northern Colorado at Jackson Field by going 3-for-4 and belted two home runs as the Bears slipped past the Cougars by an 11-10 margin.

The visitors broke a scoreless tie in the top of the second inning when senior Rick Salazar (Bloomingdale, Ill./Plainfield South) hit an RBI single off UNC starter D. Shiraki through the left side of the infield to bring home junior Cody Freund (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) for an early 1-0 lead. Brent Minnick hit a one-out triple in the bottom half of the second before scoring on E. Johnson's RBI groundout to even the score at 1-1.

CSU regained the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs on groundouts for a 3-1 lead before the Bears pulled within a run after Alex Kiel hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third.

Junior Zach Thomas (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West ) increased the Green and White's advantage to 4-2 in the top of the fourth after hitting an RBI infield single which brought home senior Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood), but UNC tallied seven runs in the bottom half of the stanza to claim its first lead at 9-4.

The Cougars struck again in the fifth inning to pull within 9-5 as Freund hit a single with one out and moved to third on another single from junior Matt Sullivan (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) before scoring on Hunt's RBI sacrifice fly to center field.

Two additional runs crossed the plate on a solo home run from Russell and an RBI single by Sullivan to slice CSU's deficit to 9-7 in the top of the seventh, while the Bears matched those two runs in the bottom portion via a triple by D. Reese to bring their advantage back to 11-7.

Russell hit a two-run homer to left center which also brought home Thomas to pull CSU within 11-9 in the eighth inning.

In the ninth inning, Freund led off with a triple before crossing home plate on Sullivan's RBI groundout to bring the Green and White within a run, but the home team forced the final two outs to end the game.

Freund finished the game going 3-for-4 at the plate and tallied three runs for CSU, and Sullivan hit 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Senior starting pitcher Jake Perkins (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) took the loss after giving up nine runs (five earned) on 10 hits in four innings of work and Thomas gave up a hit as he threw two scoreless relief innings.

Minnick led UNC in hitting as he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and scored three runs, while Connor Leedholm (2-5) earned the win despite allowing a run on three hits in 1.2 relief innings.

The game served as the final contest in a CSU uniform for seniors Russell, Hunt, Perkins, Salazar, Noe Arteaga (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech), Josh Perkins (Huntley, Ill./Huntley), and Josh Willis (Omaha, Neb./Millard South).

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Players Mentioned

#50 Noe Arteaga: P; 6' 2"; Senior; R-R

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

#25 Sanford Hunt: IF/OF; 6' 0"; Senior; R-R

#31 Jake Perkins: P; 6' 1"; Senior; L-L

#32 Josh Perkins: P; 6' 5"; Senior; R-R

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

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

#26 Matt Sullivan: IF; 5' 10"; Junior; R-R

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

#21 Josh Willis: P; 6' 1"; Senior; L-L

Players Mentioned

#50 Noe Arteaga
: 6' 2"; Senior; R-R
: P

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

#25 Sanford Hunt
: 6' 0"; Senior; R-R
: IF/OF

#31 Jake Perkins
: 6' 1"; Senior; L-L
: P

#32 Josh Perkins
: 6' 5"; Senior; R-R
: P

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

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

#26 Matt Sullivan
: 5' 10"; Junior; R-R
: IF

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

#21 Josh Willis
: 6' 1"; Senior; L-L
: P

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned