March 5, 2011
Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The UIC baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with the Big XII Conference's Missouri Tigers on Saturday. The Flames won the opener, 11-7, before falling in the nightcap, 11-4.
Game One:
Game One Box Score in PDF Format 
Leadoff man Steve McGuiggan drew a walk to start the game, but the center fielder was promptly picked off. Alex De LaRosa also walked and moved to third on Jason Ganek's single. Jon Ryan kept the line moving with a base hit up the middle to plate De LaRosa and give UIC (2-7) an early, 1-0 lead.
The Tigers (3-6) bounced right back and put up two runs off Flames starter Joey Begel (1-1) to take their first lead of the game 2-1.
In the top of the second inning, the Flames countered with a pair of tallies to grab back the lead, 3-2. Matt Serna hit a single and Ryan Shober reached on an error before McGuiggan reached on an infield single; Serna and Shober both scored unearned runs on the play after Mizzou starter Matt Stites (0-1) was charged with an error.
The third frame was scoreless for both teams, but the top of the order for UIC went to work again in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, McGuiggan was hit by a pitch and DeLaRosa drew his second walk of the afternoon; both runners would score when Ganek belted an opposite-field RBI double to right field to give UIC a 5-2 lead.
Begel continued to work efficiently against the Tigers and the Flames padded the lead once again in the fifth. This time, it was Serna who connected for a double that would score Andy Leonard and Nick Addison, both of whom singled earlier in the inning. UIC led 7-2 after five innings of play at Taylor Stadium.
The Flames were held in check in the top of the sixth, but Missouri pushed across four runs with the help of three hits and two UIC errors to slice the deficit to one at 7-6.
In the eighth, it was the Flames who took advantage of two errors by the Tigers to help plate three runs on just one hit. Ganek, Leonard and Harry Kammholz scored the three tallies in the inning to help UIC increase the lead to four.
One more insurance run was tacked on in the top of the ninth when McGuiggan singled, moved to second on a wild pitch by Missouri reliever Dusty Ross and scored when De LaRosa wrapped a single down the left field line to make it 11-6, UIC.
Mizzou's Andrew Thigpen led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off Flames reliever Chris Hoffman to start the Tigers rally. Conner Mach singled to score Thigpen. Hoffman was lifted for Eric Wyman and the Tigers continued to make a late push. McGuiggan made two stellar plays in the inning; the Apple Valley, Minn. native recorded the first out of the ninth when he threw in to second to force Mach. With runners at second and third, Wyman got Dane Opel to fly out to McGuiggan and the All-Horizon League outfielder fired the ball to De LaRosa at first to double off Jesse Santo to end game one.
Begel notched his first win of the season after allowing five earned runs over 5.0 IP. Hoffman worked 3.0 IP, allowing one run on two hits. Wyman finished off the game with a scoreless inning of work.
Game Two:
Game Two Box Score in PDF Format
Mizzou jumped all over the Flames early in the nightcap en route to an 11-4 victory.
The Tigers tagged UIC starter Charlie Weinberg (0-3) for earned runs in the first inning after the right-hander walked the first three hitters he faced to load the bases before an RBI double plated the first two runs of the game. Missouri added two more runs in both the third and fourth innings to stretch the lead to 6-0.
UIC finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Shober got it started with a double and McGuiggan followed with a base on balls. De LaRosa singled to center which allowed Shober to score the first run of the nightcap. The next batter, Ganek, also singled to allow McGuiggan to score and pull to within four of the Tigers at 6-4.
In the bottom of the inning, Mizzou exploded for five runs off freshman relievers Collin Weyer and Clint Terry to push the lead to nine and essentially put the game out of reach.
The Flames did push across two runs in the top of the ninth to close out 11-4 when Alex Jurich collected his first collegiate RBI with a double to score pinch hitter Ryan Boss who walked to start the inning. Jurich eventually scored on an error by the Tigers.
The two teams will meet in the rubber-match on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. That is one hour earlier than the previously-announced start time. Matt Salemi is slated to make his third start of the season for UIC in the matinee, while Mizzou has yet to announce a starting pitcher.
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