GREELEY, CO - The Chicago State Cougars baseball team dropped their first conference game of 2019 on the road to Northern Colorado. The Bears used a late rally to erase a Cougar lead and eventually win the game by three.
The Cougars started out on top by scoring the first run of the game in the 2nd inning when Patrick Arndt (Chesterton, Ind.) hit a loop single into right center field to score Gabriel Coburn (Windermere, Fla.). Behind CSU starting pitcher Dylan Cumming (Grand Blanc, Mich., Grand Blanc), the Cougars were able to preserve a 1-0 lead until the 6th inning. The Green and White were able to add onto their 1-0 advantage in the top half of the 6th when Matt Sullivan (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Huntley) singled to left field to score Andy Gaytan (Oak Forest, Ill.) and make the lead 2-0. Daulton Ryans (Mishawaka, Ind., Mishawaka) added another insurance run shortly after by doubling in Matt Sullivan to make the score 3-0.
The Bears managed to tie the game in the 6th after posting three runs. Their comeback effort began when Billy Moreland scored after Matt Zoba was thrown out attempting to steal 2nd. Shortly after, UNC tied the game after Sam Leach hit a two run homer off of CSU starter Dylan Cumming. The game did not stay tied long, however, as Reggie Brock Jr. (Chicago, Ill., Simeon) hit his first home run of the season in the top of the 7th to give the Cougars a 4-3 advantage.
The Bears then wasted no time in not only tying the game but taking the lead. In the bottom half of the 7th, Zoba put UNC ahead by hitting an RBI single that brought in the tying and go-ahead runs for the Bears. They added onto their run lead in the 8th inning after a couple of hits, and by the time the inning was over, they held an 8-4 advantage. The Green and White put up a fight in the 9th when Patrick Arndt (Chesterton, Ind.) picked up his second RBI of the day on a double, but that would be all the Cougars would score in the 9th as the game concluded with a 8-5 score in favor of Northern Colorado.
Dylan Cumming was tremendous on the mound for the Cougars in his first start of 2019. He tossed 5.2 innings, struck out a career high 10 batters, and only walked two. Dean Youngblood (Melissa, Texas, Melissa) and Yunis Halim (Chicago, Ill., Oak Lawn) worked in relief of Cumming, as they threw 0.1 innings and 2.0 innings, respectively. Yunis Halim picked up three strikeouts in the loss.
Despite the loss, the Cougars had plenty of hits to show for it. Gabriel Coburn stayed hot, as he picked up two hits and two runs. He currently leads the team in average with a .349 mark following Fridays loss. Joining Coburn with two hits was Patrick Arndt, who picked up two RBIs as well in the WAC opener. Reggie Brock Jr. went 1-for-4 with one RBI which came from his first home run of the season, and Matt Sullivan and Daulton Ryans also hit 1-for-4 with one RBI. Andy Gaytan and Cole Hansel (Edwardsville, Ill.) had one hit a piece as well.
Next Up
The Cougars will be back in action on Saturday afternoon for game two of the WAC opening weekend versus Northern Colorado with the first pitch moved to 3 p.m. CT due to rain delay. The Green and White will send junior Anthony Leedle (Clinton, Wis.) to the mound who will look to pitch the Cougars to their first WAC victory after picking up the win versus Northern Illinois on Tuesday.
