UIC wins Horizon League Baseball Championship
May 27, 2007
UIC 14, Wright State 2
Box Score
Chicago, Ill. - Top-seeded UIC hit a trio of three-run homers and Steve Crnkovich pitched six shutout innings to lead the Flames past second seed Wright State 14-2 in the championship game of the 2007 U.S. Army Horizon League Baseball Championship at Les Miller Field.
The Flames won the League Championship for the third time in the last five years, adding this year's title to the program's sixth consecutive regular-season crown. UIC (34-19), which had defeated Wright State 13-3 on Friday night, will represent the Horizon League in the NCAA Championship which begins next weekend.
UIC continued its tournament pattern, jumping out to a 7-0 lead after two innings. Chad Schroeder drew a lead-off walk in the first and came around on Micky Pingree's double to stake Flames starter Steve Crnkovich (4-3) to a 1-0 lead, and UIC broke the game open with a six-run second inning. Erik Whinery lifted his second homer of the season off Wright State starter Scott Ruthven (1-1), and Larry Gempp Jr. added a two-out, RBI single. Jake Carr followed that with a three-run blast---his fifth of the spring---to give the hosts a seven-run cushion.
The assault continued in the middle innings when Carr lined an RBI double ahead of David Cales' three-run shot (his seventh of the season) off the Flames Athletic Center building beyond the left-field fence in the fifth, and Gempp slammed his seventh homer of the year---another three-run shot---in the fifth for a 14-0 lead.
Wright State (36-22) averted the shutout when Ross Oeder doubled and Jeremy Hamilton clubbed a two-run homer (his ninth of the year) in the eighth inning.
Gempp was perfect in three at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in four. Carr had three hits and four RBI in four at-bats, with Cales going two-for-four with three RBI. Whinery chipped in with three of UIC's 18 hits and two RBI, while Crnkovich allowed four hits in six shutout innings on the mound.
Cales was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, batting .615 (8-for-13) with three doubles, three homers and seven RBI in the Flames' three victories. He also recorded a save in UIC's 8-5 triumph over Cleveland State on Thursday, pitching a total of two scoreless innings in the tournament.
Cales was one of five Flames named to the 11-player All-Tournament Team, joining Gempp, Schroeder, Nick Rainwater and Ryan Zink, along with Wright State's Jeremy Hamilton and Brian Shoup. UW-Milwaukee teammates Dan Luczak and Jesse Hart also earned tournament honors, along with Cleveland State's Stephen Procner and Youngstown State's John Koehnlein.
The Flames also won the Horizon League Championship in 2003 and 2005, but had come up short three other times despite entering each of the past six League summits as the top seed.
UIC learns its destination and opponent in NCAA Championship play Monday, when the NCAA announces the 64-team tournament field at 3:15 p.m. (Eastern time) on ESPN. UIC will compete at one of 16 regional sites in the first step on the road to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
2007 Horizon League Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team David Cales, UIC (MVP)Larry Gempp Jr., UICJeremy Hamilton, Wright StateJesse Hart, UW-MilwaukeeJohn Koehnlein, Youngstown StateDan Luczak, UW-MilwaukeeStephen Procner, Cleveland StateNick Rainwater, UICChad Schroeder, UICBrian Shoup, Wright StateRyan Zink, UIC
