Final Stats

	Wright State 11, UIC 3 Horizon League Baseball Championship Nischwitz Stadium • Fairborn, Ohio Box Score | Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio -- UIC scored early on Thursday morning, but not often enough as the fourth-seeded Flames fell to the top-seeded Wright State Raiders in an Horizon League Championship contest, 11-3. Head coach Mike Dee's squad will be back on the field at Nischwitz Stadium at 6 p.m. CDT this evening to take on the loser of game four between No. 2 Milwaukee and No. 3 Valparaiso.

The Flames dented the scoreboard first in their second game of the conference tournament, orchestrating a two-out rally in the top of the first inning. Right fielder Conor Philbin, a lefty, flipped a single to the opposite field off WSU's Jesse Scholtens. All-Horizon League First Team second baseman David Cronin followed by muscling a two-bagger to the left-field corner that allowed Philbin to come all the way around to score. The line kept moving when perhaps UIC's hottest hitter, Gabe Dwyer, laced a base hit to center field that plated Cronin and gave the Flames a 2-0 lead.

The Raiders posted a crooked number of their own against UIC's Jake Dahlberg in the home half of the second inning. After a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases, WSU's JD Orr singled to bring home his team's first run. The regular-season champions plated one more, but left the bases loaded to end the stanza.

The third inning was the first entirely scoreless frame of the day, but Wright State soon broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth off Dahlberg and reliever Austin Smith.

Trailing 7-2, UIC got one run back in the top of the fifth with Philbin and Cronin providing the spark for the offense once again. Philbin started the inning with a double to center field ahead of Cronin. The sophomore pulled the baseball this time around and he ended up with his second two-base hit of the afternoon. The Flames would add two more base runners in the inning, but they could not scratch out another tally.

WSU added four more runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth against Smith to provide the cushion needed to seal the victory. A pair of freshmen, Reid Birlingmair and Charlie Cerny, closed the game with a combined 3.1 scoreless innings of relief.

In addition to multi-hit efforts from Philbin and Cronin, UIC newcomers Alex Dee and Scott Ota registered two hits apiece for the Flames.

UIC will regroup quickly as it faces an elimination game back at Nischwitz Stadium at 6 p.m. CDT. The Flames will face the loser of the contest between No. 2 Milwaukee and No. 3 Valparaiso, which is slated for a 2 p.m. CDT first pitch this afternoon.