May 22, 2010

Box Score

Game 1 Box Score in PDF Format

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Game 2 Box Score in PDF Format

CHICAGO - The UIC baseball team concluded the 2010 regular season on a goregeous Saturday afternoon by splitting a Horizon League doubleheader against the Valparaiso Crusaders at Les Miller Field.

The Crusaders (22-30, 9-10 Horizon League) got the best of the home team in the opener, winning a tight ballgame, 9-8. The Flames (22-28, 14-9 Horizon League) rallied back behind the left arm of Eric Wyman and a bunch of timely hitting to take the nightcap, 10-5.

UIC finishes the regular season in third place behind regular season champion, Wright State and Milwaukee. Valpo finishes in fourth.

Both teams will now prepare for the 2010 Horizon League Championship which gets underway from the U.S. Steel Yard in nearby Gary, Ind. on Wednesday morning.

Official times and seeds will be available tomorrow or Monday.

GAME 2 - UIC 10, Valpo 5:

Starter Eric Wyman struck out a career-best 10 batters in 5.0 IP and the Flames received timely hits from up and down the lineup to rebound in game two and knock off Valparaiso to secure the series victory, two games to one.

Wyman was dealing early, striking out five of the first six Valpo hitters to come to the dish. The junior fanned the side in the second inning, getting all three hitters to swing and miss.

UIC had the offense working early on, as well. Senior Ty Rubio led off the game with a walk and he would come around to score on Matt Serna's RBI double.

Mike Dee's squad added another tally in the second inning when Ryan Meehan walked to start that frame and scored on Andy Leonard's ground out.

The Brown and Gold came charging back to grab the lead in the third, collecting four runs with the bulk of the damage coming on Bo McClendon's bases-clearing RBI triple. The Flames' left fielder Chris Rutta was running in to make a play, but slipped on his diving attempt which allowed the ball to scurry to the wall.

Serna hit his second double in as many at-bats to lead off the third and the junior crossed the plate on Ryan Boss' fielder's choice that retired Rutta from the basepaths. Serna also collected an RBI ground out in the fourth that allowed Leonard to score the game's tying run.

Also in the fourth, Rubio tied Chad Schroeder's all-time school record after being hit by the 40th pitch of his career.

In the seventh inning, UIC began to pour it on. Boss walked to start the frame and he scored all the way from first on a double to deep center off the bat off Meehan. John Rosinski was hit by a pitch and Steven Humble placed a perfect bunt down the third base line to load the bases for Leonard, who delivered with a two-run double.

Rubio also added an RBI sacrifice fly in the inning and when the dust cleared, UIC hung a six-spot on the scoreboard and never looked back.

Charlie Weinberg picked up the win, his second of the season. The freshman allowed just one hit and struck out two in 2.0 IP.

Jason Ganek threw the final two innings, striking out a pair and allowing just one unearned run.

GAME 1 - Valpo 9, UIC 8: The Crusaders took the opener of the doubleheader, 9-8 after striking for two in the first inning and five more in the third off UIC starter Tim Suminski.

After allowing two Crusader runs in the first, the Flames rallied right back for five tallies of their own off of Valpo starter Damon McCormick.

Matt Serna had an RBI single in the opening stanza, but the big blow came off the bat of freshman Ryan Boss who belted a grand slam, his sixth home run of the season, over the wall in left field to give UIC a 5-2 advantage.

After a scoreless second, the Crusaders strung together a walk, four singles and a sacrifice fly to center field to push across five runs and recapture the lead, 7-5.

Valpo added another in the top of the fourth, but in the bottom of the frame, the Flames began to cut into the lead when Leonard singled and scored on Steve McGuiggan's RBI triple to right centerfield. McGuiggan scored when the next batter, Ganek, reached on an error by Valpo third baseman Karch Kowalczyk.

Leonard singled and scored another run in the bottom of the eighth, this time on a double by Ganek.

Trailing by one, and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Boss ripped a ball the opposite way to deep to right field and narrowly missed a game-tying home run. The freshman, who finished a single shy of the cycle in game one, settled for a triple and a chance to score the tying tally with fellow freshman Joe Betcher at the dish. Unfortunately for Flames fans, Betcher flied out to right field and the game was over.

Suminski took the loss. He fell to 3-6.

McCormick picked up his sixth win of the season for Valparaiso. Austen Siwiec earned his first save of the year after recording the final five outs.

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