SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The UIC softball team (9-5) found the production it needed as it progressively rallied with two outs to take a 10-2 win over South Dakota (5-7) in five innings Sunday on the last day of the Santa Clara Invitational at the SCU Softball Stadium.
 
The Flames had their best offensive output in eight games as they put together 10 hits. The top of the lineup shined with Tiana Mack-Miller (1-for-1), Lexi Watts (3-for-3) and Kayla Wedl (3-for-3) combining to score five runs and tally five RBI. Timely hitting was key across the board as seven of the runs came in with two outs.
 
Elaine Heflin threw the complete game as she picked up her fifth win of the year. She struck out three and walked two while limiting the Coyotes to three hits.
 
UIC got it started early as it was able to hook a 2-0 lead after the first. Mack-Miller led off with a walk and Watts then attempted a sacrifice bunt but South Dakota committed an error to put two on with no outs. On the next play, Wedl put down a bunt single and another Coyotes error allowed one run to score, before Alice Fitzpatrick executed a sacrifice fly to score the second run.
 
South Dakota answered in the next half inning as a walk and a double led to one run scoring, and a single into left center plated another to tie the game at 2-2.
 
It did not take long for the Flames to come back out ahead as they scored again in the bottom of the second. Kaleigh Nagle led off with single, advanced on back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Claire Crane and Taylor Cairns, and scored with two outs on a single to right by Mack-Miller. Watts and Wedl then hit consecutive singles, with Wedl picking up two RBI.
 
In the third, UIC continued its scoring drive to go up 9-4. With two outs and runners at the corners after Savannah Soppet singled and Crane walked, Cairns reached with an infield single, but the Coyotes committed another error to score Soppet. Mack-Miller then loaded the bases with her second walk of the game and Watts came up with a chopper up the middle to score two.
 
After forcing South Dakota to go down in order in the final two frames, Cairns was hit by a pitch to lead off bottom of the fifth and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mack-Miller before rounding the bases for the walk-off run as Watts reached on a bunt single and the Coyotes threw the ball away.
 
UIC will return to the Midwest and prepare for Southern Illinois' Coach B Classic, set for March 4-5 in Carbondale, Ill., where it will be faced with Northern Illinois, Kentucky, Western Illinois and Murray State.