CARBONDALE, Ill. – The UIC softball team (9-7) struggled to find its bats Saturday as it dropped its first pair of games at the Coach B Classic. The Flames first fell to Northern Illinois (7-4), 6-1, before they went down to No. 19/21 Kentucky (13-4), 6-2, at Charlotte West Stadium.
 
A mere six hits were created by UIC across the two games. Kaleigh Nagle (2), Lexi Watts, Jasmine Willis, Taylor Cairns and Claire Crane made up the total as Willis, Nagle and Crane made up the team's three RBI. Notably, Willis' run came in with the Flames' first home run of the 2017 campaign.
 
UIC will close out its stay at Southern Illinois on Sunday when it looks to bounce back in a set with Western Illinois at 11 a.m. CT and Murray State at 3 p.m.
 
Northern Illinois 6, UIC 1
 
In addition to being plagued by four errors, UIC tabbed just five hits late in the game against NIU. While Nagle (2), Watts and Cairns added tallies, it was Willis who ended the potential shutout as she homered.
 
Karissa Frazier earned the start and threw the first three innings as she struck out one, walked four, allowed two hits and earned just one of the first four runs scored. Jennah Speth was impressive in relief as she finished the final four frames with six strikeouts, three walks and three hits.  
 
It was a rough start for UIC as NIU jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning due to two walks and three errors committed by the Flames. The Huskies threatened again in the third as they loaded the bases with two outs off an error, a single and a walk but all were left on base.
 
Another two runs came across the plate for NIU in the fourth as a pair of walks put two on and a two-out double scored both runners for the 6-0 advantage.
 
Nagle earned UIC's first hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth as she led off the inning with a single. Crane would reach on a fielder's choice on the next play, with Nagle safe at second, but a double play and ground out ended the frame without the Flames pushing in a run.
 
In the sixth, UIC would get another leadoff runner with Watts reaching on an infield single but the Huskies turned another double play to clear the bases. Willis then stepped to the plate and hit the Flames' first homer to put UIC on the board.
 
The Flames did not stop there as they came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. Nagle singled with one out and then moved over to third following a ground out and a single for Cairns. Tiana Mack-Miller walked to load the bases but they would be left that way to end the game.
 
#19/21 Kentucky 6, UIC 2
 
UIC could not hang on to its early lead as Kentucky homered twice, becoming the first opponent this season to do so. The Flames were credited with a season-low one hit, which came from Crane as she also earned a RBI.
 
Elaine Heflin threw the complete game and struck out five, walked one and allowed seven hits, while the Wildcats were retired in order in four of their appearances at the plate.
 
After a quick first inning, UIC came out in the second to take the 2-0 lead. Kayla Wedl earned a four-pitch walk and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Alice Fitzpatrick before she was joined on the bases by Savannah Soppet, who picked up the free base. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and then Nagle hit into a ground out that allowed Wedl to come across the plate. Following a pitching change for Kentucky, Crane singled and Soppet came in for the second run.
 
The Wildcats went down in order again in the second before coming out in the third to post a leadoff triple and then bring the runner in with a two-out single, narrowing the Flames lead to 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Kentucky was able to jump pull away with the 6-2 lead. Jenny Schaper, who tripled earlier, first sent a solo home run out to left field. A walk and back-to-back singles then loaded the bases, which set up Abbey Cheek to hit a grand slam, serving as the last base-runner of the game.