FAIRBORN, Ohio – No. 2 UIC had its back against the wall Friday afternoon after dropping the first game of the day to No. 1 Wright State, but the Flames roared back and drubbed No. 3 Milwaukee, 10-2, to stave off elimination and reach championship Saturday for the second season in a row.
 
In the opener, UIC (30-17) was limited to one hit through seven innings against Wright State starter Caleb Sampen. The Raiders scored four unearned runs in the fourth frame and didn't look back, adding six more in the sixth. The Flames got a sacrifice fly from Ben Tharp in the ninth for their lone run of the ballgame.
 
Less than two hours later, UIC took the field at Nischwitz Stadium and avoided any sort of letdown. The Flames sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and pushed across seven runs on four hits, two walks, two errors, a wild pitch and a balk. Matt Bottcher, Scott Ota and Alex Dee (in his second at-bat) all drove in runs in the inning.
 
UIC was bolstered by a quality start from junior Reid Birlingmair. The Normal, Ill., native allowed just two runs through 7.0 innings pitched with six strikeouts. He allowed the bullpen to remain largely rested with the potential of two games on tap Saturday.
 
The Flames will rematch with Wright State at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT Saturday, one hour earlier than previously scheduled as rain is in the forecast for Fairborn tomorrow. UIC needs to win that contest to force a winner-take-all showdown for the Horizon League crown.
 
How It Happened – UIC 10, Milwaukee 2
UIC grabbed the lead for the first time in the bottom of the third inning. Alex Dee walked on four pitches and went from first-to-third on a hit-and-run with Thomas Norton. Dee scored when a balk was called on Jake Sommers. Later the bases were juiced after Derrick Patrick walked and the Panthers went to the bullpen. Matt Bottcher drove in the second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored a tagging Norton.
 
The line kept moving with a two-run single from Scott Ota. Dominic Smith scored on the first of two errors in the inning and Dee, batting for the second time, roped a base hit to left field that brought Bowen Ogata home for the seventh and final run of the frame and give the Flames their largest lead of the tournament.
 
Milwaukee scored its first run of the season against UIC on a solo home run from Colin Kreiter to leadoff the top of the fourth. It had been 44 innings across four-plus games since the Flames allowed the Panthers to score dating back to May 6, 2017.
 
UIC got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. Aaron Ackerman clubbed a double to right-center field to begin the inning. UWM's Patrick Tomfohrde struck out the next three hitters, but dropped-third strike and an error kept the inning alive and moved Ackerman to third base. The Flames catcher then came in on a wild pitch to make it 8-1 for the second-seeded Flames.
 
Bottcher tripled with one down in the bottom of the sixth and he soon scored when Smuth went the opposite way for the third straight hit to right field.
 
Milwaukee got one back in the bottom of the seventh to trim the deficit to seven once again and make it 9-2 in Reid Birlingmair's final inning of work in only his second start since late March.
 
Thomas Smart, who entered as a defensive replacement for Smith earlier, laced a single to center with two away in the bottom of the eighth. The hit scored Ryan Lin-Peistrup and put the Flames in double digits with 10 runs. Alex Padilla worked a scoreless ninth with three strikeouts after Noah Masa went unscathed in the eighth to close up the elimination-game victory.

Highlights

 

How It Happened – WSU 10, UIC 1
UIC posed its first threat to score in the top of the third inning. Designated hitter Alex Dee drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Thomas Norton. Ryan Lin-Peistrup's grounder to the right side sent Dee to third base, but he was stranded there when WSU starting pitcher Caleb Sampen picked up his second strikeout of the game to end the inning.
 
Wright State broke through for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the benefit of only one hit. The first run came in on a hit by pitch, the second on a bases-loaded walk and two more on an RBI single off the bat of Zach Weatherford. Weatherford had the first hit of the game and the only one of the inning, while Cerny struck out three in the frame to bring his total to seven through four innings of work.
 
The Flames tried to cut into the deficit in the top of the sixth. Derrick Patrick and Matt Bottcher each drew two-out walks against Sampen. Then WSU's right-hander plunked Dominic Smith to load the bases, but he got Scott Ota to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
 
Wright State added to its lead with a bang-bang play in the bottom of the sixth. It looked like Seth Gray was picked off third base by UIC catcher Aaron Ackerman for what would have been the second out, but he was called safe. Bentley Jones struck out, which may have ended the inning, but Weatherford barely beat out a bunt and Gray scored to make it a 5-0 lead for the home team, which was ample support for Sampen.
 
The Raiders were limited to seven hits, but scored all 10 runs throughout the game with two outs to advance to Saturday's championship game. Sampen limited the Flames to one hit, a single by designated hitter Alex Dee in the top of the seventh.
 
Pinch hitter Riley Hebert and Thomas Smart also added base hits in the ninth before Ben Tharp drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to foul territory on the right side of the field. Joshua Figueroa tagged and scored on the play.

Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year Charlie Cerny made his fifth start of the season, but allowed a season-high seven runs, though only three were earned. The Bloomington, Ill., native matched a career high with nine strikeouts for the second consecutive outing.

Postgame Reaction

 



Beyond the Box Score

• UIC scored at least 10 runs for the 10^th time this season in the second game. It was the fourth time reaching double digits against an Horizon League opponent this year, and the first time with at least 10 runs in a conference tournament game since a 10-9 win against No. 5 Oakland on May 25, 2016.
• UIC limited Milwaukee to two runs and 17 hits over 45 innings in five meetings this season. The Flames had a streak of 44 consecutive scoreless innings against the Panthers dating back to last season before a solo home run in the fourth on Friday.
• UIC has scored 52 runs in fourth innings this season. The Flames have not scored more than 32 in any other frame (9^th).
• Dominic Smith matched a career high with three hits against Milwaukee.
• Matt Bottcher also had a multi-hit effort against the Panthers, including his first career triple in the bottom of the sixth. Bottcher is batting a team-best .500 (5-for-10) in three Horizon League Championship games this week. He's also tied for the team lead with three runs scored.
• Alex Padilla struck out at least three batters in an outing for the fourth time this season. In total he has 34 strikeouts in 24.1 IP.
• UIC's staff has a 2.77 ERA in three games this week and it has limited Milwaukee and Wright State to a combined batting average of .158 with only two extra-base hits.
• In the second game of the day, the Flames improved to 25-1 when leading after six innings, 26-0 when up after seven and 27-0 with a lead after eight. UIC never led against Wright State Friday.
• The two games UIC played Friday spanned 5:10 with the victory over Milwaukee taking 12 more minutes than game one against Wright State.
• The Flames have won at least 30 games for the second consecutive season and the 11^th time in 20 season under head coach Mike Dee. The program record for wins in a season, 39, has been achieved three times, most recently in 2017.

Up Next

• The Flames will rematch with Wright State at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT Saturday, one hour earlier than previously scheduled as rain is in the forecast for Fairborn tomorrow.
• UIC needs to win that contest to force a winner-take-all showdown for the Horizon League crown.
• Last season the Flames were the unbeaten team on Championship Saturday and UIC finished off Wright State in the first game 4-2 to win the trophy.