HATTIESBURG, Miss. – UIC's defense has ranked as one of the NCAA's best all season long, but the group was challenged Friday and three miscues helped No. 10 Southern Miss claim the opener of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional, 8-7.
 
The Flames (39-16) led the game by as many as five runs after Rob Calabrese belted a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning. The Golden Eagles (49-14) countered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the sixth to take the lead for good. UIC has the tying run on third base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but could not even the score.
 
UIC will play No. 2 Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs fell to South Alabama, 6-3, in the second game of the Hattiesburg Regional on Friday.
 
How It Happened
Southern Miss showed a good deal of patience against Jake Dahlberg in the bottom of the first inning. The Golden Eagles drew three consecutive walks with one out before Daniel Keating stepped to the dish with one away. Dahlberg got Keating to line the ball right to Cody Bohanek at shortstop. Bohanek flipped to David Cronin at second base and Dahlberg escaped with no damage done.
 
After Dahlberg roared back and punched out a pair in the bottom of the second, the offense went to work in the top of the third inning. Thomas Norton began the inning by blasting a triple off the top of the wall in left-center field for the first hit of the day. Two batters later UIC's third baseman scored on a grounder by Cronin to his counterpart at second base, giving UIC a 1-0 lead.
 
Southern Miss responded and plated a run without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the inning. Dylan Burdeaux walked and was on second base with two outs. On a full-count pitch he broke for third and the batter walked. An errant throw down the third-base line allowed Burdeaux to score and even the ledger at a run apiece.
 
The Flames yanked the lead right back in the top of the fourth against Kirk McCarty. Scott Ota got jammed with one out, but was strong enough to muscle a double into left field. Then with two outs Bowen Ogata punched a base hit that dropped in no-man's-land near the right-field line to allow Ota to score UIC's second run of the day.
 
The fourth-seeded Flames posted the first multi-run of the Hattiesburg Regional in the top of the fifth. UIC had the bases loaded after two walks and a hit batsmen. That brought the Horizon League Player of the Year, Rob Calabrese, to the dish. The Flames' backstop hooked a grand slam down the line in left field to clear the bases and give the visiting team a 6-1 lead.
 

?? GRAND SALAMI!!! ??

UIC's Rob Calabrese with the 1st SLAM of the tourney and the Flames lead Southern Miss 6-1 in the 5th! #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/obeTBuFCjv

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 2, 2017

 
Ota followed with his second double of the day and Ricardo Ramirez was hit by a pitch, but reliever Trent Driver registered a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
 
The Golden Eagles countered with a three-spot in the bottom of the fifth against Dahlberg and reliever Mitchell Schulewitz. Southern Miss had two on with two outs before pinch hitter Matthew Guidry poked a triple off the wall in left-center field, almost to the same location as Norton's in the third. Two runs scored on the play and Guidry scored on a base hit up the middle and just past the outstretched glove of Cronin. Schulewitz then came back to freeze Hunter Slater on strike three to take a two-run lead back to the dugout.
 
The Flames tried to tack on another run in the top of the sixth, but the Golden Eagles defended a squeeze attempt flawlessly to prevent a tally. Mickey McDonald was on third and Bohanek got the bunt down. The pitcher charged off the mound and flipped the ball in his glove to the plate to cut down McDonald.
 
Southern Miss grabbed its first lead of the game with the help of two UIC errors in the bottom of the sixth inning. Guidry gave the Golden Eagles the advantage with a two-out single to center field. The top seed added another run, the fourth of the inning, when UIC threw a wild pitch with a runner on third base.
 
Ota continued to be a terror at the plate as he began the top of the seventh with his third extra-base hit of the day and third triple of the season to right-center field. He eventually scored when Brandon Gibis beat a throw that could have capped an inning-ending double play, but kept the frame alive. Norton reached on a throwing error to put two Flames in scoring position with two outs, but reliever Stevie Powers came in to get a fly ball that ended the threat. At the seventh-inning stretch, Southern Miss led UIC, 8-7.
 
The Flames had the tying run at third base again with two outs in the top of the eighth. Cronin had reached on an error to start the stanza, but USM's Nick Sandlin got a strikeout to end the inning and maintain the team's one-run lead.
 
After Connor Ryan kept the Golden Eagles within a run in the bottom of the eighth, the offense looked to rally one more time in the ninth. Ogata drew a one-out walk and he was lifted for pinch runner Josh Gere. Then with two away Norton won a lengthy battle against Sandlin, an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in a single through the right side. McDonald was then hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases for Cronin. The second baseman made good contact but his sharp grounder resulted in a fielder's choice that ended the ballgame.

Beyond the Box Score

• Scott Ota tallied a game-high three hits, all of which went for extra bases. It was the fourth time this season and fifth time in his two-year career that he's tallied three hits in a game.
• Thomas Norton's triple in the third inning was the first of his career. Ota's in the seventh was the sixth of his career and third of the season.
• Rob Calabrese drove in at least four runs for the second time this season. It was his 14^th multi-RBI effort, which ties Cody Bohanek for the team lead.
• Mickey McDonald stole his team-high 16^th base of the season Friday. That number is also a new career high.
• Bohanek was hit by a pitch for the 19^th time this season and 41^st time in his career. The senior ranks third on UIC's all-time list by being hit by a pitch 41 times.
• The Flames were hit by six Southern Miss pitches, one shy of a season high. UIC was hit seven times on April 1 against Milwaukee.
• The Flames matched a season high by leaving 13 runners on base. It was the third time reaching that total, and the first since the regular-season finale at Wright State on May 20.
• The Flames, who boasted the top fielding-percentage defense in the NCAA entering Friday's game, matched a season high with three errors. The other occurrence came in the second game of a doubleheader at Valpo on May 14.
• UIC dropped to 12-3 against left-handed starting pitchers.

Postgame Reaction



Up Next

• UIC will play its next NCAA Regional game on Saturday, June 3 at 1 p.m.
• The Flames will meet Mississippi State at Pete Taylor Park.
• UIC is 2-4 against the SEC this season. The Flames took two-of-three from then-No.7 Vanderbilt in Nashville, Feb. 24-26. UIC dropped three games at Mizzou the following weekend, March 3-5.