CHICAGO – UIC remained red-hot Saturday afternoon as the Flames won for the 20^th time in their last 22 games and the 13^th time in 15 conference clashes with a 7-2 victory over the Northern Kentucky Norse at Granderson Stadium.
 
Jack Andersen started for the Flames (24-8, 13-2 Horizon League) and scattered only three hits over five scoreless innings as he registered his third victory in Horizon League play. The redshirt senior fanned four and did not walk a batter during his stint on the bump.
 
Mickey McDonald drove in two runs, one coming on his first home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth. Rob Calabrese doubled twice and Thomas Norton added two hits, as well.
 
UIC improved to 13-2 in Horizon League games with wins in all five series it has played against those familiar foes. The Flames posted three-game sweeps over Youngstown State, Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky while winning two-of-three against Valparaiso and Oakland. The team's 13 wins are the most for any Horizon League squad this spring.
 
How It Happened
The Flames scored the game's first run on one mighty swing from shortstop Cody Bohanek. After working a full count, the senior belted Pat Kelley's pitch into the NKU bullpen for his second home run in as many games and his third in UIC's last four contests.
 
UIC padded the cushion in the bottom of the third inning. Thomas Norton began the frame with a two-bagger off the wall in left field. He tagged up and moved to third on David Cronin's fly ball to center field before scoring on Scott Ota's sacrifice fly. Rob Calabrese then doubled to center and he and Bohanek scored on a throwing error from NKU third baseman Brad Bohlen. Those runs pushed UIC's lead to four runs.
 
In the top of the fourth inning, T.J. Alas led off for the Norse and he crushed a ball that appeared bound to clear the wall in right field. Ota had other ideas as went back, leaped, and hauled it in near the wall for the first out of the inning, earning a tip of the cap from Andersen and the rest of his teammates.
 
Northern Kentucky tried to threaten again in the top of the sixth with UIC ahead, 4-0. Bohlen reached on an error before Jake Hickey smashed a base hit right back at Andersen. The UIC pitcher would need to exit the ballgame, but Charlie Cerny came in and got a 3-6-1 double play and fly ball to McDonald to get out of the inning unharmed.
 
The Flames added a run against reliever Cameron Ross in the bottom of the sixth. Bowen Ogata singled to center and moved up to third on a ground out to third base by Brandon Gibis. Ogata and McDonald traded places when the latter powered a ground-rule double to center field, making it 5-2 in favor of the home team.
 
Northern Kentucky scored twice in the seventh thanks to a walk with the bases loaded and a groundout to reliever Mitchell Schulewitz. One of the runs was unearned as the result of a throwing error.
 
UIC got one of those tallies right back in its half of the seventh. Ota scored from second on Calabrese's second double of the day to make it a four-run game once again.
 
After Alex Padilla worked a perfect top of the eighth out of the bullpen, McDonald added to the lead once again in the bottom half. The San Mateo, Calif., native turned on a Seth Rosenberg pitch and hit it so hard that Alas barely moved in right field. It was the first home run of the season for the redshirt junior, a solo shot that gave UIC a 7-2 lead.
 
After a strikeout and an NKU single, the Flames turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame. It was the third double play turned by UIC in the game.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• The Flames have won 20 of their last 22 games dating back to March 7.
• UIC improved to 16-2 at Granderson Stadium this season.
• The squad owns a conference-best 13 wins in League play. Wright State is 11-1, but the Raiders are not playing any Horizon League games this weekend.
• UIC's pitching staff entered the game with an ERA of 2.80, one of the lowest in the NCAA. That number was lowered to 2.74 as only one of NKU's two runs was earned Saturday. The lowest full-season ERA in program history is 3.19 (2003).
• Northern Kentucky entered the series leading the Horizon League in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs and runs scored in conference play. The Flames did not allow a run over a span of 23 innings between the second inning Thursday and the sixth inning Saturday. The Norse batted .111 in the three-game series with one extra-base hit.
• UIC pitchers registered 25 strikeouts and issued only five walks in the series.
• Alex Padilla owns a 0.75 ERA in 14 appearances out of the bullpen with a team-high four saves. The redshirt sophomore has not allowed an earned run since March 5 at Missouri and he has surrendered only one unearned tally since that game.
• Cody Bohanek homered for the second time in the series and third time in UIC's last four games. He batted .455 (5-of-11) with two home runs and six RBI against NKU this weekend.
• Rob Calabrese extended his streak of reaching base safely to a team-high 27 consecutive games with his two doubles. The catcher batted .500 (8-of-16) with three doubles, two home runs and nine RBI this week against Northern Illinois and Northern Kentucky.

Postgame Reaction

 




Up Next

• The Flames will be back at Granderson Stadium on Tuesday, April 18, when they will host Viterbo in a nonconference game at 6:05 p.m.
• UIC resumes Horizon League play on Friday, April 14, when it will play a doubleheader in Niles, Ohio against Youngstown State.