Timely Hits By Seniors Leads @NCBearsBaseball Over Chicago State

Saturday, May 20

Greeley, Colo.

12 pm

University of Northern Colorado

22-28, 10-14

Chicago State

11-41, 7-17

Chicago State

Northern Colorado

5/20/2017 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Timely hits from seniors Dan Reese and Nick Tanner leads UNC over Chicago State 11-10 Saturday

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY – Northern Colorado capped off its regular season by closing out a three game sweep of Chicago State in an 11-10 decision. With the win UNC clinched the No. 5 seed in next week's WAC Tournament in Mesa, Arizona.

How It Happened
Chicago State struck first in the game as the Cougars first two hitters of the second reached on a hit by pitch and walk. Rick Salazar then brought home the first run of the game with a single through the left side to make it 1-0.

The Bears evened the game at one in the bottom half of the second. Brett Minnick hit a one out triple to dead centerfield setting up the tying score. Teammate Evan Johnson drove him home in the next at bat when he hit a chopper to second.

CSU reclaimed the lead in the third scoring a pair to make it 3-1, but an Alex Kiel double made it 3-2 Chicago State through three. The Cougars continued to extend the lead in the fourth with another run to be up 4-2, before UNC's offense exploded in the bottom of the inning.

Evan Johnson started the big inning for UNC with a single up the middle. Dean Lawson followed suit with a single of his own before Dan Reese advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. A throwing error by Chicago State's third baseman allowed the Bears to load up the bases and leadoff hitter Nick Tanner coming up to bat.

Tanner came through for the team along with some Jackson Magic as he hit a hard grounder that took off the lip of the infield and over the first basemen's head for a two RBI single to tie the game. Northern Colorado then took the lead when Alex Kiel placed a beautiful bunt down that he reached on to go up 5-4. By the time the inning ending UNC scored seven runs taking a 9-4 lead, topped off by a Brett Minnick two-run home run to left center.

While the Bears had built the lead, Chicago State didn't back down, chipping away with a run in the fifth and two more in the seventh to make it a 9-7 ball game.

UNC built the lead back to four in the bottom of the seventh, as Cole Maltese doubled, and Minnick walked to begin the rally. Both came home to score when senior Dan Reese tripled in his last at bat at Jackson field to make it 11-7 Bears.

The Cougars never backed down though, getting within a run, before Keenan Lum induced a groundout to Dean Lawson to end the game.

Game Changer
Sports are funny sometimes writing the perfect script, but that is what happened on Saturday at Jackson Field. With it being Senior day it was a pair of seniors that came up with the big hits for the team. Nick Tanner got one more bit of Jackson Magic when his chopper in the fourth took a big hop over the first basemen's head allowing UNC to tie the game at four. Then in the seventh, Dan Reese drove home the would-be game winning run in his last at bat at Jackson Field. Reese's triple scored Cole Maltese and Brett Minnick making it an 11-7 ball game at the time.

Notable
- Senior fielders Nick Tanner and Dan Reese combined to go 3-for-9 in the game with four RBIs and two runs scored.
- Brett Minnick had himself one heck of a day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs. He had a triple, two-run home run and walked in the game.
- Not only was it Senior Day at Jackson Field, but also Tom Petroff day, as Northern Colorado retired the jersey of Hall of Fame head coach Tom Petroff. The honor brought many former Bears into attendance.

Quotable
Senior Outfielder Nick Tanner
"It was Jackson's little good bye present. It was a bases loaded one out situation and I was just looking to get the job done for the team. It's huge to win on Senior Day and now we have a lot of momentum going into Mesa winning four straight and look forward to keep that going."

Senior Outfielder Dan Reese
"I was sitting in the dugout before that (triple), just reflecting on my time at this field and I just had a good feeling about it and I'm really glad it did as it helped up get the win on Senior Day."

Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
"Senior Day is always special to pick the win up on. It was real special for me to see our seniors Nick Tanner and Dan Reese to come up with those key hits for us. I always say good things happened to good people and Dan Reese is a really good person so it was really special to see him get that big hit for us."

"We are swinging well and pitching well enough to continue this momentum. Our eyes are on the prize now which is game one of the tournament. Once we win that game we will go on from there."

What's Next?
The win secured the No. 5 seed for UNC as they will take on Utah Valley in the opening round of the WAC Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. First pitch of the game is set for 4 pm MT.