CHICAGO – Scott Ota, arguably the hottest hitter in the country, hit two more home runs Tuesday night to help the UIC Flames power past the visiting Illinois State Redbirds at Granderson Stadium, 6-1.

It was the third time this season that Ota went deep twice in the same game and the second team in the last four games. His towering blasts in the first and third innings helped UIC (17-13) extend its winning streak to a season-high six games.

Illinois State (21-15) scored in the top of the first inning before Ota quickly erased the deficit in the bottom half. ISU outhit the Flames, 8-7, but five of UIC's seven hits went for extra bases and the Redbirds also had a pair of errors.

How It Happened

• The Redbirds got on the scoreboard first with a two-out run in the top of the first inning. Joe Butler notched a base hit to left field to plate the first run of the ballgame before Braeden Toikka got a fly ball to center field to strand a runner at third base and end the threat.
• The reigning Horizon League Co-Batter of the Week, Scott Ota, needed to see only one pitch to begin his case for claiming the award once again. Ota took the first pitch he saw from Brett Wicklund and crushed it out to right field for his 12^th home run of the season. The blast tied the game at 1-1 after an inning.
• UIC took its first lead in the bottom of the second. David Backer led off with a single before Thomas Smart sliced a ground-rule double to right field to give the Flames two runners in scoring position. Alex Dee delivered an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield to put his team in front, 2-1.
• Ota stayed red hot and delivered a two-run blast in his next at-bat to give UIC a 4-1 lead. He made Wicklund work and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat he uncorked another towering drive out to right field that scored Chris Papapietro, who doubled ahead of Ota, to extend the advantage.
• The Flames added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Matt Bottcher opened with a base hit up the middle. Papapietro squared to sacrifice the runner to second, but ISU's third baseman, Butler, threw high and wide to first base. Bottcher motored all the way around to score and Papapietro ended up on second base. The latter advanced to third on a deep fly ball to left field from Ota and he scored when Ryan Hampe belted an RBI double to the gap in left-center field. Papapietro's second run of the night helped UIC build a 6-1 lead.
• After Hampe's double, the Redbirds retired 11 consecutive Flames. Illinois State drew a pair of walks in the top of the seventh to form a small threat, but UIC reliever Sam Menegat struck out the side to get out of that sticky situation.

Notable

• UIC extended its winning streak to a season-high six games. It is the program's longest streak since the 2018 team won seven in a row between March 4 at Georgia Tech and March 18 against Northern Kentucky.
• During UIC's current six-game winning streak, Scott Ota is batting .500 (15-for-30) with three doubles, two triples, five home runs and 23 RBI. He is slugging 1.233 and has scored 10 runs for the Flames in that span.
• Ota has a career-high 13 home runs. The senior has three multi-home-run games this season coming at Milwaukee (March 29), vs. Northern Kentucky (April 12) and vs. Illinois State (Tuesday). UIC has won all three of those games by a combined score of 32-7.
• Ota has a team-best 15-game hitting streak. He led the Flames with two hits Tuesday and leads the squad with 14 multi-hit games in 30 chances. He has driven in at least three runs seven times.
• Ryan Hampe had hit .560 with five doubles, a home run and 11 RBI during the six-game winning streak. He entered Tuesday's game ranked third in the NCAA in batting average and went 1-for-4 with an RBI double against the Redbirds.
• Reliever Sam Menegat struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning. It was the second time this season that he fanned three batters in 1.0 IP (also March 30 at Milwaukee). Menegat has made five consecutive scoreless appearances.
• Alex Padilla struck out two batters in the ninth. He has registered at least two strikeouts in seven of his 15 appearances out of the bullpen this season, and in seven of the last 10.
• The Flames 13-0 when scoring at least six runs this season. They are 10-0 when holding the opposition to two runs or less.
• UIC has been outhit by the opposition in each of the last two games, but the Flames went on to win both contests by identical 6-1 scores.
• The Flames are averaging 10.3 runs per game during the current five-game winning streak. As a team, UIC is batting .359 with 27 extra-base hits during the surge.

On Deck

• UIC's weekend plans changed on Tuesday afternoon. Originally scheduled to play a three-game series at Oakland beginning Thursday afternoon, the Flames will now host the Golden Grizzlies on Friday and Saturday.
• The location has changed due to unplayable field conditions at Oakland.
• The series will open with a single game on Friday, April 19 at 3 p.m. and continue with a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one is scheduled to begin at noon.