LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Nate Peterson threw a gem in his UIC debut and head coach Sean McDermott picked up his first win as the skipper of the UIC baseball team as the Flames topped New Mexico State in 10 innings, 8-3, in the season opener Friday.
 
Peterson struck out a career-high 13 batters over seven innings while allowing just one run on five hits. The 13 strikeouts are tied for the sixth-most strikeouts in UIC single-game history. The redshirt freshman became the first player to strike out 13 or more batters since Ryan Zink did so against Saint Louis on March 7, 2004.
 
Peterson was dealing from the get go in his UIC debut and first career start, striking out the final two batters in perfect first inning.
 
The Flames struck first with three runs in the top of the second. Joshua Figueroa led off the inning and moved to third on a double by Ryan Nagelbach. With runners on second and third, redshirt freshman Breck Nowik poked a single up the middle, plating Figueroa and advancing Nagelbach to third.
 
After a fielders choice gave UIC runners on the corners with one away, Bobby Grimes walked to load the bases. Bryan Rosario came through with a two-run single up the middle, giving the Flames the early 3-0 lead.
 
The redshirt sophomore Peterson struck out the side in the second as the Aggies were able to plate a run on a single to center.
 
Peterson picked up another pair of strikeouts in the fourth and one in the fifth, giving the native of Lakeville, Minnesota, eight for the game.
 
UIC looked for a little two-out magic in the sixth. After the first two batters struck out, Nagelbach legged out an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Flames were unable to capitalize, leaving Nagelbach stranded in scoring position.
 
Peterson added to his strikeout tally in the sixth after punching out the first two batters before putting a bow on his stellar performance with a trio of strikeouts in the seventh.
 
The lefty was in line for the win before the Aggies rallied in the ninth with a pair of runs, sending the game to extra innings.
 
After the first two runners reached base to start the top of the 10^th, Figueroa singled to right to score Lin-Peistrup and move Cole Conn to third. A walk by Nagelbach loaded the bases before Nowik was hit by a pitch to drive in a second run. Freshman Rayth Petersen opened the floodgates in the 10^th with a bases-clearing double to right-center.
 
Tanner Shears came on in the 10^th and worked around a one-out walk to strike out a pair and close the door on the season-opening victory.
 
UIC and New Mexico State resume the three-game series on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. (CT).
 
News and Notes

• Head coach Sean McDermott won his first game as skipper of the UIC baseball team.
• Rosario extended his on-base streak to 29 games dating back to the middle of last season.
• Figueroa pushed his hitting streak to 10 games after closing last year on a nine-game hitting streak.
• UIC pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts Friday evening.