CHICAGO -- UIC ran its winning streak to a season-high five games and the Flames remain in first place atop the Horizon League standings after the first half of the conference slate by defeating Northern Kentucky twice on Saturday, winning 11-7 and 6-1. UIC improved to 10-4 against Horizon League foes with the third series sweep of the season.

In the opener, Scott Ota and Ryan Hampe combined for seven hits with two doubles apiece, five RBI and five runs scored. Ota's third of four hits was the 200^th of his UIC career. David Becker also hit a three-run home run in the first inning for the Flames (16-13, 10-4 Horizon League). Fred Gosbeth got the win in relief after throwing 3.0 IP, while Mark McCabe nailed down his first career save.

In the nightcap, UIC exploded for five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Ota cleared the bases with a three-run triple after robbing Collin Luty of what looked to be a three-run home run in the top of that inning. Hampe added three more hits and a pair of RBI in the victory. Patrick Martin turned in his best start in a Flames uniform with a season-high 5.2 IP and season-high six strikeouts.

How It Happened – Game One

• The Flames struck early by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Bottcher reached on an error to start the frame and he scored when Scott Ota poked a double to the opposite field in left. Two batters later David Becker hammered his third home run of the season deep to left-center field to put the home team in front, 4-0.
• Northern Kentucky posted a four-run inning of its own in the top of the third to tie the game. Griffin Doersching delivered the big blow, a three-run home run that tied the game.
• UIC wasted little time regaining the lead, this time for good, in the bottom of the third. Ryan Hampe doubled to left-center field with one out and he found himself on third base after a failed pickoff attempt. The freshman scored when Alex Dee hit a sacrifice fly deep to left field.
• The Flames scored twice in both the fifth and sixth innings to add to the advantage. Ota doubled for the second time to begin the fifth and he traded places with Hampe when he collected his second two-bagger of the ballgame. Hampe would later score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Thomas Smart.
• The bases were loaded by two walks and a single ahead of Ota. Sitting on 199 career hits, Ota placed a ball between the pitcher and first baseman and legged it out for an RBI single that scored Ryan Lin-Peistrup. Bottcher, who had the earlier single, also scored to make it 9-4.
• Doersching went deep for the second time with two outs in the seventh and his home run pulled the Norse within two.
• UIC padded the lead again with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Bottcher and Patrick scored from second base on singles by Ota and Hampe, respectively, to put the Flames in front, 11-6. NKU got a run in the ninth on a solo home run from Will Haueter, but Mark McCabe finished off the Norse for his first career save. When he entered the game, UIC led 9-6 in the top of the eighth.

How It Happened – Game Two

• Northern Kentucky had the game's first real threat in the top of the third inning. A single and a walk had two runners aboard with one out for shortstop Collin Luty. Luty skied a ball deep to right field, but Ota made a perfect read, flawlessly timed his jump, scaled the wall and brought what would have been a three-run home run back into the ballpark for the second out. Both runners tagged up, but Patrick Martin got the next hitter to foul out to end the threat.
• Patience paid off for the Flames in the bottom of the frame. NKU's Kaleb Meeks struggled to throw strikes and walked the first four batters of the inning. His free pass to Derrick Patrick brought in Alex Dee and gave the Flames a 1-0 lead. With the bags still packed, Ota came up and blistered a ball down the line in right field that cleared the bases for a three-run triple. He would sooner score when Hampe muscled a base hit back through the box to give the Flames a 5-0 lead.
• UIC would add another run in the fourth. Patrick walked, stole second base and scored on an RBI double down the line in left field.
• Martin continued to mow the Norse down before NKU pushed across its lone run in the top of the sixth. Haueter singled and was on third base after two wild pitches, one from Martin and one from reliever Ryan O'Reilly. With two away Brendan Alas poked his second base hit of the game to left field.
• With UIC leading 6-1, the Norse looked to dent the deficit with runners at the corners and nobody out in the top of the eighth. UIC called on Alex Padilla to put out the fire and he did just that with two strikeouts and a line drive that was caught by Patrick in center field to squash the threat.

Notable

• UIC is 12-0 when scoring at least six runs this season. Saturday's first victory marked the fifth time of scoring at least 10 runs.
• The Flames are averaging 11.2 runs per game during the current five-game winning streak. As a team, UIC is batting .381 with 22 extra-base hits during the surge.
• Two players are batting .500 or better over the last five games. Ryan Hampe is hitting .619 with four doubles and 10 RBI, while Scott Ota is batting .500 with three doubles, two triples and three home runs. Ota has driven in 20 runs over UIC's last five games.
• Ota has tripled twice in the last four games and both times it came with the bases loaded. He moved into sole possession of second place on UIC's all-time list with 16 triples, one behind Steve McGuiggan.
• Ota's four hits in the opener were a career high, and his third was the 200^th of his career.
• Hampe is batting .521 (25-for-48) in Horizon League play, while Ota is hitting .443 (27-of-61) against conference foes. The pair has combined to contribute 41 percent of UIC's RBI total in League games (38 of 93).
• Fred Gosbeth recorded his fourth win of the season in relief of game one. Those victories have come in four consecutive appearances dating back to March 26 against Northern Illinois. He has lowered his ERA from 4.05 to 2.04 in that span.
• Patrick Martin posted season highs in innings pitched (5.2) and strikeouts (6) in the nightcap. He recorded his first victory in a UIC uniform.

On Deck

• UIC will host Illinois State at Granderson Stadium on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.
• The Redbirds defeated the Flames in Normal on March 19, 4-0.

Postgame Reaction