April 30, 2002
Box Score
Valparaiso, Ind. - The UIC softball team may rank eighth in the country in scoring, but on Tuesday afternoon it was the pitching staff that stole the show, carrying the Flames to a doubleheader sweep of Valparaiso, 1-0 and 4-0, at Kirchoff Field.
Starter's Alison Aguilar and Alycia Creese both twirled one-hit gems and neither let an opposing runner reach second base as UIC extended its season-best winning streak to 11 games. The Flames are now 34-18 on the season while the Crusaders, who failed to qualify for the Mid-Continent Conference tournament, finish their season at 14-30.
The Flames, who were playing without heavy hitter senior Edel Leyden (final exams), found runs hard to come by on Tuesday, stranding 16 runners on base in the two games. UIC still rapped out 17 hits in the twinbill, including 12 in the second game.
In game one, sophomore Aguilar tossed a near no-hitter as the Flames prevailed, 1-0.
Aguilar, who improved to 17-8 with the win, was one pitch away from her third career no-hitter when Crusader pitcher Lisa Kendall snuck a 2-2 offering through the right side of the infield for the lone Valparaiso base-knock.
She would retire the next batter and finish with nine strikeouts on the day while walking none.
After leaving five runners stranded on base in their first three at bats, the Flames plated the only run they would need in the top of the fourth as Emily Hallmann's sacrifice fly gave UIC a 1-0 lead.
Senior outfielder Amber Stachura was the defensive star for the Flames, making a pair of key running grabs to steal hits from Valparaiso.
Kendall was the tough-luck loser, falling to 6-14 on the year.
Hallmann got UIC going in game two, continuing her home run trend at Kirchoff Field with a solo blast to lead off the top of the third inning. The home run, which was her career-best fifth of the season, marked the third straight season she has gone yard at the field.
Stachura got into the home run act in the top of the fourth, launching a laser beam over the left-center field wall to stake the Flames to a 2-0 advantage. The blast was her career-best 12th on the year. UIC wasn't done in the third inning, though, as Jennifer Tiffany later drove in a pair with a two-out double to put the Flames up 4-0.
Creese, whose lone hit allowed was a bloop single to right in the fourth inning, took care of the rest for the Flames, striking out five while walking just one en route to her third shutout of the season. The sophomore is now 12-4 overall on the year.
UIC tallied 12 hits in the contest, but left nine runners on base. Tiffany, Amy Gonzales, Sara Hernandez and Emily Stoddard each recorded to hits in the game two pace the team.
The Flames will be back in action on Thursday, May 2, as they host Northwestern for a scheduled doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m.
