Feb. 20, 2010

Box Score

CARY, N.C.- The UIC baseball team cut an eight-run deficit down to one with a seven-run fourth inning, but the Flames' comeback attempt could not keep up with the Canisius offense in a 16-10 loss of Saturday's twinbill nightcap at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Chris Rutta and Ryan Meehan homered and Andy Leonard drove in two runs for the Flames (0-3).

Rafael Garcia made his collegiate debut on the mound as the starter and began the game with three solid innings. The junior, who was the Flames' starting shortstop two years ago, displayed quality velocity in his first pitching outing and allowed just two runs in the first trio of frames.

But Garcia ran into trouble in the fourth, when the Griffins (3-0) sent 10 men to the plate and churned out seven runs to take a 9-1 lead. Three of those runs came on Shayne Wilson's two-out home run.

UIC answered with seven runs of its own in the bottom half of the fourth. Andy Leonard drove in two runs on a single, and two batters later Rutta crushed a 1-2 offering from Billy Martin over the left centerfield wall for a three-run jack that cut the deficit down to three runs.

The deficit shrunk to a single run when, three batters after Rutta's blast, Meehan belted the second pitch he saw from Martin to the same area that Rutta's homer landed for a two-run shot that made the score 9-8 after four. The homer was the first of Meehan's collegiate career.

While it seemed that the game was on its way to a slugfest, the Flames' offense stagnated while the Griffins' bats continued to haunt UIC pitching. Canisius plated a run in the fifth to extend its lead to two, and a total of six runs crossed the plate against a pair of Flames relievers between the seventh and eighth innings.

UIC scored twice in the eighth on John Rosinski's RBI double and a pair of wild pitches that brought Rosinski home, but that was all the Flames were able to put on the scoreboard after the seven-run fourth.

UIC concludes its four-game stay at the USA Baseball Complex Classic against Le Moyne on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 9:30 a.m. Central.

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