MURRAY, Ky. – Fresh off claiming the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season championship, the top-seeded UIC baseball team (24-27-1, 16-8 MVC) opens postseason play Thursday against No. 4 seed Southern Illinois (24-30, 14-10 MVC) in the second round of the MVC Baseball Championship at Johnny Regan Field at Taylor Family Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. CT.
The game will be streamed on The Valley on ESPN or ESPN+ with live stats available at UICFlames.com. Fans attending the game will be granted free admission.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
- Thursday marks the 10th meeting all-time between UIC and Southern Illinois, with the Flames holding a 5-4 advantage in the series.
- UIC and Southern Illinois opened MVC play March 20-21 in Chicago at Curtis Granderson Stadium, where the Flames won two of the three games in the weekend series.
- After the Salukis claimed the series opener, UIC responded with back-to-back walk-off victories in the doubleheader, both coming off the bat of junior Jake Busson.
- Southern Illinois advanced to the second round of the MVC Baseball Championship with an 8-4 victory over No. 5 seed Evansville on Wednesday. Senior catcher Mason Schwalbach recorded a multi-hit performance, including the Salukis' lone home run and three RBI.
REGULAR SEASON TITLE AND POSTSEASON ACCOLADES
- For the first time since joining The Valley, UIC secured its first MVC Baseball Regular Season title, earning a first-round bye into the conference tournament. It marks the program's first regular-season championship in more than nine years, with its last coming in 2017 in the Horizon League.
- Head coach Sean McDermott was voted as the Dan Callahan Coach of the Year in the conference, his first Coach-of-the-Year honor since taking over the program in 2021. This is the 13th Coach-of-the-Year award in program history, last won by UIC Hall of Fame coach Mike Dee in 2017.
- Junior Ashton Kampa was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and earned All-MVC First Team honors after leading UIC with a .411 batting average in 22 conference games. Kampa becomes the fourth consecutive UIC player to earn Newcomer of the Year honors, joining Charlie Szykowny (2023), Kendal Ewell (2024) and Luke Pelzer (2025).
- Junior Vidal Colon earned a share of MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors and was also named to the All-Defensive Team. A versatile defender used across the field; Colon has been a key piece of UIC's defense and appeared on the SportsCenter Top 10 at No. 3 on March 15. He is the first UIC player since Zane Zielinski to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since the program joined the MVC.
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