Chaparrals Take Two From Hawks

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – The Harper College baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader at conference rival College of DuPage on Tuesday afternoon.  The Chaparrals took game one, 10-0, and won game two, 7-2.

The Hawks (0-11, 0-8 N4C) and Chaparrals were scoreless through four innings of game one thanks to solid pitching from starters Christian Poulsen (Schaumburg, Ill. /Schaumburg) (Harper) and Colin Brauer (COD).  But in the bottom of the fifth inning, COD capitalized on three Hawks errors, had seven hits, and sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring 10 runs to close out the game. 

Harper managed just two hits in the game, both off the bat of freshman first baseman Nick Kouzios (Crystal Lake, Ill. /Prairie Ridge). Poulsen (0-4) ultimately surrendered four earned runs on nine hits while striking out two in 4 2/3 innings. Brauer (2-0) scattered the two hits, walked one, and struck out four in five scoreless frames.

Poulsen pitched respectably in game one and had an RBI triple in game two at College of DuPage. (Dion Martorano, Journal & Topics Sports)

The Hawks trailed 1-0 through two innings of game two before they took the lead with a two-run inning. Kouzios drew a walk, and David Dugger (Matteson, Ill. /Rich Central) knocked him in with a two-out double to the gap in left center. Poulsen drove Dugger home with a triple of his own to put Harper ahead. 

COD scored once in the third and three times in the fourth off Harper starter Travis Lindquist (Madison, Wis. /James Madison Memorial ) (0-3) to take a 5-2 lead. The Chaparrals scored two more runs in the fifth inning and got solid pitching the rest of the way from starter Tyler Zunkel (1-0) and relief man Austin Loehman. The Hawks' Lindquist surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings while the Chaparrals got 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts from Zunkel.

The Hawks are scheduled to play their first home games on Thursday afternoon against McHenry County College (15-8). First pitch is set for 2 PM on the campus of Harper College.