CHICAGO -- UIC has won all four games it has played at Granderson Stadium this season and the Flames will look to win for the fifth time in as many tries at home on Wednesday, March 14, when they host the Northern Illinois Huskies in the Windy City.
The Flames (10-4) have won four straight decisions after sweeping a three-game set against the Chicago State Cougars last weekend. There were several bright spots for UIC in the three games, but none more brilliant than senior
Ryan Campbell. In the second game of the series on March 10, Campbell threw a complete game shutout, the first of his career. He scattered six hits over the 9.0 innings of work, while walking just one. The Carmel, Ind., native kept the ball down and got the Cougars to produce 17 ground-ball outs. It was the second consecutive complete game for Campbell, who leads the Horizon League with three wins, while boasting a 0.87 ERA in 31.0 innings pitched. At the back end,
Charlie Cerny pitched 2.2 scoreless frames in the series, earning the victory on Sunday.
Alex Padilla notched his fourth and fifth saves of the season in the series as well.
At the dish,
David Becker,
Alex Dee and
Scott Ota all hit .300 or better over the course of the three wins. Becker led the bunch with four hits, including a triple to lead off the bottom of the seventh Sunday, which would eventually turn into a game-tying run. Ota drove in two runs, both of which came on an RBI single Saturday.
Northern Illinois (4-10) has dropped four in a row entering the week. The Huskies are batting .245 as a team and are averaging 4.1 runs per game in the season's first month. On the mound, NIU owns a staff ERA of 4.74 over 114.0 IP. Opponents are batting .308 with 24 extra-base hits.
UIC knocked off the Huskies twice in 2017. The Flames bested NIU at Granderson Stadium,
6-1, on March 28, 2017, before thumping the Huskies in DeKalb,
17-3, on April 11. All-America catcher
Rob Calabrese had a career-high five hits, including two home runs, with eight RBI at Ralph McKinzie Field that afternoon. The two local rivals will square off Wednesday and March 27 in Chicago and April 10 at NIU.
The Flames will send left-hander
Braeden Toikka to the mound to open Wednesday's affair. It will be his second start and third appearance of the season. Toikka is scheduled to be opposed by William Anderson, a right-hander, making his first start for the Huskies.
