NEW ORLEANS – UIC busted into the win column in a big way Sunday with wins over Grambling State and Prairie View A&M during the final day of the 2017 MLB Urban Youth Invitational. The Flames defeated Grambling State in the first game, 9-3, before closing the weekend with a 6-1 triumph over Prairie View A&M.
 
Ricardo Ramirez homered in both games Sunday for UIC, while Thomas Norton drove in four runs and clubbed three doubles. On the mound, the Flames scattered only seven hits and allowed three earned in the two SWAC schools.
 
In the day's first game against Grambling State, freshman Jacob Key took the ball on the bump for the first time and delivered a quality start, 6.0 innings pitched with only two runs allowed, one of which was unearned. Key's offense supported him well as four different players drove in at least two runs, highlighted by Norton's three RBI.
 
Sophomore Reid Birlingmair earned the start in game two and he delivered another quality outing. The Normal, Ill., native allowed but one run over his 6.2 IP, fanning a career-high 10 batters in the process.
 
How It Happened (Game 1 vs. Grambling State)
After both teams failed to make any noise on the scoreboard in the first inning, UIC handed freshman starting pitched Jacob Key a sizable lead in the top of the second. Rob Calabrese and Scott Ota drew walks sandwiched around a double of the bat of Ricardo Ramirez to load the bases with one out for Thomas Norton. Making his first start of the season at the hot corner, Norton stepped to the dished and delivered a two-run single to center field.
 
Two batters later, and with Ota and Norton in scoring position, Mickey McDonald uncorked his second double of the season to plate two more. Then David Cronin, batting in the two hole for the first time this season, notched a base hit to bring McDonald in to score the fifth run of the inning.
 
After Key tossed another perfect inning, the Flames added two more runs to their tally. Calabrese drew a two-out walk before Ramirez belted his first home run of the season, a blast to left field, which increased the lead to 7-0.
 
Grambling State got on the scoreboard with an unearned run in the bottom of the third and another in the fourth to take its deficit from seven runs to five with UIC ahead, 7-2. The Flames were able to tag reliever Jonathan Reid for another run in the top of the sixth. Ramirez was walked to start the inning and he moved to third on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Ota. Then Norton delivered another big blow, a double to right field. He was cut down trying to stretch his extra-base hit into three and the inning ended two batters later without another tally.
 
UIC garnered its ninth and final run of the afternoon when Cronin flexed his muscle and deposited the baseball over the wall in right field to lead off the seventh frame. It was his first home run of the season, and the fourth of his career. The Tigers plated a run with the help of a pair of wild pitchers in the bottom half of that inning.
 
How It Happened (Game 2 vs. Prairie View A&M)
As it had in each of the first three games in 2017, UIC struck first on the scoreboard in the second game Sunday. Norton led off the frame with a double to right field before Brandon Gibis pushed him over with a sacrifice bunt. Newcomer Matt Bottcher then pushed a fly ball to center that was deep enough for Norton to score and give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
 
After Birlingmair struck out four of the first six Panthers he faced, he ran into a sticky spot in the bottom of the third. A lead-off single and a throwing error gave PVAMU two on with nobody out. The sophomore steadied himself and secured his fifth strikeout before getting a groundball that led to an inning-ending double play.
 
The Panthers hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to even the ledger at a run apiece, but UIC quickly went back on the offensive in the top of the sixth. It came on one swing of the bat when Gibis uncorked his first home run of the season to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
 
Birlingmair sent PVAMU down in order in the bottom of the sixth and the sophomore punctuated his days by striking out the Panthers clean-up hitter, Josh Wells, on three pitches.
 
UIC picked up two more runs in the top of the seventh, all with two outs. Ramirez hammered the second pitch he saw from Tyler Laux, sending it screaming over the wall for his second round-tripper in as many days. The Flames weren't done there however. Rob Calabrese drew a four-pitch walk and the catcher stole second base before heading on to third after Laux threw a wild one. The Norton uncorked a double that plated Calabrese to give the former his fourth RBI of the day, and UIC a 4-1 lead.
 
After the Flames' Noah Masa fired off 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Birlingmair, UIC added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Ramirez was hit by a pitch with one out before he got to third base and Calabrese got to second on a two-base error by PVAMU's Corbin Jamison. Ota drove in Ramirez on a sacrifice fly and an errant throw by Jamison allowed Calabrese to come home to make it 6-1.
 
Relievers Charlie Cerny and Ryan Campbell teamed up to finish off the game on the mound in the bottom of the ninth to secure the second win for their team in as many games Sunday.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• Birlingmair's 10 strikeouts Sunday were the most for a UIC pitcher this season, and the most since Jake Dahlberg struck out 10 Milwaukee Panthers on April 16, 2016. Dahlberg also struck out 10 against Oakland in a game earlier last season.
• Cronin is the only player to hit safely in all four games on the weekend. He batted .500 on the weekend (8-for-16) with two extra-base hits, two RBI and two stolen bases. The redshirt junior has an active eight-game hitting streak dating back to the end of the 2016 season.
• Calabrese joins Cronin as the only Flames to reach base safely in every game at the MLB Urban Youth Invitational.
• Masa has not allowed a baserunner in 2.1 innings of relief over two appearance this season. He owns three strikeouts out of the bullpen.
• In one day, Norton doubled his RBI total from last season. The Chicago, Ill., native garnered two RBI in 34 at-bats as a freshman in 2016.
• The UIC pitching staff posted a 3.41 ERA at the MLB Urban Youth Invitational, while holding the opposition to a batting average of .194. The Flames had 42 strikeout, while issuing only 12 walks for a ratio of 3.5.

Up Next

• UIC will travel to Nashville, Tenn., next weekend to take on No. 7 Vanderbilt in a three-game set.
• The Flames have scheduled games against Vandy in each season since 2013, and nine times since 2007. UIC volunteer assistant coach Brian Harris played for the Commodores from 2006-10.
• The first and third games of the series will be televised on the SEC Network+.