Skip To Main Content

UIC Athletics

thevalley
Jake Busson
Steve Woltmann
8
Winner Ill.-Chicago UIC 23-26-1
3
Bradley BRADLEY 10-44
Winner
Ill.-Chicago UIC
23-26-1
8
Final
3
Bradley BRADLEY
10-44
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill.-Chicago UIC 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 8 10 1
Bradley BRADLEY 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 12 0

W: Lei, Mason (7-4) L: Joey Cirelli (1-6)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Collects 8-3 Victory at Bradley Thursday Night

Flames Clinch top two seed, first-round bye in MVC tournament with win over Bradley.

PEORIA, Ill. –  In their final Missouri Valley Conference series opener of the 2026 season, the UIC baseball team (23-26-1, 15-7 MVC) couldn't be stopped in the batter's box, defeating Bradley (10-44, 5-17 MVC) 8-3 on the road at Dozer Park Thursday night.

The Flames struck first in the top of the first inning after junior Lucas Smith doubled with two outs. Junior Jake Busson then stepped to the plate against Bradley starter Joey Cirrelli and launched a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his Missouri Valley Conference-leading 16th home run of the season, giving UIC an early 2-0 lead.

Two innings later, junior Thomas Curry added to the advantage with a solo home run on a 1-1 pitch that cleared Dozer Park and landed in the street beyond the outfield wall for his 11th homer of the season.

Bradley answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, but UIC responded with a four-run fourth inning. Senior Colin Husko scored on a bases-loaded walk before junior Ashton Kampa emptied the bases with a three-run triple, extending the Flames' lead to 7-1 heading into the middle innings.

The Braves threatened in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out against junior Mason Lei, but the right-hander forced a ground ball from Peyton Nelson that freshman shortstop Sean Cody turned into an inning-ending double play to escape the jam.

Lei allowed one more run in the fifth inning but settled in the rest of the way. He closed his outing with a swinging strikeout of Angelo Aleman to end the sixth inning, finishing with six strikeouts on the night.

After two strong innings of relief work from senior Jake Jakubowski kept Bradley quiet, junior Vidal Colon would earn UIC's last RBI of the ninth in the top of the ninth, hitting a shallow fly ball into centerfield for the RBI single, scoring junior Alexander Wright. The Flames secured the win in the bottom half of the inning behind graduate student Mark Eddie's work on the mound.

With the victory, and Murray State's 10-6 loss to Evansville, UIC has secured a top two seed in next week's MVC Baseball Championship, earning itself a first-round bye.  
 
 
The entire play-by-play and box score can be found here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
UP NEXT!
The Flames are back at Dozer Park tomorrow in game two against the Braves, with first pitch once again scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ or available to listen to for free on the Flames Network. Live stats will also be available at UICFlames.com.

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
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version