MILWAUKEE – The UIC baseball team (17-15, 16-10 HL) brought out the big bats against Milwaukee (15-19, 12-11 HL) on Saturday, defeating the Panthers by a 10-1 tally in game one before finishing out the day with a 10-3 win in game two. The Flames batted a trio of homers in game one and added two more homers in game two, outscoring the Panthers 20-4 on the day and outhitting Milwaukee 23-13.

The Flames were also helped by solid outings on the bump from starters Ryan O'Reilly and Chris Torres.

Game 1 Recap
Milwaukee got on the board first in the bottom of the first after an error came around to score off a ground out and a single, 1-0. The Flames evened things up in the top of the third, as Ryan Nagelbach batted a sacrifice fly to score Ryan Lin-Peistrup, 1-1.

UIC jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth thanks to a solo home run from Sean Dee and a three-run blast for Joshua Figueroa. Lin-Peistrup added a homer of his own in the next inning, sending a two-run homer down the left field line with one out to put the Flames up 7-1. UIC added another run in the top of the sixth after Figueroa drew a bases-loaded walk, 8-1.

The Flames reached double digits in the top of the seventh, with Thomas Norton scoring on a wild pitch and Thomas Smart forcing a Milwaukee error which allowed Garrett McCarthy to score, 10-1.

The Panthers batted a pair of singles with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but the Flames recorded the final two outs via a ground out and a strike out before any runs would cross to seal the deal on the victory in game one.

O'Reilly was solid on the mound for the Flames, allowing just one unearned run and five hits in his complete-game showing. O'Reilly struck out a personal-best 10 in the win and improved to 3-5 on the season.

UIC finished with a 7-5 advantage in hits in game one, as Smart, Matt Bottcher, Figueroa, Norton, McCarthy, Lin-Peistrup and Sean Dee each collected one hit apiece. Figueroa drove in four runs to lead the way in RBIs, followed by Lin-Peistrup, who drove in two. Sean Dee and Nagelbach each collected one RBI apiece. Norton, Lin-Peistrup and Dee all crossed the plate twice for UIC, while Smart, Bottcher, Figueroa and McCarthy each scored once.

Game 2 Recap
The Flames picked up right where they left off in game one, as Figueroa and Cory Moore batted a pair of solo home runs in the top of the second to give UIC an early 2-0 advantage. The lead grew to four in the top of the third after Sean Dee and Smart both singled and scored on a double from Bottcher, 4-0.

The Panthers got their first run of the game off a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, 4-1, but the Flames responded with three runs in their next at bat to take a comfortable six-run lead. Sean Dee led off the inning with a double, and he came around to score on a single from Smart, 5-1. Bryan Rosario and Bottcher both followed with singles, scoring Smart, 6-1. Cole Conn batted a sacrifice fly out to center, allowing Rosario to tag up and score from third, 7-1.

Rosario doubled to lead off the seventh, and he added a run for the Flames off an RBI single from Figueroa, 8-1. Figueroa moved to third on a balk, and he crossed the plate himself on a single off the bat of Norton, 9-1.

UIC tacked on one more run in the top of the eighth, as Nagelbach led off with a walk and scored after singles from Rosario and Bottcher, 10-1.

Milwaukee plated two runs in the bottom of the eighth off an error, two singles and a passed ball, 10-3. The Panthers put on a baserunner in the bottom of the ninth off a one-out single, but the Flames turned the double play on the next batter to finish the game with a convincing 10-3 win.

The Flames finished with twice as many hits as the Panthers, 16-8. Bottcher and Rosario both finished 3-for-5 at the plate to lead for UIC, while Smart, Figueroa, Moore and Sean Dee also finished with multi-hit showings. Conn and Norton each added one hit of their own.

Bottcher led for the Flames with four RBI, followed by Figueroa with two. Smart, Conn, Norton and Moore drove in one run apiece. Smart, Rosario, Figueroa and Sean Dee all crossed the plate twice, while Moore and Nagelbach each crossed once.

Torres got the start and pitched 8.0 innings to earn the win and improve to 4-1 on the season. The sophomore allowed three runs, one of which was earned, off seven hits while striking out two. Peter Newton closed things out for the Flames, allowing one hit in 1.0 inning of work.