NASHVILLE – UIC went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's top programs for the second time in less than 24 hours, but the Flames to No. 7 Vanderbilt in the middle game of a three-game set Saturday, 6-2.
 
UIC took advantage of three Commodore errors to score a pair of unearned runs, but the Flames could not come up with a clutch hit with runners in scoring position (0-for-9) and they left eight runners on base at Hawkins Field.
 
David Cronin led UIC with two hits as he posted his team-best third multi-hit game of the season. Rob Calabrese and Brandon Gibis scored runs for the Flames. On the mound, Jack Andersen struck out seven VU hitters in 3.2 innings pitched, but he allowed five runs on seven hits. Freshman Jacob Key backed up Andersen and allowed one run over the game's final 4.1 IP.
 
How It Happened
Both pitchers worked easy 1-2-3 frames in the first before the Flames looked to get something going in the top of the second. Cronin and Scott Ota led off the inning with back-to-back singles, but VU's Patrick Raby spun back-to-back strikeouts before retiring Gibis to end the threat. The Commodores put together their own threat with a two-single and a stolen base, but Andersen fanned Jason Delay to end the inning.
 
Vanderbilt broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Connor Kaiser and JJ Bleday each drove in a run, but Andresen struck out three batters in the inning, including two with two runners in scoring position and one out, to limit the damage.
 
Raby sent the Flames down in order in the top of the fourth before the Commodores added three more runs with the help of two hits and an error to end Andersen's outing in the bottom of the fourth. Key relieved Andersen and struck out Will Toffey with a runner in scoring position to get out of trouble.
 
UIC tried to make some noise in the top of the fifth. Gibis drew a one-out walk and he went first-to-third when Cody Bohanek poked a single through the right side with two away. The Flames then manufactured a run on the base paths. Gibis scored and Bohanek took second on a throwing error from Delay, Vanderbilt's catcher. That tally cut the deficit to four runs, but UIC could not add on as Raby got a groundball to end the inning with Bohanek in scoring position.
 
The Commodores got another run with the help of a single and a pair of walks in the bottom of the fifth. VU had runners on the corners, threatening to add on, but Key and UIC catcher Calabrese teamed up and the backstop threw out a would-be base stealer at second to put an end to the fifth.
 
Raby was finished after six innings and the Flames sent across another run against the bullpen in the top of the seventh. Calabrese reached on fielding error to lead off the inning before Ricardo Ramirez was hit by a pitch. Gibis put down a sacrifice bunt to push his teammates up 90 feet each. With two outs and Bohanek at the dish, Vanderbilt's Penn Murfee bounced a wild pitch that allowed Calabrese to score and bring UIC back to within four, trailing 6-2.
 
The Flames nearly chipped away even further in the top of the eighth. Mickey McDonald and Cronin singled before Calabrese walked to load the bases for Ramirez. The first baseman was unable to drive in a run this time, however, as he flied out to center to end the inning with the Commodores unscathed.
 
Key surrendered a lead-off double to begin the bottom of the eighth and he had a runner on third with just one out. The freshman issued a pair of bases on ball to pack the base paths, but pitching in his home state, Key got Toffey to pop up to Cronin at second base to finish the frame.
 
UIC was unable to mount a ninth-inning comeback and seventh-ranked Vanderbilt was able to even the series with a 6-2 victory.

Quotable


 
Beyond the Box Score

• The loss snapped a three-game winning streak that included two wins on Sunday, Feb. 19, over two different teams, and a defeat of Vandy on Friday night, 5-3, in extra innings.
• UIC was held to less than four runs for the first time all season. It was also the first time in six games this year that the Flames failed to register an extra-base hit.
• In three collegiate appearances (one start), Key owns a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 IP. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native has allowed only two earned runs, while striking out eight.
• Andersen owns 13 strikeouts over 9.1 IP in his two starts this season.
• Cronin is batting a team-best .417 with 10 hits through six games.
• Though neither had a hit Saturday, Gibis and Ramirez have reached base safely in five consecutive games, the longest active streaks on the team.

 Up Next

• The series will conclude with the rubber match on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m..
• Sophomore Reid Birlingmair is slated to make his second start of the season on the mound for the Flames.
• In his 2017 debut, Birlingmair registered 10 strikeouts without a walk as he bested Prairie View A&M on Sunday, Feb. 19. The Normal, Ill., native was never behind in the count in 6.2 IP.
• Sunday's game can be seen on the SEC Network+.