March 27, 2010
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
CHICAGO- The UIC baseball team split a doubleheader with Horizon League rival Milwaukee at Les Miller Field on Saturday, rebounding from a 13-5 loss with a 10-4 defeat in the nightcap.
Steve McGuiggan went 5-for-10 on the day with four runs scored and a homer, while Chris Rutta drove in five runs during the two games.
UIC moved to 5-14 on the season and 2-1 in the Horizon League, while Milwaukee is now 5-13 overall and 1-2 in league play.
GAME 2 - UIC 10, Milwaukee 4
UIC rallied from an early 3-0 deficit with a five-run third and broke open the game with a four-run fifth to beat the Panthers 10-4 in Saturday's finale.
Starter Chris Kovacevich settled down after a shaky start to pitch seven solid innings for his first win of the season. He allowed a run in each of the first three innings before shutting down the potent Panther offense in his final four frames, allowing just a single tally in that span.
With Milwaukee ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the third, UIC's offense erupted. Tthree straight Flames singled following Andy Leonard's one-out walk, with Rutta driving in a pair on a hit through the left side.
Matt Serna then reached base on a fielder's choice that was botched by a throwing error on third baseman Paul Hoenecke, allowing Jason Ganek to score the tying run.
John Rosinski drove in the go-ahead run on a single to left center, and Joe Betcher tacked on another score with an RBI squeeze bunt that brought Serna home from third.
Rutta struck again with a two-out RBI double in the fourth, and Rosinski led off the fifth with a homer over the right field wall that extended UIC's lead to 7-3.
The Flames lit up the scoreboard three more times in the fifth with two outs. Ty Rubio drew a walk, and after Leonard singled to put two aboard, McGuiggan crushed a full-count offering from Jayme Sukowaty past the left field wall for a three-run shot that put UIC up 10-3.
Milwaukee mustered a run with two outs in the seventh off Kovacevich, but the lefty induced an inning-ending grounder off the bat of Sam Sivilotti to cap his 122-pitch day.
Matt Salemi came out of the bullpen to pitch a pair of scoreless innings.
GAME 1 - Milwaukee 13, UIC 5
Starter Michael Heesch could not get out of the second inning as Milwaukee scored eight runs during the first two innings in the Flames' 13-5 loss to the Panthers in Saturday's opener.
Milwaukee sent nine men to the plate in the first and eight to the dish in the second to jump ahead early and often.
The Panthers scored a run in the third and three in the fourth before UIC's offense finally broke through with a five-run fifth. Rutta hit a two-run double, and a bases-loaded dropped fly ball to right off the bat of Rosinski that would have ended the inning allowed the bases to be cleared for a three-run, two-base error.
But that was all the offense that the Flames could manufacture, as Panther pitched Kyle Schmidt threw eight runs of relief that stymied the UIC hitters.
Heesch was charged with five earned runs and seven total runs on seven hits in an inning of work, while Brad Riegler allowed five in three innings of relief.
A bright spot on the mound for the Flames was Joey Begel's relief performance. The rookie right-hander allowed just one run in five innings of work.
UIC hosts Northwestern this Tuesday, March 30 at 7:05 p.m. at Les Miller Field.
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