March 19, 2011
Box Score
UIC 10, Wisconsin-Superior 3
UIC 6, Saint Scholastica 5
CHICAGO - After cruising to a 10-3 victory over Wisconsin-Superior in its first game Saturday, the UIC baseball team used every last at-bat to overcome Saint Scholastica, knocking off the Saints in the bottom of ninth, 6-5.
Freshman Jon Ryan came up with the biggest hit of his young collegiate career on Saturday afternoon, a one-out single down the right field line which allowed pinch-runner John Coen to score the tying run and Jason Ganek to score the sixth and final run of the game. Ryan was down in the count before turning on the inside pitch and placing it past a diving Mike Harris of the Saints (9-3).
The ninth-inning rally started when Alex De LaRosa walked and moved to second on Ganek's single. First baseman Joe Betcher placed down a perfect sacrifice bunt to give the Flames (6-10) two runners in scoring position with just one out. Matt Serna was intentionally walked to load the bases ahead of Ryan who delivered the game-winning hit.
Saint Scholastica jumped on UIC early, scoring in each of the first three innings off starter Joey Begel. The sophomore's day was done after 2.1 IP, having surrendered five runs. Tim Suminski and Chris Hoffman (2-1) did tremendous work out of the bullpen for Mike Dee's squad to hold the Saints at bay and allow the offense to mount a comeback.
Suminski threw 3.0 IP and allowed only two hits while striking out a career-high five batters. Hoffman allowed two hits as well over 3.2 IP while fanning three. The junior notched his second win as member of the Flames and saw his ERA drop to 1.84.
Ganek was responsible for the first RBI of the game for UIC in the third inning and he also brought his team to within one in the bottom of the seventh with a towering solo home run over the left center field wall, his team-high fourth bomb of the season. The third baseman finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored in the nightcap.
De LaRosa and Betcher joined Ryan and Ganek with RBI in the win.
Earlier in the day, sophomore Charlie Weinberg (1-3) coasted through 7.0 IP and struck out a career-high eight batters as he led the Flames to a 10-3 victory over Wisconsin-Superior. The right-hander scattered seven hits and his only mistake came on a solo home run in the top of the second inning to Mike Labelle.
Ryan allowed two unearned runs in the eighth inning and freshman Collin Weyer tossed a scoreless ninth inning to close the game out for UIC.
Ganek delivered a huge blast in the first game, a three-run homer in the third inning which gave the Flames a 5-1 lead it would never relinquish.
Steve McGuiggan, Nick Addison, De LaRosa and Harry Kammholz also deliver run-scoring hits for the Flames in the seven-run win; McGuiggan, De LaRosa and Serna each collected three hits to pace the 17-hit offensive outburst.
With two wins on Saturday, UIC skipper Mike Dee now has 398 career victories at the helm for UIC. He'll attempt to add to that total on Tuesday afternoon at The Mill when the Flames host Edgewood at 1:05 p.m.
