MURRAY, Ky. – The No. 1 seed UIC baseball team (26-27-1, 16-8 MVC) will face No. 4 seed Southern Illinois (27-31, 14-10 MVC) in the championship series of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship on Sunday at Johnny Reagan Field at Taylor Family Park in Murray, Ky. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT. If necessary, a second game will be played at 4:30 p.m. CT.

The game will be streamed on The Valley on ESPN+. Live stats will be available at UICFlames.com.

This marks UIC's first opportunity to win the MVC Tournament title since joining The Valley in 2022 and the program's first championship series appearance since winning the Horizon League title in 2019.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• This will be the 15^th game between the programs, with UIC holding a 8-6 overall lead in the series. This season, the Flames have gone 3-1 against the Salukis.
• Southern Illinois has had one of the longest journeys through the tournament, responsible for knocking out No. 5 Evansville, No. 2 Indiana State and lastly No. 3 Murray State (33-26, 15-9 MVC) late Saturday night, 9-7.
• Redshirt senior Tim Simay and senior Mason Schwalbach were critical in the Salukis' win over the Racers, driving in four runs collectively. Senior Gavan Wernsing had a strong outing in his start, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing three hits, two runs, a walk and three strikeouts in the win.
• Earlier in the tournament, the Salukis and the Flames met on the diamond in the second round, with UIC collecting an 11-1 win in seven innings on Thursday. Four Flames hit home runs in the win: senior Will Flanigan, and juniors Jake Busson, Thomas Curry and Ashton Kampa. Junior Mason Lei posted a 96-pitch complete game, allowing five hits, one earned run and eight strikeouts in the win.

SEMIFINALS RECAP – VS. MURRAY STATE

• The Flames punched their ticket into the championship series earlier Saturday afternoon, when they secured a 6-5 victory over Murray State.
• Curry and junior Vidal Colon each recorded multi-hit games in the win, driving in two runs apiece.
• Graduate student Gavin Acosta crushed his first home run of the season, giving UIC a two-run lead late in the game.
• Graduate student Mark Eddie finished the game on the mound for the Flames, going 3.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits, while walking a pair and striking out one for his second save of the season in relief of starter and winning pitcher Brandon Bak.

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