March 7, 2009
Box Score
NASHVILLE- The UIC baseball team put a pair of runners in scoring position while trailing Vanderbilt by two runs in the top of the ninth, but the Flames could only plate one of those runs as their late rally fell just short in a 5-4 loss at Hawkins Field on Saturday.
Seniors Brett Schaefer and Jake Carr drove in two runs apiece for the Flames (1-8). Schaefer went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Carr homered and went 3-for-4. Sophomore Andy Leonard also had a 3-for-4 afternoon.
Trailing 5-3 with one out in the ninth, Leonard legged out single on a ball hit toward the second baseman, and Carr ripped a two-base hit to put runners at second and third.
Schaefer hit a liner toward right that was caught but allowed Leonard to score and Carr to advance to third on the sacrifice fly. Three pitches later Steve McGuiggan hit a grounder to second base that ended the Flames' final threat.
Starter Mike Kool suffered the loss after allowing five runs in 6.1 innings, but three of those runs came on a first-inning homer. Kool settled down and gave up just two runs during the rest of his outing.
Schaefer hit a two-out RBI single in the first to put the Flames ahead early, but Vanderbilt (8-4) responded in the bottom half of the inning on Jason Esposito's three-run homer.
In the top of the third Carr hit a two-run blast to even the game, but the Commodores once again responded in the bottom half of a UIC run-scoring frame after Curt Casali hit an RBI single.
Vanderbilt tallied what proved to be the decisive run in the seventh, when Steven Liddle and Casali hit consecutive one-out singles right before Aaron Westlake's base hit allowed Liddle to score from second base.
Rookie pitchers Matt Salemi and Michael Heesch kept the Commodores off of the scoreboard in the game's late stages, combining for an inning and two-thirds of scoreless, one-hit relief.
Vanderbilt starter Nick Christiani earned the win by allowing three earned runs on the day.
UIC and Vanderbilt conclude the weekend's four-game series in Nashville on Sunday at 1 p.m.
