CHICAGO – UIC received its second brilliant pitching performance in as many days as Reid Birlingmair allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings and the Flames moved past Northern Kentucky, 4-0.
 
It was the sixth shutout of the season for UIC (23-8, 12-2 Horizon League) and the fourth in conference play. Coupled with Thurday's 5-2 victory, the Flames have won all five of the Horizon League series that they have played this season.
 
Birlingmair, who struck out six and walked only one, was backed up by Connor Ryan. The hard-throwing reliever worked a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the shutout.
 
Cody Bohanek delivered the biggest blow of the day, a three-run home run off NKU's Jean-Francois Dionne in the bottom of the fifth. Bohanek finished with three hits, or one more than the entire Norse lineup.
 
How It Happened
Northern Kentucky scored two runs in the first inning Thursday and it threatened to do so again in the top of the first Friday. Jake Richmond singled to left field and moved up on a wild pitch from Birlingmair. The next batter walked before UIC's sophomore starter got a foul-out to catcher Rob Calabrese. Then the right-hander reared back and struck out the reigning Horizon League Batter of the Week, Trey Ganns, and designated hitter Chad Roberts to strand both runners.
 
The Norse received a single right back through the box to lift off the top of the second. Dominic Mercurio moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a ground ball to Bohanek at shortstop, but Birlingmair began a stretch in which he retired 21 in a row to conclude his outing that lasted 8.0 innings. He kept the ball down and recorded nine outs via ground balls, many of which came with the help of some sensational infield defense.
 
UIC's offense sprung to lift in the bottom of the fifth and provided Birlingmair with more than enough run support on this day. Bowen Ogata began the inning with a sharp single to the opposite field in right and he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Brandon Gibis. Mickey McDonald bunted for a base hit to move Ogata up to third before lead-off man Thomas Norton poked a single up the middle that scored the first run of the game.
 
After a meeting on the mound, Bohanek stepped to the dish and unloaded on Dionne's 2-1 offering and sent it high and deep into the NKU bullpen for a three-run home run, his second blast in the last three games.
 
David Cronin walked to keep the line moving, but he was called out on a bang-bang play as he tried to swipe second base. Scott Ota singled with two away, but Calabrese flied out to left field to end the threat. After five innings the Flames led 4-0 and that score would hold up until the end of the ballgame.

Beyond the Box Score

• The Flames have won 19 of their last 21 games dating back to March 7.
• UIC improved to 15-2 at Granderson Stadium this season.
• The squad owns a conference-best 12 wins in League play. Wright State is 11-1, but the Raiders are not playing any Horizon League games this weekend.
• The Flames have registered six separate four-plus-run innings over the last four games. The team has tallied a total of 38 runs in the four victories over Oakland (April 9), Northern Illinois (April 11) and NKU (2).
• UIC's pitching staff entered the game with an ERA of 2.90, the 10^th-lowest in the NCAA. That number was lowered to 2.80 by Birlingmair and Ryan. The lowest full-season ERA in program history is 3.19 (2003).
• The team allowed a season-low two hits for the third time this season. Birlingmair threw a complete game shutout in which he surrendered two hits on April 1 vs. Milwaukee. Jacob Key, Charlie Cerny, Mitchell Schulewitz and Alex Padilla combined to allow only two hits in a win over Northwestern on April 4.
• Connor Ryan appeared out of the bullpen for the fourth time in the last five games. The Homer Glen, Ill., native has made seven total appearances and he has recorded 12 strikeouts without issuing a base on balls in 10.1 innings of work.
• Northern Kentucky entered the game Friday leading the Horizon League in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs and runs scored in conference play. The Flames have not allowed a run over the last 17 innings of the series, while the Norse are hitting .085 (5-for-59) in the two games thus far.
• The Flames entered the game ranked second nationally in fielding percentage (.985) and they did not commit a defensive miscue Friday.
• Thomas Norton batted leadoff for the first time this season. The sophomore collected two hits and an RBI at the top of the lineup card.
• Cody Bohanek had a game-high three hits, marking the fifth time this season that he has posted as many knocks. He drove in three runs for the fourth time and he is tied with Rob Calabrese and Ricardo Ramirez with eight multi-RBI performances
• Bohanek's fifth-inning home run was his career-high fourth of the season. He also has a career-high with 30 RBI, including 16 in conference play.
• Rob Calabrese extended his streak of reaching base safely to a team-high 26 consecutive games with a walk to open up the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Seven of the nine batters in UIC's starting lineup posted a hit Friday, while the top two (Norton and Bohanek) accounted for five of the team's 10 total hits.
• Birlingmair has started the two fastest games of the season for UIC. The win over Milwaukee on April 1 took an even 2:00, while Friday's victory clocked in at 2:07.

Postgame Reaction





Up Next

• The Flames and Norse will return to Granderson Stadium for the third game of the three-game set on Saturday, April 15 at 12:05 p.m. CT.
• Jack Andersen (2-1, 4.30 ERA) is scheduled to make his eighth start of the season for the Flames. NKU's probable starter is Pat Kelley (3-1, 5.27 ERA).
• On Saturday, UIC will be hosting a beer garden between Granderson Stadium and Flames Field from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The baseball game will begin at 12:05 p.m. Both tennis teams and the UIC softball team will also be in action at home Saturday.