FAIRBORN, Ohio – Wright State scored first on Thursday night and the Raiders never trailed as they took the opener of a three-game series against the UIC Flames at Nischwitz Stadium, 6-4.
 
The Raiders (35-18, 20-8 Horizon League) moved to within one game of the Flames (35-14, 21-7 Horizon League) in the Horizon League standings. UIC needs to win one of the final two regular season games in order to win the conference's regular season championship and host the Horizon League Tournament at Granderson Stadium next week.
 
How It Happened
After both starting pitchers, Jake Dahlberg for UIC and Danny Sexton for Wright State, faced the minimum in the first inning, the Raiders got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning. Gabe Snyder started the scoring with a solo home run to left field. Two batters later, Cory Heffron doubled and he eventually scored his team's second run on a wild pitch from Dahlberg.
 
The Raiders padded their cushion with another run in the bottom of the third before the Flames began to put pressure on Sexton and the home team in the top of the fourth. David Cronin singled up the middle to start the frame before Rob Calabrese walked. Scott Ota then flipped a single into left field, allowing Cronin to score UIC's first run and Calabrese to motor into third base. Ricardo Ramirez brought Calabrese home with a sacrifice fly on the first pitch he saw in the inning and after three and a half inning, the Flames were back within a run.
 
Wright State's most prolific offensive inning came in the bottom of the fourth as it scored three more times off Dahlberg. The Raiders started the frame with three consecutive singles, including two on bunts, before Kevin Whatley drove in a pair with a blooped single to shallow center field. The third run came via an RBI groundout.
 
Trailing by four runs, UIC posted another multi-run effort in the top of the sixth inning. Calabrese drew a one-out walk, his second of the game, before Ota doubled down the right-field line to put two runners in scoring position for Ramirez. The senior first baseman delivered with a two-bagger of his own to right field, scoring both runners and trimming the deficit to a pair of runs.
 
Dahlberg found a rhythm and worked through the bottom of the sixth in only seven pitches. After allowing another bunt single to begin the bottom of the seventh, he used only six pitches to get the next three outs and keep the Raiders in striking distance.
 
Noah Masa relieved Dahlberg and kept the deficit in check in the bottom of the eighth with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. Then it was up to the offense to try to extend the ballgame in the ninth. Brando Gibis did just that with a base hit through the left side with one away. The senior found himself on third base with two outs thanks to a couple of wild pitches from WSU's Derek Hendrixson, but the latter got a strikeout to end the ballgame.
 
Beyond the Box Score

• UIC has dropped back-to-back games for only the fourth time all season. The Flames have dropped three consecutive contests just once, March 3-5 at Missouri.
• The Flames dropped to 7-7 in games decided by one or two runs. They are now 8-8 when the opponent scores first as Wright State did on Thursday.
• Ricardo Ramirez drove in a game-high three runs for UIC. It was his 13^th multi-RBI game of the season and his fifth with three or more. The senior's last three-RBI effort came on May 5 against Oakland.
• Scott Ota and Brandon Gibis notched two hits apiece Thursday. It was Ota's 12^th multi-hit game of the season and Gibis' eighth. Three of those eight multi-hit games for Gibis have come in UIC's last four contests.
• Gibis is batting .600 (6-for-10) with two doubled in three games against Wright State this season.
• Thomas Norton extended his hitting streak to a team-high five games with a fifth-inning single. The sophomore has reached base safely in six straight contests to lead all UIC players.
• Rob Calabrese has hit safely in 17 of the team's last 18 games and reached safely in 43 of the last 44. Over the last 18 ballgames, Calabrese is batting .446 with 13 extra-base hits and 18 RBI.
• Jake Dahlberg finished the game with two strikeouts. He ranks fourth on UIC's all-time list, one behind strikeout behind Zach Peterson for third and three behind Ryan Zink for second. Steve Carlson is the Flames' all-time leader with 258 strikeouts.

 Up Next

• Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Friday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m. CT.
• Reid Birlingmair is slated to get the start for the Flames. He is 6-3 on the season with a 2.77 ERA. His last win came against Wright State at Granderson Stadium on Saturday, May 13.