Seattle University took advantage of control problems by the Chicago State pitching staff to take the early lead, and then held on to defeat the Cougars, 6-3, Friday evening in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball game at Bannerwood Park.
Chicago State (11-37-1, 4-16-1 WAC) struck first in the second inning when Andy Gertonson led off with a single to left field, advanced to second on a groundout, and came around to score on a single to right-center field by Sanford Hunt. Seattle U answered in the bottom of the second inning, loading the bases before Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) was hit by a pitch, forcing in Sean Sutton (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) with the game-tying run.
In the fourth inning, Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.) led off with a single to center field, Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) drew a walk, and Hurd was once again hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) sent a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Peterson.
With two outs, Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.) was hit by a pitch from Cougar starter Eric Hall to load the bases, and Hall proceeded to hit Stober with a 1-0 pitch, forcing in Hurd. Jerry Silva came on in relief of Hall, but he hit Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) with a pitch, allowing Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) to score the Redhawks’ fourth run of the game.
Ean McNeal relieved Silva to start the bottom of the fifth inning and promptly gave up a double to Peterson and a walk to Newton, his third walk of the game. After another Chicago State pitching change, Hurd laced a 0-2 pitch into the left-center field gap, bouncing over the wall for a ground-rule double that scored Peterson and advanced Newton to third base. Cray lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Newton, increasing the Redhawk lead to 6-1.
The Cougars touched up Seattle U starter Will Dennis (Saratoga, Calif.) for one run in the sixth inning, as Gertonson drove in Matt Schmidt with a double to left field. Dennis completed seven innings for the Redhawks, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out six Cougar batters for his team-leading sixth victory of the season.
After allowing just one hit in the eighth inning, Janson Junk (Federal Way, Wash.) walked Cody Freund, allowed him to advance to second base on a wild pitch, and gave up a single to Hunt that put runners on the corners with one out. After a single to right field by Quinton Alexander scored Freund, Ryan Freitas (Concord, Calif.) came on in relief of Junk and retired the final two Cougar batters for the first save of his collegiate career.
Chicago State outhit Seattle U, 9-8, led by Mattingly Romanin with a 3-for-5 effort and three other Cougar batters with two hits apiece. Peterson enjoyed his fourth three-hit game over the past two weeks, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while the rest of the team combined to draw five walks, plus they were hit by a pitch five times in the game.
Seattle University (25-23, 15-7 WAC) and Chicago State will play the second game of the weekend series Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m. at Courter Field on the campus of Bellevue College. The teams will return to Bannerwood Park for the series finale Sunday, May 10, beginning at 10 a.m., with the Senior Day ceremony scheduled to start at 9:40 a.m.