April 22, 2006
Box Score
Chicago, Ill.-In the UIC softball team's first Horizon League doubleheader at home, the Flames swept UW-Green Bay on Saturday. In five innings, UIC handed the Phoenix an 11-2 loss, followed by a come-from-behind 6-4 victory. The Flames move to 20-26 overall and 10-3 in league action, while the Phoenix slip to 7-16 overall and 4-9 in conference play.
Game One: UIC 11, UW-Green Bay 2
Senior Nikki Shepard led the Flames, going 2-for-2 in game one versus UW-Green Bay. The centerfielder tallied one run and two RBI. With the win, freshman Sarah Clynes moves to 11-5 on the year. UW-Green Bay's Lisa Meissner picks up the loss in the circle, allowing six hits in 2.2 innings.
Clynes set the pace for the Flames offensively, recording a leadoff solo home run in the top of the first inning. UIC tacked on two more in the second on a walk, followed by a wild pitch with the bases loaded.
On an RBI single from Anna Nieznanski in the third, UW-Green Bay cut UIC's lead to two runs (3-1).
On four hits, one error and five walks, the Flames pulled away from the Phoenix in the third, scoring eight runs to grab an 11-1 advantage.
UW-Green Bay notched a run in the fourth, but UIC held on for the, 11-2, victory after five innings.
Game Two: UIC 6, UW-Green Bay 4
Sarah Clynes and Liz Jacoby powered the Flames on offense, both marking a 2-for-3 showing in game two.
Mercedes Lovato picked up her first win on the year for the Flames, fanning three Phoenix in two innings. The sophomore pitcher allowed zero hits in six at bats. UW-Green Bay's Amanda Margelofsky drops to 1-4, recording four strikeouts in 25 at bats.
The Phoenix attacked first in the top of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Andrea Kurzynske. UIC tied it up in the third on an RBI single from Nicole Robinson, sending Nikki Shepard home.
UW-Green Bay lit up the bats in the fifth to grab a three-run cushion (4-1) on two hits, but the Flames offense exploded in the bottom of the sixth.
After reaching on a walk, Joyce Cathey scored on a Liz Jacoby RBI double, followed by a Brittany Dixon RBI double to send Jacoby across the plate to get within one run. With two on, Sarah Clynes added to her game one homer, ripping a single up the middle to give the Flames the lead (5-4). Nikki Shepard then drilled one to left-center to earn the two-run advantage.
Three up, three down in the top of the seventh, clinched the, 6-4, triumph for the Flames in game two.
UIC wraps up the three-game series on Sunday, April 23rd at 1 pm.
