MARION, Ill. – The Chicago State baseball team dropped two matches to close action at the Midwest Baseball Tournament on Sunday. In the first game, the Cougars dropped an 8-0 contest to Nebraska Omaha and in the nightcap Chicago State fell to Northern Illinois, 6-4.
In the second game, Northern Illinois took an early 4-0 lead I the second inning. With a leadoff single to open the inning, followed by back-to-back walks, a run came in on the wild pitch. The Huskies added two more runs with a 2 RBI double and another came home on a single.
The Cougars looked to cut back into the lead with in the bottom of the second. The inning started with a walk which put
Richard Paulino (San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic) on base, he moved to second on a ground out but couldn't get around the bases as a ground out and strikeout ended the threat. Chicago State added a run in the fourth courtesy of a leadoff double from Any Gaytan. Gaytan advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on a single from Paulino. Coburn singled to give the Cougars two on base but they couldn't push any more runs across home plate, leaving Paulino and Coburn stranded.
Chicago State kept the Huskies off the board in the fifth and with two outs in their half of the inning seemed to be poised to break through. With a single from Brock and a walk the Cougars had two on base but a strikeout ended the inning.
The Cougars broke through in the seventh and added three runs. With two walks and a hit by pitch, the Cougars had the bases loaded and a Gaytan double sent two runs across the plate and a sacrifice fly from Anthony Uso sent another home, tying the score at 4-4.
Northern Illinois added two runs in the eighth, to take a 6-4 lead. The Cougars were in prime position in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, Gaytan walked and Anthony Uso singled to center field and with a walk by Paulino the Cougars had ducks on a pond but the game ended on a popup. Gaytan was 2-of-3 and Urso was 2-of-4 while
Brett Gregory (Lompoc, Calif./Cabrillo) twirled 7.0 innings of work.
The Cougars struggled to get any offense going in the first game with just three hits on the afternoon. The contest was a scoreless until the seventh inning when Omaha broke the stalemate with three runs.
Chicago State looked to answer in their half of the seventh. Gaytan doubled down the left field line to give the Cougars a base runner, a walk by
Judah Wilbur (Denver, Colorado/) put a runner in scoring position but that was as close as the Cougars would get as the inning ended on a double play.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Northern tacked on five runs in the top of the ninth with five runs on three hits with three left on base.
The Cougars couldn't get find a way to cut into the lead in the bottom of the ninth as the inning ended.
Up Next
The Cougars will take head to Champagne to take on Illinois on March 3 at 4 pm.
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