Skip To Main Content

UIC Athletics

thevalley
Kampa_CITADEL_053026_CK
Corey Kirk
8
UIC UIC 27-29-1, MVC
9
Winner The Citadel CIT 36-25, SoCon
UIC UIC
27-29-1, MVC
8
Final
9
The Citadel CIT
36-25, SoCon
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
UIC UIC 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 1 1 8 9 3
The Citadel CIT 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 2 9 10 0

W: Gibson, Michael (5-2) L: Jakubowski, Jake (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Drops 10-Inning Heartbreaker to The Citadel in NCAA Atlanta Regional Finale

Flames set program team records for home runs (74) and pitching strikeouts (407) this season.

ATLANTA — True to the gritty and tough nature of its campus, its student body and the city it represents, the UIC baseball team battled every step of the way in Saturday's NCAA Atlanta Regional elimination game against The Citadel, rallying to take the lead on three different occasions, the last on the second home run of the day by junior designated hitter Ashton Kampa (Muskego, Wis./Bryant & Stratton College) in the top of the 10th inning. However, the Bulldogs had a rally of their own, scoring twice on a walk-off single in the bottom of the frame to edge out the Flames, 9-8. It was just the second extra-inning game for UIC in NCAA regional play and its first since 2008.
 
UIC (27-29-1) blasted four home runs during Saturday's game, with senior first baseman Will Flanigan (Oak Lawn, Ill./Brother Rice) drilling his third of the regional to ignite a three-run eighth inning. Kampa followed later in the inning with a two-run shot to draw the Flames within 7-6. Junior right fielder Alexander Wright(Indianapolis, Ind./Illinois) then cracked a dramatic game-tying solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game and set the stage for each team's extra-inning heroics. Kampa became the second UIC player in as many days to hit two home runs in NCAA regional play after Flanigan became the first in program history to pull off that feat on Friday against No. 2 Georgia Tech.
 
The Flames' four home runs gave them a program-record 74 round trippers this season, while UIC also set a school record with 407 pitching strikeouts this year. Senior lefthander Brandon Bak (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) turned in a solid start, going into the seventh inning and allowing three earned runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Four other Flames' pitchers took the mound the rest of the way, highlighted by graduate student Zack Millsap (Crete, Ill./Kankakee CC), who worked 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief with two strikeouts and a key pickoff at first base in the ninth inning to erase the leadoff batter with the score knotted at 7-7.
 
After spotting The Citadel a 1-0 lead in the first inning, UIC made the first of its three comebacks in the fourth inning when junior left fielder Vidal Colon (Grafton, Wis./University School of Milwaukee) roped a two-run double to the gap in left-center field, plating Wright and junior center fielder Lucas Smith (Hinsdale, Ill./Nazareth Academy). The Bulldogs (36-25) tied the game with an unearned run in the fifth, but the Flames came right back and regained a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth when Flanigan laced a single to right that scored junior second baseman Jake Busson(Hudson, Wis./Iowa Central CC).
 
The Citadel then used a five-run seventh to move in front, but that lead was short-lived once again, as the gritty Flames mounted another comeback with three in the eighth, one in the ninth and one in the 10th before the Bulldogs plated their final two markers in the bottom of the final frame.
 
The full box score and play-by-play recap from Saturday's game against The Citadel can be found here.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
   
 
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • UIC was playing an extra inning game in an NCAA regional for the second time and first since a 14-11 loss in 11 innings to Houston in a 2008 College Station (Texas) elimination game.
  • The Flames were making their seventh NCAA postseason appearance and first since 2019.
  • UIC set program records with 74 home runs and 407 pitching strikeouts this season.
  • Kampa became the second Flames' player in as many days to have a two-homer day in an NCAA regional, following Will Flanigan's pair on Friday against Georgia Tech. They are the first UIC players ever to have multi-HR games in NCAA regional play.
  • Kampa finished this season with 18 home runs, tying for fourth on the UIC single-season list and just behind Busson, who led the MVC with 19 home runs, good for third in program history. 
 
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).
 
#ChicagosCollegeTeam
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version