May 28, 2006
Box Score
Fairborn, Ohio- The UIC baseball team's season came to an abrupt end on Saturday afternoon, as the Flames fell to Butler 8-6 in an elimination game of the 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship Tournament at Nischwitz Stadium.
The Flames fell behind early after Butler scored two unearned runs in the first inning, but UIC would eventually take the lead in the fourth inning on Mark Hallberg's sacrifice fly that plated Chad Schroeder and gave the Flames a 4-3 advantage.
The Bulldogs then reclaimed the lead with four runs in the top of the sixth. Two walks to start the inning, followed by three singles and a fielder's choice, put the Bulldogs up 7-4.
With Butler leading 8-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Hallberg doubled off the left field wall and Larry Gempp Jr. coaxed a walk to begin a rally to help the Flames avoid elimination. Ben Trotter and Ted Rosinski then hit back-to-back two-out RBI singles to trim the Butler lead to 8-4.
But Brian Deter induced a hard-hit comebacker off the bat of Chad Schroeder to end the game.
Trotter finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI and a solo homer.
Hallberg drove in two runs and scored twice during a 2-for-3 afternoon.
Ryan Martin suffered the loss in his final collegiate start, giving up three earned runs in 5.1 innings.
Rosinski (2-for-5) and Bart Babineaux (1-for-4) each drove in a run. Babineaux's RBI moved him into sole possession of first in the UIC record book for single-season RBI with his 65th of the season.
The Flames completed the year with a 35-20 overall record and a 22-7 ledger in Horizon League play. UIC won its fifth consecutive Horizon League regular season title in 2006.
