CHICAGO - A Larisa Villa sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh was the difference-maker, as the UIC softball team extended its season-long win streak to four, defeating Valparaiso 7-6 Tuesday afternoon at Flames Field.
 
Jojo Santiago had a career day at the plate, while Christina Toniolo had a strong outing in the circle for UIC. The Flames racked up 12 hits in the victory and have now won five straight at home.
 
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH LYNN CURYLO
"Today was a great win for UIC. Our team continues to show courage and execute on both offense and defense. It was another awesome fight by our team, a terrific battle on the field and we're looking forward to this upcoming three game series this weekend."
 
COMMENT FROM SO. JOJO SANTIAGO
"This win was awesome; I think we really came together as a team today against Valparaiso. We're getting good at fighting in these close games and making sure we get the win. It's awesome that we're leaning on each other and knowing that we have each other's back is great to see."
 
GAME RECAP

• After Valparaiso placed runners on second and third early in the first, Christina Toniolo continued her stellar pitching, striking out Kimberli Lodas and forcing Emily Crompton to ground out to keep the Beacons off the board.
• In the second, Toniolo forced all three Beacons batters to ground out as part of a 1-2-3 inning.
• In the bottom of the second, with runners on second and third, Jojo Santiago punched a single to right field to score Emma Crowley. The hit was UIC's first of the game and Santiago's second RBI of the season.
• Two batters later, Tess Altevers Harris extended UIC's lead to 2-0 with a single to center. Alannah Cran scored on the play.
• With the bases loaded in the third, Cran was able to sneak a single into left field for her fifth RBI of the year to give the Flames the 3-0 lead.
• In the following at-bat, Santiago hit the sacrifice fly to right for her second RBI of the afternoon. Larissa Ortiz scored on the play to extend the UIC lead to 4-0.
• After Valparaiso tacked on two in the top of the fifth, Santiago continued her hot hitting at the plate, scoring Dee Dee Caskey on the RBI single to give the Flames the 5-2 lead.
• UIC added its sixth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, as Altevers Harris scored on a Grace Fleming ground out.
• Valparaiso came back in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs to tie the game at 6-6.
• However, the Flames' firepower wasn't finished. Following an Alannah Cran double, Santiago moved the senior to third on her third hit of the day. In the next at-bat, Larisa Villa hit the walk-off sacrifice fly, as Cran crossed the plate before the tag to clinch UIC's fourth win in a row.

NEWS AND NOTES

• The victory was UIC's third walk-off win in its last four games.
• Santiago's three RBIs is a single game career-high for the sophomore. She finished the day going 3-3 at the plate.
• Toniolo finished the afternoon pitching six innings, striking out two.
• 15 of the 18 defensive outs while Toniolo was in the circle were ground outs.
• UIC has scored six or more runs in three of its last four games.
• Miranda Gomez pitched 1.0 innings, allowing one hit.

UP NEXT

• UIC continues its eight-game homestand with a weekend series starting Friday against Bradley. The Braves are 13-35 on the season and 5-16 in conference play. Friday's contest will start at 5 p.m. and will be Softball vs. Cancer night. The game will stream on ESPN+. Saturday's game will take place at 2 p.m. and is UIC Softball Alumni Day. Sunday's noon contest will also be Senior Day. Fans can listen to the final two games of the series on the Flames Network.