April 21, 2003
Box Score
Indianapolis, Ind. - UIC junior pitcher Alison Aguilar saw her 18-game Horizon League winning streak snapped on Monday afternoon as the Flames dropped a 2-1 decision at Butler.
Aguilar (9-14), whose last league loss came in a 2-1 defeat at Loyola on April 14, 2001, tossed six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
She was outdeuled, though, by Bulldog freshman Meghan Howard. Howard surrendered eights hits and walked five batters, but gave up just one run to earn the victory.
Second baseman Heather Ryan did most of the offensive damage for Butler, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. She put the Bulldogs up 1-0 in the first with a sharp single, then added what proved to be an important insurance run in the fifth with a two-out single.
UIC scored its lone run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by Sara Hernandez.
The Flames had the tying run on second base with two outs in the final frame, but Howard got Alycia Creese to ground out to end the game.
UIC had several chances earlier in the game to break things open, leaving 11 total runners on base in the contest. The Flames best chancde came in the fourth inning when they loaded the bases with just one out.
They would not score in the inning, though, as rookie Meghan Gallagher lined out to the centerfielder, who then double-up Nicole Shepard, who was racing for third, at second base to kill the rally.
With the loss, UIC falls out of first place in the Horizon League, now sitting at 8-4, 16-31 overall. The Flames are now precentage points behind Youngstown State (8-3-1) and Loyola (9-4) in the standings. Butler, meanwhile, improves to 16-24, 5-10 in league play.
UIC will be back in action on Thursday night as they host Notre Dame at Flames Field at 6:00 p.m.
