March 21, 2012

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill. - The UIC softball team (12-13 overall/0-0 Horizon) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead to begin the contest with Western Illinois, but the Flames fell in an 8-5 outcome Wednesday inside the Mary Ellen McKee Stadium in Macomb, Ill.

UIC led off the game with three runs in the first inning as senior Melinda Macias (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo) and junior Melissa Preish (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) were both walked. Sophomore Jacki Fletcher (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) then singled to score Macias. Then, Preish scored on a passed ball, before sophomore Jenna Marsalli (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) hit a sacrifice fly ball to score Fletcher for the Flames third run of the inning.

The Leathernecks then scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to place the score in UIC's favor, 3-2. The Flames added two more runs in the top of the second inning. Natalie Hernandez (Glendora, Calif./Glendora) began the second inning being hit by a pitch to reach base. Preish earned an RBI as she scored Hernandez, before Macias scored off of a single by junior Coryn Schmit (Hawthorn Hills, Ill./Lake Zurich) to increase the Flames lead to 5-2.

UIC would remain scoreless through the rest of the contest as Western Illinois added three runs in the bottom of the third inning, one in the fifth inning and its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overtake the Flames in an 8-5 decision.

The Flames return to action Saturday as the squad has their home opener and conference opener versus Cleveland State in a doubleheader that begins at 1:00 p.m. (CT) at the Flames Field in Chicago, Ill.