GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2024) – The UIC softball team (3-9) opened its weekend visit to Gainesville, Fla., on a high note, defeating Colgate, 5-3 and Lafayette, 7-6 on Friday to open Florida's T-Mobile Tournament at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Flames have now won three in a row and their bats have come alive with 17 runs in those three victories.
 
Graduate student designated player/pitcher Carlee Jo Clark (Carol Stream, Ill./Southern Illinois) had a five-hit afternoon, including a 4-for-4 game with three RBI, three runs scored and a home run in the win over Lafayette. Clark also threw the first three innings in the opener against Colgate.
 
Senior outfielder Anna Walker (Burnside, Ill./Parkland College) added three hits, three RBI and scored two runs in the doubleheader, while freshman Cameran Rios (Effingham, Ill./St. Anthony) was the hero in the nightcap against Lafayette with a walk-off double (on an 0-2 pitch) in the bottom of the seventh.
 
COMMENT FROM REDSHIRT JUNIOR PITCHER ALYSSA MCINTOSH
"I am super excited to have gotten my first win today and to be back out there. I am also excited for the season — the team worked really well together to get two wins today and I think it will be a really great year."
 
COMMENT FROM SENIOR DESIGNATED PLAYER/PITCHER CARLEE JO CLARK
"Overall it was a good day for the Flames. It was great on both sides of the ball and we are really looking forward to keeping this rolling for the rest of the weekend."
 
COMMENT FROM FRESHMAN THIRD BASEMAN CAMERAN RIOS
"We knew we needed another run, so we didn't have to go into extra innings. Before the at-bat, I talked to Dee Dee Caskey, and I knew my plan was to move the runner over by a bunt or to hit the ball to the right side. I went up and got a curveball and I thought that it was perfect to take to the right side. We had a lot of big plays today and we worked well as a team."
 
GAME ONE (5-3, UIC)

• After a quick first inning, the Flames scored first in the top of the second when Walker drew a base on balls and later scored on the front end of a double steal attempt.
• In the bottom of the fourth, redshirt junior Alyssa McIntosh (Lancaster, Calif./Lancaster) entered the circle in place of Clark. The Raiders scored their third run on a Flames' throwing error, but McIntosh forced a comebacker from Colgate's Kara Fusco to end the inning.
• UIC tied it up in the next half inning. Walker singled to open the inning and later scored on a bunt single from junior JoJo Santiago (Channahon, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy). Junior Grace Fleming (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) then tied it up at 3-3, scoring freshman Siena Stickney (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capo Valley) on a fielder's choice.
• The Flames regained the lead in the top of the sixth when a sacrifice fly from Walker scored senior Larisa Villa (La Habra, Calif./La Habra). Junior Emma Gumont (Warren, Ohio/Notre Dame College) drove in an insurance run in the top of the seventh when her RBI single scored Rios.
• McIntosh was very effective in her remaining three innings in the circle to earn her first win since the 2022 season (she missed all of last year with an injury). She only allowed three hits, walked two batters and collected her lone strikeout in the bottom of the seventh in a 1-2-3 inning that secured the victory.

 
GAME TWO (7-6, UIC)

• The Flames loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and Walker connected on a 2-2 pitch with a two-run single, scoring Clark and Gumont to give UIC an early 2-0 lead.
• The Leopards quickly responded with three runs in the top of the second, but the Flames countered again. A two-run single to right field off the bat of Clark scored both Santiago and Rios in the bottom of the inning to give the Flames a short-lived 4-3 lead, as Lafayette scored on an error to tie it up in the top of the third.
• After Clark doubled in the fifth inning, she quickly stole third base to give the Flames a runner 60 feet away. She later scored on a base hit to right off the bat of senior Emma Crowley (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) to put the Flames back ahead 5-4.
• The Leopards took the lead back in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs off a throwing error. Down by one, and already having three hits in the game, Clark stepped into the batter's box, and on the first pitch launched the ball over the center field wall for her first home run of the season, tying the game at 6-6.
• After getting out of a bases loaded situation in the top of the seventh, UIC went to work in the bottom of the frame. Crowley collected her second hit of the game with a base hit up the middle with freshman Atina'eleila Fonoti (Mililani, Hawaii/Mililani) coming in to run. After Fonoti moved up 60 feet on a successful sacrifice bunt by Walker, Stickney walked to put Flames on first and second. Rios then stepped up and, on a 0-2 pitch, drilled a double to center field to score Fonoti with the winning run.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• After last year's injury, McIntosh earned her first pitching win since April 29, 2022, when she tossed a complete game shutout against Cleveland State.
• Clark's home run is the first this season for UIC. She has now hit four home runs since joining the Flames in 2022.
• Not only was Rios' walk-off double her first career extra-base hit, but it also drove in her first collegiate RBI.
• Fleming extended her hitting streak to five games with a hit in each game on Friday.

 
UP NEXT FOR THE FLAMES
UIC returns to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Saturday for more action at the T-Mobile Tournament, first facing Lafayette at 9:30 a.m. (CT) and then Colgate at 4:30 p.m. (CT). While neither game will have live video coverage, live stats will be available for both games at UICFlames.com.
 
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_Softball and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_softball and @uicflames).
 
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