HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Behind a late offensive surge, the UIC baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Northern Kentucky. After dropping the opener by a 7-1 margin, the Flames outscored the Norse, 8-1, over the final three innings of Game 2 to pick up the 11-7 victory.
 
Ryan Lin-Peistrup led the way offensively Saturday, batting .500 over the two games. Breck Nowik homered in game two and led the Flames with four RBI in the doubleheader. Jeff Zack came out of the pen in both games, earning the win in Game 2 after pitching the final three innings.
 
Game 1 Recap
Northern Kentucky struck first with a run in the bottom of the first but Nate Peterson was dealing early with five strikeouts over the firs two frames, including a trio of strikeouts on nine pitches in the second. Peterson would finish the game with nine strikeouts in six innings of work.
 
The NKU lead grew to 3-0 in the third as a double to left center plated a pair.
 
UIC got on the board in the sixth after the first two runners reached base and moved to second and third following a wild pitch. With one away, Nowik singled through the left side, plating Lin-Peistrup to cut the deficit to two. UIC looked to trim into the lead even more but left a pair of runners stranded.
 
The Norse added a run on a single in the sixth before putting the game out of reach with a bases-clearing double to close out a four-run inning.
 
Game 2 Recap
Northern Kentucky once again jumped out to an early lead, scoring a pair of runs in each of the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead into the third.
 
With the score still at 4-0 heading into the fifth, the Flames plated their first run of the game as Adam Weed raced home and forced an errant throw to make it 4-1.
 
The Flames pulled within one in the sixth after four consecutive walks to open the inning allowed Nowik to score. Cole Conn scored the second run as he scored on a double play ball.
 
Northern Kentucky got the two runs right back in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-3 lead into the final three innings.
 
UIC started its comeback in the seventh as Nowik blasted a three-run shot to left center to tie things up at 6-all.
 
The Flames took their first lead of the game in the eighth inning after Adam Weed singled to lead off the inning. He was lifted for Sean Dee as a pinch runner, who moved to second on the sac bunt by Bobby Grimes. Dee would come around to score on the RBI double by Lin-Peistrup, putting UIC in front by a 7-6 margin.
 
Three more runs would come across for the visitors in the ninth, building an 11-6 margin. Ryan Nagelbach had a run-scoring single, Dee added an RBI single and Lin-Peistrup added a two-run double to make it a five-run advantage for the Flames.
 
Northern Kentucky would add a single run in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't get any closer, closing out the 11-7 decision.
 
Zack picked up the win, pitching the final three innings while allowing just one run on two hits and striking out four.
 
UIC returns home for a Sunday doubleheader against Purdue Fort Wayne. First pitch is set at 2:05 p.m.