March 22, 2013

Final Stats

CHICAGO - The UIC baseball team (7-10, 2-2 HL) suffered a series-opening defeat against Milwaukee (7-10, 3-1) by a final score of 4-0 on Friday afternoon at Les Miller Field. UWM's Jake Long kept the Flames off balance by tossing a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits. UIC starter Tomas Michelson did all he could in seven innings of work, but was saddled with the loss after giving up just two earned runs and six hits.

"We were too passive at the plate today," said head coach Mike Dee. "Tomas gave us another great start and we had opportunities to win the game, but you're not going to do that when you only have about nine quality at-bats all day. We have to come out tomorrow and try and get the doubleheader."

Junior Alex Jurich was the lone bright spot in UIC's lineup, going 2-for-2 from the dish and reached base on all four plate appearances. Redshirt seniors Ryan Shober and Alex Grunenwald were the other two Flames' batters to record a hit on the day.

Perhaps UIC's best chance for some runs came in the bottom of the ninth when the bases were loaded. Grunenwald and Jurich reached base with a pair of singles and senior Joe Betcher was walked to juice the bags. With two outs and the tying-run at the plate, junior John Coen sent a screamer toward the right side, but the UWM second baseman fielded the ball cleanly and converted the game-ending groundout.

Saturday's doubleheader will commence at 12:05 p.m. CT as freshman Jack Andersen will take the mound in the game two and senior Joey Begel in game three.

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