May 4, 2000
Box Score
Chicago, Ill. - The 23rd-ranked UIC softball team, which honored its five seniors playing in their final home game prior to its contest with UAB, watched the first-year Blazers jump out to a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but rallied behind some senior leadership for a 5-2 victory.
UIC and UAB's contest was originally slated to be a doubleheader, but with an umpire scheduling error delaying game one for almost two hours, the two teams decided to just play one game.
Samantha Iuli, who improved to 20-8 on the season with the win, gave up two runs and three hits while going the distance in what could have been her final appearance at Flames Field.
Iuli wasn't the only senior to come through on the day, though, as Gina Arnold (3-for-3, 2 runs, RBI), Kathy Casey (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Julie Bumgardner (2-for-3, 2 RBI) all chipped in to pace UIC to victory.
Arnold got the Flames off on the right foot with an RBI single in the first inning to put UIC up, 1-0. With UAB up 2-1 in the fourth, Arnold was on third base when Casey singled to center with two out to tie the score. Arnold was on third again when Bumgardner broke the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single into leftfield. Casey gave UIC an insurance run with an RBI single later in the inning.
UAB scored both of their runs in the top of the third inning in unusual fashion. Jessica Brown started the inning by grounding a ball slowly to short. Brown beat the throw to first, but Casey, who thought she was out, began to throw the ball around the horn. With the rest of the Flames unprepared, the ball sailed into leftfield, allowing Brown to advance to second. After Candice Hithe advance Brown to third with a sacrifice bunt, UAB's Cliffanie Engram tripled over Edel Leyden's head in right field. Brown scored and when Bumgardner's throw trying to cut down Engram flew into the UIC dugout, Engram was awarded home giving the Blazers a 2-1 lead.
With the win, the Flames improve to 47-23 on the season while the Blazers, in their first year as a Division I program, fell to 22-33. UIC is back in action on Saturday, May 6, as they take on league-leading Wright State, in Dayton, Ohio. Should the Flames sweep the Raiders on Saturday, they would take home the 2000 MCC regular-season title and earn the top seed in the upcoming MCC softball tournament.
