March 22, 2009

Box Score

CHICAGO- Sarah Clynes drove in five runs, and the UIC softball team scored six runs in the bottom of the third to build a big lead that it never surrendered in a 12-8 victory over Butler at Flames Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Flames (8-17, 3-0 Horizon League) completed a three-game series sweep of the Bulldogs (6-14, 0-3 Horizon League) and extended their winning streak to four games.

UIC took the lead quickly with a run in the first on an RBI single off the bat of Ashley Hewett.

The Flames scored three times in the second, with the big blow coming on Clynes' two-run double in the inning.

The third inning proved to be the decisive frame for the Flames, as UIC scored six runs to go up 10-0. Hewett homered to lead off the inning, and the Flames took advantage of a two-out throwing error by Butler third baseman Annie Dolan by scoring five unearned runs.

Clynes hit another two-run two-bagger in the third. Melinda Macias and Brooke Frydendall followed with run-scoring singles, and Shannon Kehr was hit by a Breanna Fisher offering with the bases loaded to bring in another score.

Butler did not go away quietly, scoring four times in the next half-inning and four times in the next two innings to get within four, but that's as close as the Bulldogs would get.

Whitney Orellana tossed 3.1 innings to get the win, while Hewett finished off the game with 3.2 frames of relief.

UIC begins a seven-game road trip this Tuesday, Mar. 24 with a doubleheader against SIU-Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Ill.