April 28, 2009
Box Score
NOTRE DAME, Ind.- A five-run seventh inning, highlighted by Chris Rutta's three-run homer, lifted the UIC baseball team to a 10-5 win over host Notre Dame at Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday night.
Freshman southpaw Michael Heesch improved to 4-0 with four innings of one-run relief to help the Flames (18-19) win their second straight game.
Nathan Orf, Jason Ganek and Jake Carr each drove in two runs apiece.
UIC clung to a 5-4 lead heading into the seventh, a frame started by Andy Leonard's double to the gap in left center. A Brett Schaefer single two batters later put runners at the corners for Ganek, who hit a single through the right side of the infield to drive in a run.
That kept two runners on for Rutta, who blasted the fifth pitch he saw from Steven Masur over the left field fence to increase UIC's lead to 9-4. Orf hit an RBI single moments later.
The rookie pitching tandem of Heesch and Matt Salemi took care of the rest, allowing just three hits in the final three innings to keep the Fighting Irish (25-17) at bay.
UIC had struck the game's initial blow in the third, when Orf hit a two-out RBI double. Notre Dame answered with three runs in its half of that inning before the Flames tallied a pair of runs in both the fourth and the fifth to reclaim the lead and never relinquish it.
Rutta has driven in 11 runs in UIC's last six games.
The Flames cranked out 13 hits, the third straight contest of double-digit base knocks. UIC is averaging 16.0 hits per game during that span.
UIC returns home to host Wright State in a crucial three-game Horizon League series beginning this Friday at 6:05 p.m. at Les Miller Field.
