EVANSTON, Ill. – In a game where 23 hits were collectively scattered all over Rocky and Berenice Field entering the evening Tuesday, the UIC baseball team (12-21-1, 7-5 MVC) fell one-run shy of completing the ninth-inning comeback against Northwestern (14-18-1, 5-10 MVC), 12-11.
The box score and the complete play-by-play recap can be found
here.
The Flames started the game with an explosive top of the first, plating seven in the inning. It started when junior
Jake Busson singled to the left side, before junior
Ashton Kampa sailed a 2-2 pitch over the right-centerfield wall 411 feet for his sixth home run of the season.
Later in the frame, with the bases loaded, junior
James Hackett crushed his first collegiate home run, a 422-foot grand slam, capping off the outing for Northwestern's starting pitcher Justin Fryer.
The Wildcats plate two in the bottom of the inning before the game was controlled by the work on the mound in the early portion of the middle innings. After freshman
Keegan Luxem collected his third and final strikeout of his outing, graduate student
Jacob Jakubowski logged the most innings for UIC in the game, before being pulled out early in sixth. He finished his day logging in 3.2 innings, facing 15 batters, allowing three hits and collecting three strikeouts.
Northwestern regained the lead late in the sixth, but the Flames didn't give up in the fight. Down by four in the later innings, junior
Alexander Wright pummeled a ball to deep centerfield for his third home run of the season to cut Northwestern's lead to four, 12-8, heading into the ninth.
Freshman
Charlie Taczy kept Northwestern quiet in the bottom of the eighth, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts, before the pinch hitting graduate student
Gavin Acosta led off the ninth with a walk. After Kampa hit a line shot off the wall for a single, junior
Thomas Curry pummeled the Wildcats Alex Grant's 1-1 pitch over the left field wall 417 for a two-out, three-run home run.
A few batters later, Northwestern went on to secure the win, thwarting the Flames' momentum in a game-ending strikeout with two runners on.
UP NEXT!
The Flames return to Missouri Valley Conference play at Curtis Granderson Stadium this weekend, when they take on Valparaiso (9-23, 2-7 MVC).
The series begins this Friday, with the first pitch scheduled at 6:05 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on
ESPN+ with live stats available at
UICFlames.com.
UIC Careers in Sports Day
Prior to UIC's Kids Day Game on April 24, the Flames will host a Career Day event inside the Flames Athletic Center from 9–11 a.m.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from UIC Athletics staff about their roles and the various career paths available in sports.
Due to space limitations, attendance is limited to the first 150 participants. To register, please email
Brian Davis at briand@uic.edu.
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For more information on UIC Athletics and UIC baseball, visit
UICFlames.com. Fans can also follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_Baseball and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uic_baseball and
@uicflames).
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