Editor’s Note: This story has been edited to fix the date of the game. It was originally reported that the game took place on April 27. The game happened the day prior on April 26.
The College of DuPage baseball team saw the ball well through pouring rain on April 26 against Prairie State College. Dominating on both sides of the ball at home, the Chaparrals shut down the Pioneers on defense to push through five innings. Making the game official before ending it due to heavy rain, COD shutout Prairie State 8-0 to improve their record to 18-16.
“We try to take care of business, one pitch at a time,” assistant coach Matt Gould said. “We knew the rain was coming, but we just focused on playing the game. We’ve had so many games canceled this year, we were excited for everyone that was able to get in rain or shine.”
Freshman pitcher Aidan Pieniazek remained in control on the mound despite the weather, pitching through the game in his eighth start of the season. He threw six strikeouts and one walk but allowed four hits. Letting zero runs go, Pieniazek secured his second win of the season. He said staying mentally strong while pitching is his main focus this season and that the rain didn’t shake him.
“I’ve been huge on maintaining a good mindset out on the mound,” Pieniazek said. “I make sure to do everything in my power to come mentally correct. I try to keep all external factors that I can’t control out of my head. I knew what my job was, and as long as I executed my game plan, I knew I would end up in a good position.”
Freshman infielder Anthony Titone smacked a double in two at-bats that secured him one RBI in the second inning. He also made two assists and put out one runner at third base. He said COD’s shutdown plays stemmed from pressure to finish the game.
“Some of the coaches and definitely the umpires were trying to speed up the game,” Titone said. “They wanted us to get on the field pretty quickly so they could just end it. I thought we could’ve played two more innings, but the team did an overall good job of handling everything. It was a good win.”
Alongside Titone, freshman first baseman Mark Mennecke led the offensive charge, collecting three hits in three at-bats. He also picked up three RBIs. A.J. Fulscher, a freshman infielder, went two-for-two on the day and scored two runs to also help the Chaps offensively. At second base, he put out four runners and made two assists.
COD takes on the Harper College Hawks in a doubleheader on the road. Game one starts at 12 p.m. on April 27 in Palatine, Ill.