CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team's (14-21-1, 9-5 MVC) bats couldn't be stopped Saturday afternoon at Curtis Granderson Stadium, as the Flames took down Valparaiso (9-25, 2-9 MVC) in seven innings, 10-0.
From the moment he stepped on the mound, senior
Brandon Bak was dialed in. Backed by strong defense, Bak surrendered two of his four hits in the first two innings and did not allow a runner past second base.
The Flames exploded offensively in the bottom of the third, when after a senior
Will Flanigan walked and junior
Ashton Kampa singled, junior
Thomas Curry crushed the ball 103 miles per hour off the center field wall, getting the Flames on the board with a two-out, two-RBI triple.
Curry would score in the next at-bat, when junior
Lucas Smith hit a single out to left field. Smith then would be the next one to touch home when on a 1-0 pitch, senior
Colin Husko doubled to right field, scoring Smith from first base. Husko would be the last Flames' baserunner to score in the inning, when freshman
Sean Cody would crush a single down the middle to score his teammate.
After Bak threw his fourth inning of shut-out ball against the Beacons, the Flames would once again score three runners in the bottom of the fourth off of RBI singles from Curry, Smith and Husko.
The Beacons looked to build some offensive momentum when Valparaiso's George Betevis led off with a double in the top of the fifth. Bak would respond with forcing back-to-back ground outs to Cody for the Beacon's Case Sullivan and Gavin Bennett before he struck out Eli Riley on a 1-2 pitch to end the frame.
Bak would ultimately finish out his outing with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings. Throwing his third complete game in a UIC uniform, Bak allowed four hits, one walk and three strikeouts in his 86-pitch performance.
The Flames would secure the win in the later innings, large part to Kampa's work at the plate. In the bottom of the fifth, Kampa would get his first RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly that would later score junior
Vidal Colon from third. Two innings later, after junior J
ake Busson reached on an infield single in the seventh, Kampa crushed a double to left-center to score him and seal the Flames' run-rule win.
The entire play-by-play and box score can be found
here.
UP NEXT!
The Flames finish out their series with Valparaiso Sunday afternoon, with a first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available at UICFlames.com.
Fans interested in attending any UIC baseball home games can purchase their tickets on site at our ticket booth at gate one. Any group tickets or ticketing questions can be directed to the UIC Athletics Ticket Office by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or emailing
athleticsticketing@uic.edu.
Sunday's game will once again be Sparky's Sunday Funday and Bark at the Park. After the game, young fans will be invited to race around the bases.
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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