CHICAGO – Late heroics by the UIC offense lifted the Flames to a doubleheader sweep of Youngstown State Saturday (May 1) afternoon at Granderson Stadium.
 
Having won Game 1 of the doubleheader by a 3-1 margin, the Flames (20-16, 19-11 HL) found themselves trailing Youngstown State (23-19, 18-13 HL), 7-1, entering the eighth inning of the second game. UIC's offense stormed back, hitting four home runs in the inning, including three consecutive shots, to come back and take the 8-7 lead. Fred Gosbeth closed the door for the second time Saturday, securing the doubleheader sweep.
 
UIC will look to win the series Sunday, with the series finale set for 11 a.m. Sunday's contest will also be Senior Day, with the Flames honoring their graduating class following the contest.
 
Game 1 Recap
UIC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of runs in the second inning. Cole Conn doubled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the second and moved to third on a single by Thomas Norton. An RBI groundout by Garrett McCarthy plated Conn, giving the Flames the early 1-0 advantage.
 
With one away in the inning and Norton on third, Cory Moore drew a walk. The pitch got away from the Penguin catcher, allowing Norton to race home and score on the wild pitch to make it 2-0 UIC.
 
Chris Torres cruised through the first three innings, facing the minimum entering the fourth. Torres gave up his first hit of the game in the fourth on a bunt single. The Penguins looked to scratch across a run with a two-out double, but a great relay throw by Bryan Rosario to Ryan Lin-Peistrup to Joshua Figueroa gunned the would-be runner out at the plate.
 
The righty allowed a pair of hits in the sixth, allowing Youngstown State to close within one at 2-1, but Gosbeth entered in relief and got a strikeout and groundout to end the scoring threat.
 
UIC tacked on an insurance run in the home half of the sixth as back-to-back doubles by McCarthy and Moore pushed the UIC lead back to two at 3-1.
 
Gosbeth returned for the seventh and worked around a one-out walk to secure the save and hand UIC Game 1 of the doubleheader.
 
Game 2 Recap
The Penguins quickly took a 1-0 lead as Jeff Wehler led off the game with a solo shot. Youngstown State's lead ballooned to 5-0 with a four-run fifth, aided by a three-run shot.
 
UIC looked to chip away at the five-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth, as Ryan Nagelbach roped a ground-rule double to right. The freshman would come around to score from second on the RBI single by Rosario to make it 5-1 Penguins.
 
Youngstown State tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh to make it 7-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for UIC's emphatic comeback.
 
McCarthy was hit by a pitch with one away and moved to second on Moore's single to center. Sean Dee stepped to the plate and launched a three-run shot over the Youngstown State bullpen to make it a 7-4 ballgame.
 
Nagelbach drew a walk, forcing a Penguin pitching change. After Thomas Smart struck out for the second out in the inning, Rosario lifted a homer just beyond the right field fence to pull UIC within a run at 7-5.
 
The very next batter, Matt Bottcher blasted a shot off the scoreboard in left center to even the score at 7-all. Two pitches later, Conn connected on the fourth long ball of the inning for UIC and gave the Flames back-to-back-to-back home runs, sending UIC in front by a slim 8-7 margin.
 
Gosbeth was called on to close for the second time Saturday and struck out the side, completing the UIC comeback.