March 24, 2006
Box Score
Chicago, Ill.- A complete-game gem from junior righthander Zach Peterson and home runs off the bats of Larry Gempp Jr. and Justin Johnson gave the UIC baseball team all it needed for a 5-2 victory over UW-Milwaukee in the Flames' home opener at Les Miller Field on Friday afternoon.
UIC (7-10, 1-0 Horizon League) won its second straight game and fourth in its last five. UW-Milwaukee dropped to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Peterson was his usual dominant self on the mound. The Minnetonka, Minn., native earned the first complete-game win of his career by giving up just two runs and scattering seven hits, striking out a career-high seven batters along the way.
Gempp opened the Flame's home slate in style leading off the bottom of the first, sending the second pitch out of the hand of UWM hurler Aaron Sorensen over the right field fence to give UIC a quick 1-0 lead.
UW-Milwaukee tied the game in the third, but the Flames regained the lead an inning later. Sorensen walked Bart Babineaux, who stole second. After walking Chad Schroeder, Sorensen gave up an RBI single to Bryan Nolte that scored Babineaux and put UIC 2-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, Johnson cushioned the Flames' lead in a big way. With Ted Rosinski and Mark Hallberg on base, the senior catcher blasted a three-run roundtripper to put UIC up 5-1.
UW-Milwaukee would add a run in the ninth.
Rosinski finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored.
UIC resumes its three-game home series against UW-Milwaukee on Saturday with the first game of a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m. CST.
