UIC claims 2008 Horizon League Baseball Championship

May 25, 2008

Box Score

Championship Central

NILES, Ohio - The University of Illinois at Chicago (34-20) defeated the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (25-36) 16-3 to win the Horizon League Baseball Championship presented by the U.S. Army. With the win, the Flames successfully defended their 2007 championship crown and earned an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Championship.

The Flames Horizon League championship title is their fourth tournament crown in six years.

UIC freshman Peter Ifft picked up the win and improved to 3-0 on the year. Ifft threw 98 pitches in 8.0 innings of work. He also scattered seven hits, struck out three and walked only four.

Junior Brett Schaefer paced the UIC offense as he went 5-for-5 and drove in four runs en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the championship. In four tournament games, Schaefer went 11-for-15 with seven RBIs and two home runs.

Leadoff hitter Steve McGuiggan also turned in a strong offensive output as he went 4-for-5 and scored a pair of runs.

The Flames one, two, three and four hitters combined to go 13-for-20 with five RBIs.

UWM starter Andy Hetebrueg took the loss and fell to 6-7 on the year. Hetebrueg worked just one inning and allowed seven earned runs.

Panther senior second-baseman Jesse Hart ended his career at UWM by going 1-for-3 with a RBI. In six games during the championship, Hart went 15-for-32 and drove in a tournament-best 14 runs.

The Flames, which had to come-from-behind in both of their tournament wins leading up the championship final, took little time to take control of the game as they plated five runs in the first inning and four in the second to take a 9-0 lead.

UWM added a run in the third, but the Flames responded with three runs in the fourth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Panthers added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, but UIC responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame.

UIC out hit Milwaukee 22-9 and improved to 22-5 when outhitting its opponent. The Panthers were held under 10 hits for the first time in the League tournament.

2008 Horizon League All-Tournament Team
C - Kevin Coddington, UIC
1B - Brett Schaefer, UIC
2B - Jesse Hart, Milwaukee
SS - Brett Bivens, Valparaiso
3B - Josh Wallace, Valparaiso
OF - Dan DeBruin, Valparaiso
OF - Troy Vesling, Milwaukee
OF - Steve McGuiggan, UIC
DH - Shawn Wozniak, Milwaukee
P - Peter Ifft, UIC
P - Ben McClarey, Milwaukee


MVP: Brett Schaefer, UIC