CHICAGO – UIC picked up its sixth and seventh wins in Horizon League play by knocking off the Milwaukee Panthers twice at Granderson Stadium Saturday. The Flames pounded out a season-high 11 runs to claim the opener, 11-4, before sophomore Reid Birlingmair stifled the Panthers in a two-hit shutout in the night cap as UIC won it, 5-0.
 
In game one, four different Flames drove in at least two runs, while the top six hitters in the starting lineup each scored at least once. UIC was designated as the visiting team Saturday and the Flames carried a 7-4 lead into the ninth inning. When it was finished they had sent nine batters to the plate and added four more tallies to the cushion.
 
Birlingmair was nothing short of brilliant in game two for the Flames. He was perfect through 6.2 innings and carried a no-hit bid into the ninth before the Panthers scratched out a pair of knocks in the final frame.
 
How It Happened (Game One)
The Flames opened the scoring in game one in the top of the second inning. The reigning Horizon League Batter of the Week hustled his way to a double to lead things off. Ricardo Ramirez singled with one away before Bowen Ogata was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Mickey McDonald. The center fielder delivered a sharp single up the middle of the diamond to bring Ota home and stake UIC to a one-run lead.
 
As Jake Dahlberg was cruising on the mound for the Flames by retiring the first eight Panthers he faced, UIC continued to add to the lead in the third inning. Thomas Norton was hit by a pitch to begin the frame before David Cronin singled to left field. After Ota moved the pair into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, Ramirez roped a base hit to right field to bring two more runs in.
 
UIC scored two more times in the fourth inning against UWM and starting pitcher Elijah Goodman. McDonald drew a leadoff walk and got to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Garrett Myers. Cody Bohanek drove McDonald home with a slicing double to right-center field. UIC's shortstop then scored on his own when Goodman uncorked a wild pitch, giving the Flames a 5-0 lead.
 
Milwaukee opened the bottom of the fourth with three consecutive singles that helped to score a pair of runs.
 
The Flames got another big run when Bohanek belted his second home run of the season, a towering shot out to UIC's left-field bullpen with two outs in the top of the sixth. Dahlberg worked seamlessly through six innings before running into a tough spot in the seventh. After a walk and a single, he was lifted for Noah Masa, but two batters later Chris Kelly laced a two-run single to left field that cut the Flames' lead down to two runs. Masa limited Milwaukee to only those two runs, getting a grounder and pop-out to Bohanek to end the threat.
 
Milwaukee's lack of control helped the Flames push across another score in the top of the eighth. Brandon Gibis singled with two away before three different Panthers hit three different Flames and Cronin picked up an RBI the hard way as he was third in the line.
 
Masa shut down the Panthers in succession in the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for the prolific ninth inning. Rob Calabrese singled to open the ninth and he was on third following a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt. After McDonald walked to load the bases, Gibis poked a two-run single through the left side that brought Calabrese and Ramirez home. McDonald went from first-to-third on the play, and he scored two batters later when Norton drew a bases-loaded walk. Cronin drove in the fourth and final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left-center field, scoring Gibis.
 
Masa and Ryan Campbell teamed up to pitch a scoreless ninth to nail down the team's 15^th win on the season and 11^th in its last 12 games.
 
How It Happened (Game Two)
UIC sent nine men to the plate and scored three times in the top of the second inning to stake Birlingmair to an early advantage. McDonald, Bohanek, and Norton all drove in runs against UWM starting pitcher Austin Schulfer.
 
Birlingmair cruised through the Panther lineup the first time through Saturday. After getting three fly balls in the first inning, he racked up one more plus two strikeouts in the second. The Normal, Ill., native punctuated the first time through the order by getting Billy Quirke to strikeout with the bat on his shoulder to end the third.
 
Schulfer settled down after his shaky second innings as he allowed just one hit over the next three innings, a single by Calabrese that was negated by a double play.
 
With Birlingmair perfect through five innings on the mound, his teammates pushed across another run for the sophomore in the top of the sixth. Calabrese was hit by a pitch to begin the frame and he went from first-to-third on an opposite-field knock from Ramirez. McDonald muscled a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Calabrese and pushed UIC's lead to four.
 
Birlingmair worked through the bottom-third of Milwaukee's lineup in the sixth, getting Quirke swinging to end the sixth. In the seventh, he got a ground ball to Cronin at second for the first out before reaching across his body to stab a chopper and throw out Michael Ferri for the second out. Facing the Horizon League's leader in on-base percentage, Daulton Varsho, Birlingmair's bid for perfection ended when he walked the backstop on four pitches out of the zone. The no-hitter remained in tact, however, because he got a grounder to Norton at third to end the inning.
 
The right-handed pitcher hung another zero in the hit column in the bottom of the eighth with a fly ball to Bohanek, another grounder to Norton and his sixth strikeout of the day, this one against Cole Heili to end the stanza.
 
McDonald helped add a run to the total when he drew a leadoff walk to open the ninth. Gibis sacrificed the center fielder to second, and McDonald eventually scored when Bohanek registered a base hit through the left side.
 
Birlingmair had thrown fewer than 80 pitches to that point, and with a no-hitter still in the equation, UIC head coach Mike Dee leaned on him to start the ninth. Milwaukee's designated hitter Dylan Detert line the second pitch he saw sharply into right field for a clean single. Unfazed, Birlingmair got Quirke to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play. Kelly reached on an infield single with two outs before UIC's sensational sophomore struck out Ferri to end the ballgame and secure the series victory with a 5-0 triumph.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• Birlingmair's complete-game shutout is the first of his career and the first for UIC this season.
• David Cronin (.667), Brandon Gibis (.600) and Mickey McDonald (.500) all batted at least .500 in the doubleheader Saturday. Bohanek drove in four runs, the most on the day.
• The Flames have won 12 of their last 13 games dating back to March 7.
• Rob Calabrese is batting .413 over the last 13 games to lead five UIC hitters who are at .300 or better from the plate in that time. As a team, UIC is hitting .316 with 34 extra-base hits in the last 13 games. Scott Ota (16), Cody Bohanek (13), David Cronin (10) and Calabrese (10) all own double-digit RBI during the span.
• Calabrese had three hits on the day, including at least one in both games. The junior now owns UIC's longest active hitting streak at eight games. Both he and Cronin have reached safely in 18 straight contests.
•  Cronin had a game-high three hits in the opener. The redshirt junior leads UIC with 11 multi-hit games and four three-hit outings.
• Dahlberg improved to 4-0 in last four starts with the win in game one. He has allowed only four extra-base hits since March 9 and opponents are batting only .150 against him in 24.1 innings since that day.
• Bohanek homered for the second time this season, matching his 52-game total from 2016. It was the 21^st home run of the season for the Flames and the ninth in 10 games at Granderson Stadium.
• UIC has played three doubleheaders in three weekends of Horizon League play and the Flames are 5-1 in those six games. They are batting .296 as a team in those six games, while holding the opposition to a mark of .183. Birlingmair has been the winning pitcher in two of those contests. In addition to Saturday, he also fired eight scoreless innings at the Youngstown State Penguins on March 19 in a game the Flames won, 3-0.
• UIC is 14-0 this season when holding the opposition to three runs or less, as was the case in game two.
• The Flames improved to a season-high nine games above .500 (16-7).

 Postgame Reaction

 



Up Next

• UIC and Milwaukee will finish the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
• The contest will once again be played at Granderson Stadium with the UWM as the designated home team.