CHICAGO, Ill. - For the first time in 2019, the Chicago State Baseball team played in Chicago when they played on the road at University of Illinois-Chicago. With unideal temperatures, the Cougars split a double header with crosstown rival UIC to move to 4-7 on the season.
Game 1: UIC 5, Chicago State 1
Playing as the away team, the Cougars trailed early and could not recover as they dropped game one, 5-1. The Flames jumped out in front in the 1st inning when David Becker drew a bases loaded walk from Cougar starter Brett Gregory (Lompoc, Calif., Cabrillo). They increased the early lead on the next batter when Joshua Figueroa hit a chopper to 3rd that was good enough for an infield single.
However, the Cougars would be the next to score as their first run came in the 3rd. After Cole Hansel (Edwardsville, Ill.) singled, he was advanced on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Patrick Arndt (Chesterton, Ind.). He then scored after Nick Heidenthal (McHenry, Ill., Grant) reached on a throwing error by Thomas Smart.
That would be the only offensive fortunes in the first game for CSU, as they would be held scoreless the remainder of the game. UIC however would go on to add three more runs to the lead after scoring one run each in the 3rd, 4th, and 7th innings.
Hitting notables included Matt Sullivan (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Huntley) who went 2-for-4 with his team leading fifth double, and Cole Hansel who also had a 2-for-4 line on the day. Brett Gregory (1-2) received the loss after throwing 119 pitches over seven innings and striking out three.
Game 2: Chicago State 8, UIC 4
Game two on the day started the same way as game one, with the Flames taking the first lead of the day. They plated two runs in the 2nd inning when Smart scored on an unearned run on an error by the catcher, then they added to their lead when Sean Dee hit a sacrifice fly off of Anthony Leedle (Clinton, Wis.) that scored Dominic Smith.
After the 2nd inning, the Cougars would go on to control the rest of the game. The first run of game two came on a single from Nick Heidenthal that scored Daulton Ryans. The second and tying run came the next batter when Andy Gaytan (Oak Forest, Ill.) doubled in Gabriel Coburn (Windermere, Fla.). The Cougars then took the lead after Matt Sullivan scored Gaytan on an RBI single to left. The Cougars picked up one more run before the end of the 3rd when Cole Hansel also singled to left to score Sullivan.
Luckily, that would not be the end of the CSU offensive outbreak, as more runs came one inning later in the 4th. Nick Heidenthal and Sullivan both picked up their second RBIs in as many innings after Nick Heidenthal singled in Jon Coss III (Richmond, Texas, Reagan), then Sullivan grounded out to score Nick Heidenthal. Matt Sullivan (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Huntley) eventually picked up an RBI single of his own, and the Cougars led 7-2 by the time the 4th inning was over.
Anthony Leedle was able to settle in after giving up two in the 2nd inning, as he tossed four scoreless frames following it. The Flames were able to score two more off of him in the 7th to make the score 7-4 before Cougar reliever Yunis Halim (Chicago, Ill., Oak Lawn) replaced him with two outs. Halim struck out the first man he faced to strand runners on 1st and 3rd.
The Cougars scored once more in the 8th when Andy Gaytan hit a sacrifice fly to left for his seventh RBI on the season, giving CSU an 8-4 lead.
Yunis Halim would go on to throw scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th to eventually secure the huge crosstown win for the Cougars. In his 2.1 innings, Halim struck out four and only allowed one hit.
Anthony Leedle (1-1) picked up the win after throwing 98 pitches over 6.2 innings that included two strikeouts and just two earned runs.
Reigning WAC hitter of the week, Andy Gaytan, had another big game in the win as he hit 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Nick Heidenthal, Andy Gaytan, and Matt Sullivan combined to produce six hits, six RBIs, and four runs in the win over the Flames. In addition, Jon Coss III also had an efficient day at the plate going 2-for-2 with one run scored.
Next Up
The Cougars will be back in action this Tuesday as they will head to Kalamazoo, Michigan to take on the Broncos. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
