CHICAGO – The UIC baseball (15-22-1,10-5 MVC) team dropped a 9-8 midweek nonconference game to Northern Illinois (23-12, 14-7 MAC) after five lead changes Tuesday night at Curtis Granderson Stadium.
After the Huskies plated one in the top of the first, junior
Ashton Kampa collected UIC's first hit with a two-double in the gap. Then, in the next at-bat, on a 1-2 pitch, junior
Thomas Curry crushed the ball over the left field wall 418 feet, for his third home run in the past week. UIC led after the first, 2-1.
Northern Illinois had a chance to regain the lead in the very next inning when the Huskies' Connor Mendell crushed a ball to dead center before junior
Andrew Pyszka would reach over the wall to make a tremendous home run robbing grab to end the second.
The Huskies would later regain the lead in the top of the fourth behind a three-run home run, before graduate student
Jake Jakubowski entered the game in relief, collecting swinging strikeouts against Wyatt Wawro and Nolan Sandee to end the frame. Jakubowski finished his consecutive outing pitching 1.2 innings, allowing no hits, one walk and struck out three.
UIC would cut into NIU's lead in the bottom of the fifth when the Huskies' Alex Day entered in relief. Pyszka would hit an opposite-field home run to make it a one-run game, his first home run of the season.
The Flames best moments in the batter's box came in the sixth, plating four runs in the inning. It started after Curry led the frame with a single, before he was moved all the way to third on back-to-back ground outs. He would score when freshman
Sean Cody would crush a 3-1 pitch off the right center wall. Cody would score in the next at-bat on a wild pitch, giving UIC the lead once again.
Two more insurance runs later in the inning came off the bat of junior
James Hackett, crushing the ball over the dead center field wall for a 430-foot two-run home run. UIC entered the later innings ahead, 7-4.
Kampa would score the final run of the night on the second pitch of his at-bat would hit his eighth home run of the year, a solo shot to right center field to keep UIC's three-run lead intact.
The Huskies would score four unanswered runs in the eighth inning to take a 9-8 lead entering the bottom of the ninth. With two on and two out, the Flames threatened before a dropped third strike sealed Northern Illinois' win.
The entire play-by-play and box score can be found
here.
UP NEXT!
The Flames are back on the road tomorrow night, when they face off against the Big Ten's Iowa (22-16, 7-11 Big Ten) at Duane Bank Field for a 6:02 p.m. (CT) first pitch. The game will be streamed on the B1G+ Network with a paid subscription. Live stats will also be 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.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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).
#
ChicagosCollegeTeam
