CHICAGO – On a wild day that featured temperatures in both the 80's and the 40's, UIC and Valparaiso battled to a doubleheader split at Granderson Stadium Friday. The Flames won the opener, 10-7, before Valpo claimed the nightcap by a score of 4-2.
 
Scott Ota did a bulk of the heavy lifting on offense Friday. The sophomore drove in seven runs on the day, including a career-high six with a grand slam in the first game. He also matched a career high with three hits in game two. Mickey McDonald has four hits in the two games, while Thomas Norton added three and scored a team-high three runs.
 
On the mound, Jake Dahlberg collected his third consecutive in the first game for UIC. Alex Padilla played a pivotal role in relief and tossed 2.2 scoreless innings to earn his first save for the Flames. Reid Birlingmair had one tough inning in game two and it resulted in three runs for the Crusaders and his first loss of the season. Noah Masa pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out four in the second game.
 
How It Happened (Game One)
Valparaiso grabbed an early lead when Nate Palace hit a solo home run on the third pitch of the game, however UIC wasted little time in getting it right back in the bottom of the frame. Three consecutive singles from Cody Bohanek, Ricardo Ramirez and Ota punched in a run. Ota's solid single to left field plated Bohanek from second base.
 
After Dahlberg danced out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second, the Flames hammered Valpo starter Mario Losi in the bottom of the frame. Rob Calabrese led off the frame with a towering home run to left field, his third of the season. Brandon Gibis then singled on the infield, Norton was hit by a pitch and David Cronin walked to load the bases ahead of Bohanek. The senior worked a lengthy at-bat and eventually hit a fly ball deep enough to score Gibis from third. Ramirez drew a base on balls to set the stage for Ota. The UIC right fielder deposited the first pitch he saw in the at-bat over the wall in right-center field for a grand slam, the first of the season for the Flames.
 
UIC continued to add on against reliever Chad Jacob. Norton was hit by a pitch before Cronin poked a single through the right side and Ramirez walked to load the bases for Ota in the second consecutive inning. This time the Foster City, Calif., native muscled a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Norton in with ease and register his sixth RBI of the ballgame through three at-bats.
 
The Flames continued to pour it on, adding two more tallies in the fourth. Gibis reached on a fielder's choice and Norton then flipped a pitch into the UIC bullpen in left field for a two-run home run, the first of his career. The third baseman's long ball increased UIC's lead to nine runs at 10-1 after four.
 
The Crusaders chipped away with a run in the fifth when Palace grounded out to Bohanek at shortstop, but brought Chase Dawson in to score on the play. Valparaiso continued to close in with four runs in the top of the sixth as it batted around. The Crusaders doubled three times in the inning to pull within four.
 
VU plated another run in the top of the seventh and the Crusaders had the base loaded with only one away as they looked to draw even closer. Padilla was summoned out of the bullpen and the redshirt sophomore got a high fly ball to Cronin in shallow right field for the second out. With the bags still packed, he got leadoff man James Stea to hit a ground ball that ended the frame.
 
Padilla found himself in a sticky spot once again in the top of the eighth. After securing back-to-back outs to open the frame, Padilla surrendered back-to-back singles before a walk loaded the bases. When he needed it most, the Chicagoan got Patrick Donohue to hit a grounder to Cronin at second that ended the frame.
 
The ninth inning was much less eventful and that was just fine for the Flames. Padilla set down Valpo in order to finish the ballgame and nail down his first career save in the process.
 
How It Happened (Game Two)
The bats couldn't get going at the start of game two, but Birlingmair was humming along on the mound for UIC. He stranded four Crusaders on base over the first three innings and worked his first 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fourth. Valparaiso finally began to crack the sophomore in the fifth.
 
Valpo coaxed a leadoff walk and it had two runners in scoring position with one out after Stea hit a ground-rule double. Birlingmair got a big assist from Calabrese for the second out when the backstop back-picked Patrick Donohue off third base for the second out, but Chad Jacob's second home run of the season, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, helped the Crusaders get a 2-0 lead. The visitors later got another run in the inning when Sam Shaikin drew a bases-loaded walk.
 
The Flames were hitting the ball well, but leaving men on base as they stranded five through five innings. The tide began to turn when they finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. McDonald popped a bunt into no-man's land with two outs in the inning and he got to third when Calabrese smashed a double that one-hopped over the fence. Designated hitter Matt Bottcher then hit a dribbler out to Jacob at shortstop and the infielder couldn't make a play, allowing McDonald to come home and cut into the deficit.
 
UIC put together another two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Bohanek was hit by a pitch with two away before Ramirez clobbered a ground-rule double to the opposite field in right. Ota was next and he hit a slow roller to Jacob at shortstop. The UIC sophomore busted out of the box and beat the throw, allowing Bohanek to score and pull the Flames within a run at 3-2.
 
Valparaiso got another double, its third of the game, to set up another insurance run. Ryan Campbell got two ground outs, but the Crusaders got the run home on an RBI single from Chase Dawson that proved to be the final tally of the day.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• UIC won eight consecutive games before dropping the second game of the doubleheader. That matched the longest streak since the 2015 Flames won as many times between May 5-21 that spring.
• Ota is enjoying a prolific week at the plate. In three games thus far against Northwestern and Valparaiso, the sophomore is batting .500 (6-for-12) with two home runs (one grand slam), 10 RBI and 12 total bases. He is leading the Flames with 22 RBI this season, one shy of the 23 runs he drove in as a freshman a year ago.
• The sophomore is batting a team-best .412 in Horizon League play with two-extra base hits and nine RBI.
• Bohanek extended his hitting streak to 11 games win the first game Friday, but he was held hitless in three at-bats in game two. He did get hit by a pitch twice in the second contest of the day.
• Bowen Ogata went 1-for-4 in game one to extend his hitting streak to nine games, which is now the longest active mark on the team.
• Alex Padilla has scattered three hits and yet to allow a run over 6.1 innings of work in Horizon League play.
• The loss in game two was UIC's first at Granderson Stadium this season (5-1). The Flames are outscoring the opposition 34-13 at home and the pitching staff is holding the other side to a batting average of .173.
• The temperature at first pitch was 82 degrees, but by the time the game ended less than three hours later, the air dipped to a cool 48 degrees.

 Up Next

• Due to an unfavorable forecast on Saturday, the conclusion of the series has been pushed to Sunday, March 26. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. CT
• Fifth-year senior Jack Andersen will make his fifth start of the season for the Flames. The Crusaders have not announced a probable starter as of Friday evening.