CHICAGO – Behind the bat of Rayth Petersen, the UIC baseball team took down Purdue, 9-6, Tuesday evening at Granderson Stadium.
 
Petersen finished the game 4-for-5 at the plate with a career-high 4 RBI. The sophomore's biggest swing of the night came in the eighth inning with a two-out, two-run single to left to break a 6-all tie and give the Flames the 8-6 advantage.
 
An insurance run later in the inning put UIC in front 9-6 and Tanner Shears, the reigning Horizon League Pitcher of the Week, collected his sixth save of the season to give the Flames their second win over the Boilermakers this year.
 
It was a wild start to the game as seven runs were scored between the two teams in the first inning alone. Purdue struck first with a 3-run home run to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Flames quickly responded, with four runs on four hits to jump ahead, 4-3. Bryan Rosario stole home to plate the first run before Cole Conn delivered a single to right center to make it 3-2. Figueroa drove home a run to make it 3-3 and Ryan Nagelbach added a run-scoring single to center to plate Conn and put the Flames in front.
 
Petersen collected his first RBI of the night in the second when his single through the left side drove home Bobby Grimes, pushing the UIC lead to two at 5-3.
 
Purdue countered with a run in the top of the third to make it 5-4, but the lead was pushed back to two at 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth when Petersen delivered again. The sophomore singled to right, allowing Rosario to score from third.
 
The Boilermakers countered with a single run in the sixth to get within one at 6-5 and tied the game at 6-all in the eighth when a grounder to third hit the bag and deflected into the outfield, allowing the tying run to score.
 
After the leadoff hitter was retired in the bottom of the eighth, Adadm Weed walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sean Dee came on to pinch run, moving to third on a wild pitch. Bobby Grimes walked and stole second, putting runners on second and third with one away. Following a popup for the second out of the inning, Rosario was intentionally walked, loading the bases for Petersen.
 
Petersen delivered a single to left, driving home Dee and Grimes to make it 8-6. During the play, the Purdue left fielder bobbled the ball, allowing Rosario to advance to third and Peteresen to second. A wild pitch sent Rosario scampering home, just beating the tag at the plate by the Boilermaker backstop.
 
Shears worked around a one-out walk to secure his sixth save of the year and close out the 9-6 victory.
 
UIC returns to action this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders. The Flames will first travel to Milwaukee on Friday for a doubleheader before returning home to take on Wright State in a twinbill on Sunday.
 
News and Notes

• Shears is now a perfect 6-for-6 in save opportunities this season.
• Petersen pushed his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games and his on-base streak to 24 games.
• Rosario has now reached safely in 19 consecutive games and in all but one contest this season.
• Ryan Smith made his first collegiate start on the mound for the Flames