CHICAGO – UIC scored at least one run in five of eight innings Tuesday night as it won for the eighth consecutive time in nonconference play behind a 9-2 victory over the Viterbo V-Hawks at Granderson Stadium.
 
Ricardo Ramirez led the offense with three hits and four RBI, three of which came on a long home run in the fifth inning that seemingly broke the game open. Ramirez scored two runs for the Flames (25-8, 13-2 Horizon League), as did Thomas Norton, Rob Calabrese and Scott Ota.
 
UIC utilized nine different pitchers on the mound with none working longer than 1.1 innings. The "long man" was Austin Smith and the junior reliever was credited with his first victory of the season as the pitcher of record when the Flames took the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning.
 
How It Happened
Mickey McDonald continued to swing a hot bat and he drove in UIC's first run of the night with a two-out double down the left-field line. Ramirez led off the frame with a hard-hit single to left field and he scored from second base on McDonald's hit.
 
Viterbo displayed patience at the plate and evened the score in the top of the third. The V-Hawks got a single from D.J. Wilson with one out before loading the bases by reaching on catcher's interference and a walk. Then Noah Bouley walked with the bases loaded to allow Wilson to score and even the contest at a run apiece.
 
The Flames wasted little time in regaining the advantage as they plated two runs in the bottom of the third against Viterbo's Willie Mancini. Calabrese reached on a fielder's choice and he motored to third when Ota clubbed a double to center field. Ramirez drove in Calabrese with a his second hit in as many at-bats, a base hit to right field  before Bowen Ogata flied out to the warning track in left field, allowing Ota to tag and score and giving UIC a 3-1 lead.
 
The V-Hawks got one run back in the top of the fourth with a solo home run to left field off the bat of Ethan Bell.
 
After the Flames were held off the scoreboard in the fourth inning the offense went back to work with another crooked number in the bottom of the fifth. Calabrese was hit by a pitch, Ota walked on four pitches, and Ramirez hammered a 3-1 pitch from Sean Herbert deep into the Chicago night and out of Granderson Stadium for an emphatic three-run home run. The blast was Ramirez's team-high eighth of the season and it gave UIC a 6-2 lead.
 
UIC manufactured another tally in the bottom of the sixth. Norton walked in his second consecutive plate appearance and eventually stole second base. With one the Flames executed a hit-and-run with Calabrese at the dish and the designated hitter knocked it through the vacated left side to allow Norton to hustle home and give the home team a 7-2 lead.
 
The Flames continued to pad the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Garrett Myers drew a lead-off walk and he eventually scored on a base hit up the middle off the bat of David Cronin, his first hit of the night. Cody Bohanek kept the line moving with a sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough to allow Norton to score and give the UIC a seven-run lead at 9-2. That is how the game would end as Alex Padilla worked around a one-out single to retire the final two hitters in succession.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• The Flames have won 21 of their last 23 games dating back to March 7.
• UIC improved to 17-2 at Granderson Stadium this season.
• UIC's pitching staff entered the game with an ERA of 2.74, the seventh lowest in the NCAA. That number was lowered to 2.69 as only one of Viterbo's two runs was earned Tuesday. The lowest full-season ERA in program history is 3.19 (2003).
• Ricardo Ramirez hit his eighth home run of the season in the fifth inning. That number also marks a career high for the Chicagoan. He drove in four runs for the second time this season (also April 2 vs. Milwaukee).
• Thomas Norton stole a career-high two bases. He reached safely four times in five plate appearances as he led off for the Flames for a third consecutive game. Norton has reached base safely in 24 consecutive games.
• Alex Padilla owns a 0.72 ERA in 15 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.
• Rob Calabrese extended his streak of reaching base safely to a team-high 28 consecutive games with a walk in the first inning. The Staten Island, N.Y., native got a respite from his duties behind the dish and served as the designated hitter Tuesday.
• Austin Smith not only won for the first time this season, but the first time in a UIC uniform. The junior entered the game against Viterbo with a record of 0-1 and one save in 21 appearances.

Postgame Reaction



Up Next

• The Flames will play a pair of scheduled Horizon League doubleheaders this weekend.
• UIC will visit Niles, Ohio and Eastwood Field on Friday, April 21 for a twinbill that begins at 11 a.m. CT. The Flames swept the Penguins during a three-game series in Chicago to begin conference play, outscoring YSU 14-2 in those contests.
• The weekend continues with a doubleheader at Northern Kentucky on Sunday, April 23. The two teams just met at Granderson Stadium this past weekend with UIC winning all three games.