UIC Crowned #HLBase Champions

No. 1 UIC: 4, No. 2 Wright State: 2

CHICAGO - The UIC Flames were crowned the 2017 Horizon League Tournament champions for the fifth time in program history Saturday as it took out Wright State, 4-2, at Granderson Stadium in an emotional title game. The victory marked the 39th of the season for the Flames, matching the program record previously achieved in both 2002 and 2003.

Facing a 1-0 deficit, UIC (39-15) used a three-tun fifth inning, powered by a two-run triple from David Cronin, to move out on top of the Raiders (38-21) and maintain the lead the remainder of the game, adding an important insurance run with two outs in the sixth.

The Flames have earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament as they advance to regionals for the first time since 2008. UIC will find out its first-round destination on Monday afternoon during the selection show at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

All-Tournament Team
David Cronin, UIC (MVP)
Mickey McDonald, UIC
Cody Bohanek, UIC
Reid Birlingmair, UIC
Jake Dahlberg, UIC
Kevin Whatley, Wright State
Gabe Snyder, Wright State
Matt Morrow, Wright State
Tyler Pagano, Oakland
Matt DiLeo, Oakland
Brad Bohlen, Northern Kentucky
TJ Alas, Northern Kentucky
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHICAGO – UIC and Wright State will meet in the championship game tomorrow at 2:00pm ET. The two teams faced off in the first game of the day with the Flames edging the Raiders 4-1 to earn the first spot in the title game. Wright State bounced back in the second game of the day defeating Oakland 12-4 after a three-and-a-half-hour weather delay to force a rematch with UIC.

No. 2 Wright State: 12, No. 5 Oakland: 4

For the fifth straight year and 12th time in program history, the Wright State baseball team has advanced to the finals of the Horizon League Tournament, bouncing back from a 4-1 setback to UIC in the winner's bracket final to eliminate Oakland 12-4.

Against UIC, the Raiders tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the third.   Brandon Giltrow led off with a double down the left field line, but was retired at third on a fielder's choice off the bat of Zach Weatherford.  Weatherford then stole second and scored as Matt Morrow had a hit up the middle.

The Flames, however, took the lead for good with a run in the fifth and then added two unearned runs in the seventh to round out the scoring.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

No. 1 UIC: 4, No. 2 Wright State: 1

CHICAGO – Top-seeded UIC remained unbeaten in the 2017 Horizon League Championship by downing No. 2 Wright State at Granderson Stadium on Friday afternoon, 4-1.

Sophomore Reid Birlingmair appeared to get stronger on the mound for UIC (38-15) as the game rolled along. The Normal, Ill., scatted six hits and allowed just a single run over the span of 7.0 innings. He fanned five Raiders and worked efficiently as he secured his seventh win of the season.

Offensively, Cody Bohanek paced the lineup with two RBI, while Bowen Ogata tallied a team-best two hits. Ogata also drove in a run, UIC's first of the game. David Cronin drove in a run on an RBI triple, his first of the season.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

Championship Game *All games can be streamed on ESPN3
2:00pm ET - No. 2 Wright State at No. 1 UIC
6:00pm ET - No. 2 Wright State at No. 1 UIC *If Necessary

BRACKET

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHICAGO -- Fresh off of first round byes, UIC and Wright State jumped out to early leads and never looked back with the Flames defeating Oakland 8-0 and the Raiders knocking off Northern Kentucky 12-2. In the last game of the tripleheader, Oakland's bats came alive to score 12 runs and advance to take on the loser of the UIC and Wright State game. UIC and Wright State will play at 1:00pm ET on Friday with the second game of the day to start an hour after the first game ends.

No. 5 Oakland: 12, No. 3 Northern Kentucky: 5

CHICAGO -- Connor Fannon threw 6.0 innings giving up just two runs on five hits and striking out six batters as the No. 5 seed Oakland baseball team upset No. 3 seed Northern Kentucky 12-5 Thursday night at Curtis Granderson Stadium in the Horizon League Tournament. The win marked just the second time in the Division I era that Oakland won multiple conference tournament games with the last time coming in 2000 as members of the Summit League.

Oakland (17-38) scored early and often as Emerson Misch, who finished the day 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs, drove in the first run of the game in the first inning with a ground ball to the shortstop that scored Ben Hart, who tripled in the previous at-bat.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

No. 2 Wright State: 12, No. 3 Northern Kentucky 2

The Wright State baseball team scored in five of eight innings, each with two runs or more, in rolling to a 12-2 victory over Northern Kentucky in its Horizon League Tournament opener Thursday afternoon in Chicago.

WSU opened the scoring with two runs in the second.  Gabe Snyder led off with a double to right and scored as Seth Gray had a single through the right side of the infield.  Brandon Giltrow later drove in the second run on a fielder's choice.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

No. 1 UIC: 8, No. 5 Oakland: 0

CHICAGO – Top-seeded UIC defended its home-field advantage on Thursday as the Flames knocked off the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, 8-0, at Granderson Stadium in their first game at the 2017 Horizon League Championship.

UIC (37-15) took an early lead with a first-inning run before pouring it on in the bottom of the third. The Flames pushed across six runs in the frame to create a sizable cushion that was all starting pitcher Jake Dahlberg would need. Brandon Gibis hit a two-run single in the inning, while Mickey McDonald added a two-run double.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

Friday's Games *All games can be streamed on ESPN3
1:00pm ET - No. 2 Wright State at No. 1 UIC (Game 6)
5:00pm ET (Will start one hour after Game 6 ends) - No. 5 Oakland vs. Game Six Loser (Game 7)

BRACKET

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHICAGO -- On the opening day of the Horizon League Baseball Championship, Oakland edged Valparaiso 6-4 while Northern Kentucky recorded 17 hits to defeat Milwaukee. With the wins, Oakland will face top seeded UIC and Northern Kentucky will take on Wright State on Thursday. Starting tomorrow, the tournament will be a double-elimination format.

No. 3 Northern Kentucky: 11, No. 6 Milwaukee: 5 (Game 2)

CHICAGO – Northern Kentucky baseball won its first-ever Division I postseason game on Wednesday, advancing in the Horizon League Championship with an 11-5 win over Milwaukee. NKU moves on to 25-31 overall, while the Panthers end their season at 22-32.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

No. 5 Oakland: 6, No. 4 Valparaiso: 4 (Game 1)

CHICAGO -- Tyler Pagano went 3-for-5 with four RBIs while hitting his 11th home run of the season as the Oakland baseball team defeated Valparaiso 6-4 in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Curtis Granderson Stadium. The win marked Oakland's first Horizon League Tournament win and first conference tournament win since 2012.

Pagano got to work early hitting a RBI-single with two outs in the top of the first inning to give the Golden Grizzlies (16-38, 11-19 HL) a 1-0 lead. Tyler Janish drove in another run in the second inning with a base-hit to extend the lead to 2-0 only to have the Crusaders (24-29, 13-15 HL) score three unanswered runs to take a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.

FULL STORY   BOX SCORE

Thursday's Games *All games can be streamed on ESPN3
12:00pm ET - No. 5 Oakland at No. 1 UIC (Game 3)
4:00pm ET -  No. 3 Northern Kentucky vs No. 2 Wright State (Game 4)
8:00pm ET - Game 3 Loser vs Game 4 Loser (Game 5)

BRACKET