CHICAGO – UIC sent its seniors off in style with an 8-5 victory that helped the Flames finish off a three-game sweep of the Youngstown State Penguins Saturday afternoon at Granderson Stadium.

Dominic Smith, a junior, supported the cause with two home runs and seven RBI to lead the charge offensively. Scott Ota, also a third-year standout, popped his fifth home run of the season in the top of the eighth for a bit of insurance.

Following the victory, the Flames (28-16, 15-9 Horizon League) honored its senior class - Bowen Ogata, Ryan Campbell, Wyatt Trautwein and special assistant Brandon Marshall - in an on-field ceremony.
 
How It Happened
The Flames scored in the bottom of the first for the second time in as many games. Derrick Patrick worked a walk in a nine-pitch at-bat and made third on a well-executed hit-and-run with Matt Bottcher. Smith then did his job and got Patrick home with a sacrifice fly that gave UIC a 1-0 lead.
 
The Penguins evened the ledger on one swing in the top of the third. Trey Bridis homered to left field with two outs before Reid Birlingmair bounced back to post his fifth strikeout through 3.0 IP to end that inning.
 
UIC bounced back in a big way with a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame. Patrick hit a ground-rule double with two gone before Bottcher drew a four-pitch walk. Smith then put the home team back in front as he blasted his second home run of the series over the team bullpens in left field for a three-run shot that gave the Flames a 4-1 lead.
 
Birlingmair finished his outing after 4.0 innings and was replaced by Jacob Key, came out of the bullpen for the first time in 2018. YSU popped a pair of solo home runs in the top of the fifth to pull within a run, but Key got a pair of strikeouts looking and a nice sliding defensive play from Alex Dee at first base to preserve the lead at 4-3.
 
Smith continued to crush Penguin pitching in the bottom of the fifth. Following singles from Ryan Lin-Peistrup and Bottcher, Smith lined his second home run of the day into the UIC bullpen for another three-run shot that put the Flames in front by four runs.
 
Youngstown State plated another pair of runs in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly in foul territory that featured a great effort from UIC third baseman Thomas Norton, and a groundout.
 
The Flames tacked on one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Scott Ota muscled his fifth home run of the season to the opposite field in left, parking in the YSU bullpen to give UIC an 8-5 lead. Following scoreless innings from Braeden Toikka and Noah Masa, Alex Padilla came on in the ninth and worked a perfect frame with two strikeouts to nail down his eighth save of the season.

Postgame Reaction

 



Beyond the Box Score

• UIC swept its third Horizon League series of the season and second in a row at Granderson Stadium. The Flames have not dropped a home game against a conference foe since falling 2-1 to League champion Wright State on April 8.
• The Flames won 18 of 24 games at Granderson Stadium in 2018.
• UIC is 21-4 when scoring first, as it did in all three games against the Penguins.
• Dominic Smith became the second UIC player to hit two home runs in a game this season. Alex Dee also did it on March 14 against Northern Illinois. Smith and Dee are also the only two Flames to drive in seven runs in a game this spring.
• UIC's three home runs were the most since hitting a season-high in that victory over NIU on March 14.
• Reid Birlingmair made his seventh start of the season and first since March 23. He scattered a pair of hits and struck out six in 4.0 innings of work.
• Braeden Toikka and Alex Padilla appeared in all three games of the series out of the bullpen. The pair had 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work against YSU.

Up Next

• UIC will be the second seed in next week's Horizon League Championship the Flames will play the tournament's highest remaining seed on Thursday, May 24 at 2 p.m. CT.
• Wright State, the top seed, will host the tournament at Nischwitz Stadium in Fairborn, Ohio.
• All Horizon League Championship games will air on ESPN+.