ATLANTA — UIC senior first baseman Will Flanigan (Oak Lawn, Ill./Brother Rice) blasted a pair of historic home runs, and junior second baseman Jake Busson (Hudson, Wis./Iowa Central CC) added his Missouri Valley Conference-leading 19th home run of the season, but it was not enough as No. 2-ranked (and top-seeded) Georgia Tech rode the nation's top offense to a 22-5 win over the Flames in the NCAA Atlanta Regional opener for both squads on Friday afternoon inside Mac Nease Park at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta.
Playing in its first NCAA regional since 2019, UIC (27-28-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the first of Flanigan's two round-trippers, a towering drive down the right field line in the second inning. The veteran would add his second deep ball of the day, punctuating his first career two-HR game and the first two-homer game by a UIC player in NCAA Tournament history, with a solo shot to right in the fifth. Busson made his contribution to the yard work with a two-run homer high off the videoboard in left-center field to cap the Flames' scoring in the eighth.
Junior right-hander Mason Lei (Freeport, Ill./Rock Valley CC) tossed a scoreless first inning, but ran into the Yellow Jackets' potent and opportunistic offense over the remainder of his 3.1 innings of work. UIC did get solid contributions out of the bullpen, with three relievers — freshman Aidan Terronez (Sherrard, Ill./Sherrard), and seniors Michael Vitellaro (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) and Payton Barton (Moline, Ill./Blackhawk College) — each throwing a scoreless frame and neither Terronez nor Barton allowing a hit during their stints on the bump.
UIC will be back in action at 1 p.m. (CT) Saturday, taking on either second-seeded Oklahoma or No. 3 seed The Citadel in an elimination game at the NCAA Atlanta Regional. The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and fans can listen to the game free of charge worldwide on the Flames Network live from Mac Nease Park at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta.
The full box score and play-by-play recap from Friday's game at Georgia Tech can be found here.
COACH'S COMMENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Flanigan had four home runs in his two seasons at UIC (all this year) prior to Friday's two-homer outing. He is the first UIC player ever to have a two-homer game in the NCAA Tournament.
- Busson moves into sole possession of third place on the UIC single-season home run list with his 19 dingers. Only Scott Ota (20 in 2019) and Kendall Ewell (21 in 2024) have had more home runs for the Flames in a single season than Busson's total this year.
- UIC is playing in its first NCAA regional since the 2019 Louisville Regional. This is the program's seventh NCAA postseason appearance, including prior regional berths in 2003 (Palo Alto), 2005 (Lincoln), 2007 (Long Beach), 2008 (College Station) and 2017 (Hattiesburg).
- The Flames are now 3-13 all-time against Georgia Tech (2-9 in Atlanta).
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
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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