CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team was upended in both games of a Saturday (March 20) doubleheader, falling 12-4 in the opener before dropping the second game by a 7-0 margin.
 
Game One Recap
UIC (3-9, 2-4 HL) struck first in the opening game, jumping out to a 3-0 margin after the first three innings of action. The Flames jumped on Wright State (10-5, 10-0HL) starter Bradley Brehmer, plating a pair of runs in the opening quarter.
 
Thomas Smart led off the bottom half of the first with a single and was moved to second on a sac bunt by Bryan Rosario. Ryan Naglebach drove in the first run of the frame with a ground-rule double to right center and came around to score with a two-out single by Cory Moore.
 
The Flames pushed the advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of the third when a leadoff walk by Rosario came around to score on Moore's second two-out RBI single of the game.
 
UIC and Wright State traded a pair of runs in the fourth inning. A leadoff single by Tyler Black eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly to cut the Flames' lead to 3-1. The Flames countered back in the home half of the inning as Cole Conn singled to open the frame. The freshman then stole second and moved to third on a single by Smart. Rosario picked up the RBI as his single found its way through the left side.
 
The Wright State bats came to life in the closing innings, plating three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and four in the seventh to pull away for the 12-4 victory.
 
Game Two Recap
The Flames looked to strike first in the second game of the doubleheader, loading the bases in the bottom of the first on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch, but a strikeout ended the early UIC threat.
 
UIC and Wright State traded scoreless half innings until the top of the fourth when the Raiders capitalized on a leadoff double to take an early 1-0 lead. The Flames put two on in the bottom of the fourth behind singles from Moore and Garrett McCarthy, but Wright State was able to end UIC's attempt to even the score.
 
 Once again it was the late innings that proved to be the difference, as the Raiders plated one in the sixth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth to pull away for the 7-0 victory.
 
Ryan O'Reilly finished with a quality start, going 6.1 innings while allowing three runs on six hits. The graduate student struck out a career-high eight batters in the effort.
 
The two teams will wrap up a four-game series Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m.