CSU Baseball Continues WAC Play At Bakersfield

Complete Game Notes

• The Cougars have already matched last season's win total of 10 victories.   

• Thanks to Chicago State's win over UIC on Wednesday, the Cougars have now recorded double-digit wins in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-01. 

• Junior Eric Hall (Oakville, ONT/Oakville Trafalgar)'s 2.18 ERA ranks fourth in the WAC. He has only given up 11 earned runs in 45.1 innings pitched on the season. Hall has allowed three earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts marking the first time in his career he has accomplished that feat.

• Chicago State enters the week third in the Western Athletic Conference in hitting (.269). The Cougars are third in the WAC in slugging (.362), third in on base percentage (.357), fourth in runs (148) and fifth in RBI (128).

• Seven Cougars on this year's squad already have double digit RBI. Last year only six cougars accomplished that feat all season.

• Eight of the Cougars' normal starters have scored 10 or more runs this season.

• The Cougars are averaging over two extra base hits per game this season and have 58 extra base hits through 28 games. All of last season the Cougars had 66 extra base hits.

• Five Cougars (Stroschein, Patterson, Matheson, Russell and Romanin) have started all 28 games for Chicago State.

• Junior Jared Patterson (Ventura, Calif./Buena) leads the Cougars with 10 multi-hit games this season.

• Sophomore Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) has eight doubles this season, which more than doubles his total of three from his freshman campaign. He also has 14 RBI, up from his 12 last year. 

• Senior Andrew Wellwerts (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) has struck out five or more batters in five of his eight starts this season. He leads the team with 28 strikeouts.

• Junior Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) has driven in two or more runs in a game five times this season. He has had multiple hits in a game nine times this season, recorded a base hit in 25-of-28 games and has reached base safely 26-of-28 games this season.

• Current Chicago State teammates Jordan Stroschein (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) and Dane Mehring (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) were teammates last year at Ellsworth Community College in Ellsworth, Iowa, while Ean McNeal (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) and Robert Swenson (Mason City, Iowa/Mason City) were teammates at North Iowa Area Community College. Ellsworth CC and North Iowa Area CC are conference rivals.  

• Jerry Silva (Chicago, Ill./Holy Trinity) has only given up 10 earned runs in 27.0 innings this season his 3.33 ERA ranks him second on the team.

• Jerry Silva (Chicago, Ill./Holy Trinity) is second in the WAC with 19 appearances.

• Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) has 22 RBI on the year while Jordan Stroschein (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) (19) and Evan Davis (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) (17) are second and third on the team. The threesome has combined to drive in 45% percent of CSU's RBI this year.

• Junior Chase Matheson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and freshman Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) both have hitting streaks of ten games this season.

• Freshman Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood)'s .360 batting average ranks fifth in the WAC. It is also the highest average for a freshman in the WAC.

• Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) didn't have to travel far to get to Chicago State. He played high school baseball Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago about 15 minutes away from Chicago State's campus.

• Sanford Hunt (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) has the only four-hit game for the Cougars this year. (March 29 at Grand Canyon).

• Sophomore Julian Russell (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) started all 55 games at shortstop last season and has started every game this year at shortstop.

• The 11 triples the Cougars have this season more than doubles their total of five of last year. 

• Through this season's first 28 games the Cougars' on base percentage is .354 which is 62 points higher than their on base percentage from last year. 

• 2014 is Chicago State's first season in the Western Athletic Conference after spending the previous four seasons in the Great West Conference. This will be the first time that the Cougars will participate in a conference with a bid to the NCAA Regionals since the 2006 season.

• Despite only having five full-time pitchers last year, Chicago State compiled the program's best single season ERA (5.99) since 1994 in 2013.

• The Cougars have a 5.24 ERA through 28 games this season. If the Cougars finish the season with a team ERA under 6.00 it will mark the first time since the 1988 and 1989 seasons that Chicago State has back to back seasons with an ERA under 6.00. 

• Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) and Andrew Wellwerts (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) were named to the 2013 All-Great West Conference Tournament Team. Romanin and Wellwerts represented the most players that the Cougars have had on a postseason tournament team since 1999.

• The Cougars earned a pair of victories in the GWC Tournament last year. By finishing in the final four, it was Chicago State's best finish in a conference tournament since 1999.

• Junior Mattingly Romanin (Burlington, ONT/Notre Dame) became a viral Internet celebrity this past summer. A skydiver landed on him prior to a college summer league contest in Hannibal, Mo. The video of the incident earned over 3 million hits and was featured on ESPN, USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

• The Cougars moved into a brand new on-campus baseball stadium this season. The $2.5 million facility gives Chicago State a true home for the first time in program history. The ballpark features a FieldTurf artificial surface, a dirt mound and a crushed-brick warning track.